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The apprehension that she seemed to always carry obliterated in the moment.
Laughing and laughing, she had her head thrown back as she fumbled the opposite direction than she was supposed to go, and Paisley righted her, sending her the right way.
That laughter never stopped as her gaze caught on mine, though for a beat, it slowed.
Awareness glided through the air.
A burn that ignited when it reached my skin.
And as I sat there nursing my beer and watching her, I couldn’t help but think how happy I was that she was there.
Savannah eyed the third shot that had been set in front of her. The smile that had been pasted on her face the entire night remained unfaltering as she said, “And here I thought you were all supposed to be my friends and it turns out you’re just trying to kill me.”
Her voice had gone free, inhibitions slayed.
Laughter rang from Dakota where she sat on the stool next to her sipping on her favorite hot pink concoction from a martini glass. “Are you a lightweight, Savannah? Don’t worry, we’ll take care of that little problem really quick for you.”
Savannah scowled at her. “Like I said, trying to kill me.”
Dakota clearly didn’t take it as an offense. Instead, she petted her hair and cooed, “You’re so pretty.”
A giggle got free of Savannah. “Nu-uh, you’re the prettiest. And my favorite.”
“Hey, what about me?” Paisley whined where she was sitting on Caleb’s lap, right at the same time as Beth huffed, “Now that’s just rude. I saw you first and I already claimed you and you’re mine.”
A slight chuckle rumbled in my chest.
It was something watching Savannah meshing seamlessly with our crew. I wasn’t sure it was entirely what I’d intended when I’d introduced her to Dakota, but how would I have assumed it would go down any other way?
Not when Dakota was as welcoming as they came. Paisley and Beth and Chloe, too. I’d known Savannah would be met with open arms.
A warning nudged at my consciousness.
Maybe that was the whole problem. I’d known it. Had pushed for it. Had intended it.
If those would have been honest intentions, then that would be all fine and good. But I was pretty sure there wasn’t anything honest about whatever I was feeling when yet another fucker came up and asked Savannah to dance.
Jaron, the son of the local barber, the kid barely twenty-one. There’d been a slew of men asking her to dance through the night. Just like Cody had suggested. The woman was a flame that lured.
Captivated and entranced.
“There’s an empty spot on that dance floor with our name on it,” Jaron said.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his cheesy pickup line as I took a sip of my beer. I struggled to keep my cool and not tell him to run off to where he came from since the kid was nice and for the most part kept his nose clean.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t having a tough time not giving him a swift pop to the mouth with the nonsense that was rolling from it.
Of course, Savannah just giggled a sultry sound. “Is that so? I wasn’t even aware that you knew my name.”
“Formal names aren’t necessary. In this case, it’s just you and me.”
I gagged a little. For God’s sake. Was he fucking serious? Annoyance clamored through my senses as she let him lead her to the dance floor where a slow song was playing, and he wrapped her in his scrawny arms that I was pretty sure had no goddamn clue how to hold her.
Caleb and Paisley had hit the floor, too, along with Beth and Chloe who had gotten hauled off by a couple regulars. We hadn’t seen Cody in an hour, which meant he had disappeared with some chick, clearly off searching for his soul mate.
The only other ones remaining at our table were Ryder and Dakota, and right then my cousin laughed that smug chord that promised he had me pegged. He slid his arm around Dakota’s waist where she stood next to where he sat, tucking her in close.
“Down, boy.” He taunted me with the same thing as he had back at the café earlier in the week.
“Don’t even start with me, brother,” I grumbled.
“Oh, I’m starting with you. How can I not when you’re sitting there looking like you’re getting the skin flayed from your bones?”
Dakota’s nod was emphatic. “Or getting burned alive. Oh, oh, maybe his skin is peeling off while he’s getting burned. That’s it.” The last was a bit of a slur, the number of those frilly drinks she’d tossed back catching up to her.
I grunted. “You two are so loved up that you have no clue what really exists.”
“Ha. What exists?” Dakota shook her head like I was oblivious. “Do you think there’s a single person in this bar who can’t feel the attraction radiating from you two? It’s so strong I’m getting second-hand lust.”
