Almost in Love by Kylie Gilmore Page B

rehearsal. She sat next to Steph, who was gesturing wildly for her to join her.
    “I’m so happy you’re here,” Steph said.
    “Me too.” She glanced at Bare, on the other side of the stage, still looking every bit the pirate, and found herself smiling. He suddenly looked up and returned the smile, and she went warm all over.
    “Okay, people, we’ve got a long way to go,” Toby said. “Will tells me half of you are off-key. This is a musical. Everyone has to be in tune. Please practice at home. And, Kevin, you must blend your voice in.”
    “I can’t help how I sing,” Kevin retorted.
    “He’s a star,” Zac sang, tossing his hair, which was so short it barely moved.
    Kevin shot Zac a dark look that had Zac simmering down quickly.
    “You can help it,” Toby said. “And, people, I know we’re reading the script at this point, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t acting. I want some expression, some emotion coming through. Especially between Frederic and Mabel. The audience has to believe you’re in love.” He paused and took a moment to look them all over. The cast squirmed, probably wondering who he was going to call out next. “Now I know you all like to go out after rehearsal, but I ask you to keep the drinking to a minimum. We need you here at one hundred percent every night if we’re going to put on the kind of show we’re known for. We have an audience who expects a high level of professionalism. That means you know your lines, you hit your marks, you sing on-key. Any questions? No? Good.”
    A few people had their hands raised, but Toby ignored them. He clapped once, dismissing them. “See you all tomorrow, seven p.m. Don’t be late.”
    Everyone stood and started talking amongst themselves.
    “And study your lines tonight!” Toby added before leaving.
    His mother, Edith, smiled at them all. “You did a good job for your first rehearsal. That’s my ride.” She followed him out the door.
    After Toby and Edith left, Zac said, “The torture begins. Toby was brutal tonight. I need a drink. Who’s in?”
    Everyone agreed and, on Bare’s suggestion, they all headed to Garner’s Sports Bar & Grill. The place wasn’t crowded on a Monday night, and they all found seats at the bar. Bare gestured for Amber to sit on a stool next to him and slid his arm around her waist. Before long, Bare was telling stories with the enthralled cast gathered around him. All except Richard, the Major-General, who was hitting on some young, pretty women at the other end of the bar.
    Bare’s warm fingers stroked lazily on the bare skin of her lower back while he shared tales of his old job at a software engineering firm in California and the crazy people that used to work there. The wrestling matches they had with Lord of the Rings figures late at night when they needed to blow off some steam. The challenge to see who could build the most complex polygon out of office supplies. The way they decided who would get to ask out the new single female in the office first—hand over hand up a light saber, hand on top won.
    “It didn’t matter who got to ask her out first anyway,” Bare went on. “The answer was always no.”
    Everyone laughed.
    “If you were smart, you worked your way up from friendship.” Bare smiled at Amber, including her in his tale. “Which I quickly learned. Some of these guys were too desperate to slow it down like that.”
    “Slow it down,” Lauren, one of the Major-General’s daughters, said. “I like a guy who takes his time.”
    Steph rolled her eyes. “Tell us about The Dancing Cow.”
    “Not much to tell,” Bare replied. “That’s my frozen yogurt shop. You’re all invited anytime with ten percent off.”
    “Cool,” Lauren said, smiling at Bare like she wanted to lick his cone. Amber rested her hand on Bare’s thigh, who responded by resting his hand on hers and squeezing.
    “I’ll be there,” Zac said.
    “I heard you dance there,” Steph said.
    Amber shook her head at