Sweet Naivety

Chapter 53: A Café Performance

Chapter 53: A Café Performance

X

X

X

Another love seat had been added to the circle and I was now sandwiched in between Grimmjow and Coyote. Grimmjow was drinking coffee, but he had spiked it with whiskey. And Coyote was drinking green tea with honey, which was another of my favorites, so I had gotten a cup of my own. Now that Gin was with us, the waiting staff was checking on our orders every few minutes, so there wasn't a need for anyone to wait in line anymore.

"So, Juna..." Gin purred in his silky voice, his arm draped around Rangiku as she nuzzled lovingly into him. "How are the band practices going?"

I blinked, not used to being the center of attention, and looked from Renji, to Shuuhei, to Ichigo... "It's going really well, thank you for asking." I tried to make sure that I didn't mumble, but I'm not sure if I succeeded. "Don't you think, guys?"

Shuuhei chuckled. "Yeah, we've got some great songs in the making."

Ichigo nodded. "We're really excited about it."

And Renji grinned. "Maybe we'll get good enough to actually play some gigs."

Gin smiled at the four of us. "Well I've already offered for Juna to play here at my café..." He glanced over at the empty stage, which was seldom put to use. "Of course, the performances here would have to be acoustic, in respect for my patrons."

I could feel a blush tainting my cheeks at the reminder of his offer... especially when his strange smile turned to face me directly again.

"Why don't you sing something for us now, Juna? It's a Sunday evening and I'm sure my guests would enjoy a performance." His voice was purring with enthusiasm.

And I felt like a deer caught in the headlights. I expected my friends to take my side and say that our stuff wasn't ready, yet... but damn Shuuhei and his big mouth.

"My guitar is in my car." He shrugged, nudging Renji with his elbow, an almost amused smirk on his face. "You should grab it and play for her."

I knew that I had to be glaring at him, because his smirk only widened.

Renji didn't seem to notice my glaring, though, because he was just kinda pursing his lips and rubbing his arm from where Shuuhei had elbowed him. "I guess so..."

"Well, there ya go..." Coyote grinned beside me. "Now you can sing us a song, Juna." He looked across me toward Grimmjow, who had been sort of scowling ever since that strange man had left. "What do you think Grimmjow?"

At the sound of his name, Grimmjow looked up from his whiskey-laced coffee and set his piercing, blue eyes on me. "Sing for me, babe... I could use the distraction."

I sighed. Well... if Grimmjow wanted me to... then I guessed it wouldn't be so bad. "Fine." I mumbled, using Coyote's help to get off of the love seat. "You want to be my backup, Renji?"

He looked up at me, brown eyes meeting green, and gave me a warm smile. "Yeah. Sure."

"Then I'll go with you to get the guitar... and we can figure out what we're singing." I nodded, smiling back as he stood to his feet.

He got the keys to Shuuhei's car and we walked out together. When we were alone, he asked me...

"You sure you wanna do this?"

I shrugged, a light smile on my face. "Everyone wants me to... so I guess I don't mind."

He sighed, popping the trunk and pulling out the guitar. "Alright. I don't mind if you don't." He turned to look at me, his brown eyes curious as he met my green gaze. "So what did you wanna play?"