“I could tell.”
“But you rescued me. Again. You keep doing that.”
“It’s always an honor.”
“Thank you, though,” I said. “Seriously.”
“You’re okay, JoJo,” Cooper said.
“Am I?”
“You really are.”
And then, as if to prove the point, he pushed me out for a spin and then pulled me back in. Which made me laugh a little.
“See?” Cooper said. “That didn’t hurt, did it?”
“Nothing hurts right now,” I said. And it was true.
I wasn’t alone on a stage. That was a win.
And my sunburn was better.
And I wasn’t—I suddenly noticed—miserable. For the first time all evening.
Was it my fault if he had a way of making everything seem like it would be okay?
As we danced, I couldn’t help but contrast everything Cooper was doing now with what Finn had done before. Finn had held me at a distance, but Cooper nestled me close. Finn had swayed stiffly, but Cooper pulled us into the waves of the music. Finn seemed to be concentrating hard to hear the rhythm, but Cooper seemed to just feel it. Finn wanted to win, but Cooper didn’t care about winning.
He just wanted to make me feel better.
As all the other couples swayed around us, Cooper pushed me out and pulled me back in. He spun me and dipped me. He dropped his head to whisper teasing things into my ear. And by the time the song started to wind down, I was having actual fun.
Of all things.
But then, as the music faded, Cooper said, “I still need to talk to you.”
“Sure,” I said. “Talk.”
“Not here. In private.”
“Okay.”
“Outside, okay? After this?”
“Sure.”
As the slow dancers all let go of each other and stepped back to clap, I looked around and realized that the other couples seemed to be clappingfor Cooper and me.
Like we’d accidentally become the winners of this contest.
And I didn’t even have time to register that before Finn—suddenly done with his phone business—showed up between us and tapped Cooper’s shoulder, like he was cutting in, even though the song was over.
“I’ll take my partner back now,” Finn said.
Cooper just looked at me, likeAre you gonna let that happen?
But that’s when Ashley fired up the mic and started thanking everybody for an epic night of fun and frivolity. “I’m about to announce the winners of the slow-dance contest,” Ashley said, “and the rule is that they have to go find a lovely patch of moonlight somewhere and kiss each other. But let me just remind you that smooching is for everyone. You don’t have to win this dance to go find your own patch of moonlight.”
