Breaking His Rules by R.C. Matthews

owned the damn place. “Thanks for letting me sit up front and center.”
    Sydney turned to the crowd as they greeted her with hoots and hollers. She waved her hands to bring order to the room. “You all know the rules. There will be three rounds. Best two out of three wins. Please join me in welcoming back one of our returning duelists, Damon, and his special guest, Samantha. May the best man”—she smiled at Damon—“or woman win!”
    The crowd clapped and stomped their feet as Sydney thrust a glass bowl containing folded pieces of paper at me. “Your choice.”
    I reached in and pulled out a slip. My eyes widened as I read it aloud in the microphone. “A masterpiece by Queen.”
    “Ladies first,” Damon said with a nod to Sydney, and then he led me to the piano on the right, indicating for me to scoot onto the bench first so he would be seated closest to the crowd.
    I watched in awe as the owner took her place at the other piano with a confident air. She didn’t waste any time once she was seated and began to play the first tentative notes of “You’re My Best Friend”. Her voice was sultry and her body language animated as she gave herself over to the song. The crowd joined in, singing the background chorus, and I held my hand over my mouth, trying to suppress my surprised giggle.
    “Oh, you’re so going to lose,” I whispered to Damon. “She’s really, really good.”
    He gaped at me in mock horror and gripped his chest. “Like a knife to my heart.”
    When the music stopped, the crowd went wild, stomping and clapping their approval. Sydney stood to take a bow and then gestured for Damon to begin. The room quieted and I scooched over another inch to give him plenty of space.
    He winked at me and sang the first line to “Somebody to Love” acapella in his rich baritone…stretching out the “meeeeeee” playfully before placing his fingers on the keys and belting out the rest of the song. Clearly, he had done this many times before, and he ate it up when the crowd filled in the chorus for him. I swayed along to the music and smiled at his theatrical performance. Eric would shit his pants if he saw it.
    With the last notes of the song, I grabbed hold of Damon’s face and kissed him hard on the lips. “That was fantastic!” I shouted over the roar of the patrons. “You’re amazing.”
    He grinned and stood to take his bow, graciously accepting the win for round one of the duel. At Sydney’s bidding, an older gentleman stepped forward and reached into the bowl.
    “Sing me a song, Celine Dion.”
    “Shit.” Damon cursed and looked to the ceiling as a triumphant smile took over Sydney’s face. “She always wins with Celine. I can’t beat her rendition of ‘The Power of Love’.”
    Damon held my hand as we listened to her heartfelt version of the song. It was beautiful, and while Damon’s take on “I Drove All Night” was entertaining as hell, it wasn’t enough to squeak out the win for round two.
    Tension radiated in the air as a young woman from the crowd drew the last slip and squealed with delight. “Sorry, Sydney,” the woman announced as she bounced up and down. “Give us your best Josh Groban.”
    Damon threw his fists in the air. “And. He. Scores.”
    Twenty minutes later, as Damon navigated the streets of Chicago, I was still in a state of shock. He had nailed Josh Groban’s “Brave”, leaving me speechless. And I wasn’t the only one. The crowd sat mesmerized as he sang. It wasn’t even a close call. Damon won hands down.
    “Where did you learn to sing like that?” I asked, gazing at his profile. He was so damn confident in everything he did. “I’ve never heard anything so lovely.”
    “Are you ready to eat crow?” He reached out and caressed my cheek with his thumb. “I did not lose.”
    “Do you ever?”
    “Yes,” he admitted with some reluctance as he turned into the parking garage of his building. “Sometimes it’s the luck of the draw. As you can