Pride swells in my chest when Bryn braves a side look up at me, her eyes catching mine beneath her thick lashes, and she giggles. Fucking giggles. Again. It’s different from the giggles the other girls were in. This has a sweet, flirtatious anticipation in it, and every time I coax it out of her, it brings something alive within my chest.
“I got used to it.”
“You had to with how long you were out there,” Savanna says, grinning at her friend.
“In my defense, she told me to keep going until she wasn’tstepping on my feet anymore,” I tell them. “We should still be out there if she wanted to hold true to that.”
“Hey!” Bryn cries in mock outrage, poking me right beneath the rib. Hard enough I nearly groan out loud. “Now who’s ratting out who?”
“Just telling it like it is, dancer girl.” Beaming down at her, I give her lower back a slight rub. “I’ll leave you to catch up with your girls. I’m gonna go see what condition my friends are in.”
Bryn’s smile falters just slightly, but as quickly as it falls, it appears again. The mask back in place. Her head bobs unenthusiastically in confirmation.
Worried I might not come back?
Her friends are right there, will no doubt hear every word, and while it’s not ideal to say it in front of them, I’ll take it on the chin if she rejects me. “When I get back, maybe we can talk about that first date?”
A hand slides down her stomach, a move I’ve seen her make a few times now, and her chest rises with a breath of anticipation. Hope. Shyly, she peers up at me, and just like on the dance floor, those big doe eyes have my cock putting images of her on her knees in my head.
“Maybe.”
The contrast between what her body is saying and what she says out loud has me wanting to hitmyknees to worship this woman. It’s sexy as fuck to me when I know a woman wants me but doesn’t make it easy. The chase. And when I’ve got her… oh, man.
“Ladies,” I lift my drink to the two sitting at the table. “Nice to meet you. I’ll see you soon.”
Real fucking soon.
My hand drags along Bryn’s back until it reaches her hip andthen releases completely as I step away. The quickest way back to my boys is cutting across the dance floor, but I make my way to the restroom first. I’ve needed to take a piss since I ran into Bryn well over an hour ago. I was on my way there when we bumped into each other, but I wanted so badly to catch her on her way out that I didn’t dare move on the off chance I’d miss her. Considering it was two women going into the bathroom together, I should have known better, but I wasn’t willing to risk it.
Before I get too far away, I look back at her table. All three of the women are staring at me, but my eyes land on Bryn, and I watch the smile spread across her face. I can picture it close up. Her full bottom lip a natural pink, her top front tooth a bit crooked and covering the one next to it. Shining hazel eyes that, while smiling, don’t have a crease in the middle of them.
It was hard not to memorize her on the dance floor, smiling like her whole world was lit up for the first time.
Maybe that’s not far from the truth. She did say she couldn’t recall the last time she’d had so much fun. Which bewilders me. Fun should be what everyone’s life is centered around. Sure, there’s a time and place to be serious—my job is one of those—but there should always be fun happening.
I live to make people smile. Laugh.
After the restroom, I take another glance towards Bryn’s table. It’s only her and Jordan now, and neither of them are looking in my direction. I head across the dance floor, dodging in and out of people until I get to the other side and spot a couple of my friends standing at the bar. We started out as a crew of five, but it looks like two of them have disappeared. Probably home to wives.
Tyson, my closest friend since coming to Santa Rosé, has a girl plastered to his side and looks deep in conversation with her. Ethan is also chatting up a girl, but they look more friendly than flirty, aneasy in for me to interrupt briefly. I don’t need to make this long. I want to get back to Bryn.
Before I reach them, a guy stumbles backward, colliding into me. It sends me careening into a blond guy on my left, our shoulders slamming together. The blond guy shoves me off him, and I hold my hands up placatingly.
“Sorry, man.”
“Watch where the fuck you’re going,” he snarls. He’s scrawny, his bark rougher than I imagine his bite would be.
The one who initially bumped into me waves a drunken hand. “Yeah, jeez dude, fuckin’ watch it.”
The grumpy blond turns back to his friend, but the drunken one continues to wobble in front of me. Not worth my time. Not worth anyone’s the way he’s swaying. I sidestep him as Tyson looks up, assesses the other two, then his face splits wide. Immediately, he steps away from the woman he’s chatting with and holds out a hand. I take it, and we go in for a bro hug, smacking each other on the back. So much for a deep conversation. The woman has been all but forgotten.
That’s Tyson for you.
“The man of the hour!” Tyson exclaims. “We were wondering where you went. That piss turn into the longest shit of the year or what? You findin’ trouble?”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “Nah man, I—”
“He found some pussy he wants,” Ethan says, stepping in for a bro hug too and clapping me on the shoulder. “Tell me I’m right. We were taking bets.”
