Did itstillwork?
My gaze shifted from the damp coaster I’d been tracing with my finger to the couples on the dance floor.
I was grateful when the Games Night master had announced a break for dinner and dancing. There was too much noise. I was running close to the wire, my nerves frayed down to only a thin thread, ready to snap. The music was quieter now, and without constant noise slamming me from all sides, I could finally patch myself up.
I might just make it.
Another frayed thread knotted back together when Ruth flashed me a crooked smile over Ryan’s shoulder. The farmer was nothing like me. He was a good sort of man. He’d shimmied her bad foot onto his boot, and after anchoring her safely against his chest with a protective arm around her back, he took it slow and steady to waltz her around the dance floor with all the oldies.
“Aiden! Look!” Ruth’s dark eyes sparkled as he spun her. “I’m dancing!”
Smiling, I nodded, trying to hide the tears stinging my eyes. We were still the same after all these years—me, plodding a few steps behind, always too cautious, so Ruth could charge ahead knowing I’d always be there to catch her.
Ryan carefully tipped Ruth into a bend. Her laugh lit up the room. I’d have to be thicker than I was at twelve not to see those two falling for each other. Not that I minded. Ruth had been suffering more than I knew. This was the hope she’d been searching for. Another chance. And the farmer had proven himself a good sort. I trusted him. He was nothing like Matthew.
“Ruth looks like she’s having fun.” Lola’s hand touched my shoulder before she settled into the chair beside me.
“Yeah.”
Her eyes flicked around the empty table. “Still abandoned here on your lonesome?” Her smile was as perfect as those little hands of hers. “I let the church ladies corner me by the bar to give you some space. You seemed lost in your thoughts.”
I lifted a shoulder. “There’s a lot to think about.”
“Do you want to talk about anything? My offer’s still open if you want to go outside. We can escape all the noise”—she nodded at the crowd shuffling on the dance floor and waggled her eyebrows—“and the waltzing.”
I shook my head. Her eyes dropped to her hands. She was probably feeling as on edge as I was, but…becauseof me. My heart twisted like an old dishrag.
Why didI keep following my father’s rules? When had locking away my feelings ever helped me?
Maybe, once upon a time, it’d made me a good police officer, but a group of men in suits had decided a long time ago my days in a uniform were over. And every stupid step I’d taken to keep acting the way my father had drilled into me had already risked losing the precious woman sitting next to me.
“Lola, I…” My words stuck in my throat, but I wouldn’t let those old fears beat me. “I’m not good with words, but I’ll try to speak up more. Explain myself more. Not just walk away and keep you guessing. I promise. And that’s anactualpromise. Not one of those loophole promises.”
Lola bit her lip in a nervous smile. Sweet girl. The best thing that ever happened to me.
“Incoming!”
Brooke was a blonde blur, delivering drinks from a tray balanced on one hand like it was nothing but air. I bet she was a waitress before she whipped the clinic into shape. Her new ginger-haired shadow trailed only a few steps behind. The kid flopped into his chair, still grinning like a dopey idiot, and the second Brooke emptied the tray, he snatched her waist and dragged her onto his lap.
Brooke’s delighted squeal was like a love-dipped nail driving into my skull.
“Oh, brother,” Lola giggled. She bumped her shoulder into mine. “We’ve created a love monster.”
I grunted. No kidding.
“Hold still.” Brooke squirmed in Harry’s arms and reached over to snatch a napkin off the table. She zeroed in on the outline of red lips staining his cheek. “I didn’t realise. There’s a big red ma—”
“Hey, back off!” Harry jerked his head away. “No one’s messing with my kiss mark. Not even you, Princess. Why don’t you fix me up?” He tapped his other cheek with his index finger. “Gimme one on this side, too?”
Brooke didn’t need to be asked twice. She smacked a matching red kiss on Harry’s face, and he looked around proudly, chest puffed out, grinning like a fool. The dumb look on his face only got worse when Brooke jiggled in a dance and hummed along to the music.
The kid was in heaven, but this was my worst nightmare. The waltz had faded into the beat of something louder, faster, and every pound of the heavy bass splintered through my ears like broken pieces of wood.
I struggled to get in a breath. I was okay. Yeah. Just music. I could ignore the beat speeding up just like I ignored Harry’s god-awful bangers playing on the radio sometimes.
I was only just clawing back a shred of control when a burst of rainbow lights lit up the dance floor. My eyes darted around, scrambling to get my bearings, a twinge of panic jolting through my fingers. I wouldn’t be able to talk myself out of this one. There was no escaping Hell’s Disco.
My gaze snapped to the dance floor. Flickers of blue and red swirled over Ruth’s face. Even though her smile still beamed at me across the room, I was dizzy, the bile racing up my throat like I was back on the highway ten years ago.
