We changed back into our shoes and returned our skates to the employees before heading out. The night outside was brisk but welcome on our skin still warmed by exercise. The frigid air nipped at the back of my throat.
Around us, the campus came to life with students not yet burdened with homework and finally free from parental supervision as they made their way out for a night of parties and barhopping. Everyone was much more interested in talking and laughing with their friends than in paying any attention to us.
It was nice to know that normalcy was still something I could enjoy now that we were dating. God, we weredating. My heart did somersaults in my chest every time my brain hiccupped over the word. But normalcy was something I shouldn’t always expect. Not anymore. My thoughts clouded as I remembered Grey’s past and the craziness of his fandom I’d already witnessed.
“Where to now?” I asked, bringing myself back to happier things. I just hoped he wasn’t about to suggest we go home.
He shrugged noncommittally and wrapped his hand around mine. Music drifted through windows flung open by overheated party guests. I heard several Dreamscape songs playing from different areas, overlapping and intertwining with the music of other more mainstream artists. If Grey was cringing at the sound of his music, as he had in the past, he was doing a good job of hiding it.
We slowed as we passed the water fountain in the middle of campus. It would be the natural place for us to part ways and end the night. My heart constricted in protest as I opened my mouth to speak.
“You hear that song?” Grey asked before I could get a word out.
I listened for a moment then nodded. “I’ve heard it before.”
“It’s by an artist named Tyler Snow.” Grey’s eyes lit with the spark that usually shone there when he talked about music. “He’s a huge inspiration for me.”
“Well, heisone of the best-selling artists of all time.” I grinned. “He’s probably inspired a lot of people.”
Grey gave me a playful nudge but didn’t comment. “Listen,” he said instead. “This is my favorite part.”
Before I realized what was happening, he took one of my hands in his while wrapping his other arm around me to pull me close. Heat flooded my face, spreading from my cheeks to my ears as he led me in a dance right there in the middle of campus. It was our second dance, but this one felt like it meant more. The music played on, seeming to swell up from the ground itself to envelop us.
“One look in your eye,
The feel of your hand in mine,
One catch of your breath,
And baby, I know what’s next.”
Grey looked at me with such a tender intensity that my breath hitched in my throat, my mouth suddenly dry. I tried to swallow but ended up doing little more than bobbing my Adam’s apple.
The music continued.
“Your arms feel like home.
Forever’s written in your eyes.”
Then I was pressing my lips to Grey’s, and all thought was chased from my mind in a rush of adrenaline and desire. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that this wasprobably the first time I’d initiated a full-on kiss with Grey and not the other way around. A laugh bubbled up to my lips at the absurdity of the thought.
Grey pulled away, confused. “What is it?” His cheeks were flushed pink.
“Just thinking funny thoughts,” I said.
And our lips found each other again as we danced in the street.
Chapter 28
Beautiful Haze
Iwoke next to Grey, my body aching with a pleasant sort of soreness from the night before. We’d gone back to my apartment after the dance near the fountain, and one thing had led to another. But we hadn’t fully had sex. Not yet. We had spent the previous night learning about and enjoying one another’s bodies. After the long day, it had been enough.
Still, the night before had been like the best of dreams. My mind painted stripes of blue and gold over the memories of us at the ice rink, us walking across campus, us kissing under the light of a lamppost as we danced to music and the rustle of the fountain’s water.
Grey’s eyes opened seconds after mine had. “Good morning,” he said sleepily. He brushed a strand of hair from where it had fallen over his left eye. He was so cute without even trying.
“Morning,” I replied as the sparks in my chest flared all over again.These feelings have to dull eventually, right?I wasn’t sure how long I could handle this level of intensity every time our eyes locked or our skin brushed or we kissed.
