Ava
I could feel the weight of every single pair of eyes in the tavern settling squarely on me, pinning me in place with their eager anticipation. A hush had fallen over the once-raucous crowd, the only sounds the faint strumming of the musician’s guitar and the crackle of the fireplace.
Swallowing hard past the lump that had formed in my throat, I opened my mouth to protest, to wave off the request. “I... I really can’t sing,” I said.
“Nonsense!” Chris’s voice cut across mine, that roguish grin of his stretching across his features as he shot me a pointed look. “Ava, you’ve always had such a beautiful voice.”
I felt my cheeks flushing hotly, a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance at Chris for putting me so firmly on the spot. Leveling him with my most withering glare, I st
