It might have been the wine, or the music, or maybe I was just tired of overthinking everything. Whatever the reason was, I placed my hand in his.
“Yeah,” I said.
Dane’s smile deepened, and before I could second-guess it, he pulled me to my feet and led me toward the dance floor.
12
DANE
The reception finally started winding down sometime after midnight. Guests drifted toward the exits in loose clusters, heels dangling from fingers, jackets slung over shoulders.
Everyone seemed flushed from dancing and champagne and too much emotion packed into one evening.
More importantly, Seth was still standing close enough beside me that our arms brushed every few seconds.
I leaned back against the bar for a moment, watching him laugh quietly at something Elliot’s aunt had said before she wandered off toward the house.
Seth turned toward me afterward, still smiling faintly.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I quickly mumbled.
“You’ve got your suspicious face on.”
“I do not have a suspicious face,” I pointed out.
“You absolutely do.”
I huffed out a laugh. Seth’s tie was gone now, stuffed somewhere into his suit pocket hours ago. The top few buttons of his dress shirt sat open too, exposing just enough skin to become distracting.
Not that I’d been noticing all night or anything. Well, that was a lie. I’d noticed constantly, especially during the last dance.
It shouldn’t have affected me that much, but it had.
My thoughts drifted briefly back toward the speech earlier. Darryl’s father raising his champagne glass while everyone listened. Talking about fate, about Darryl “finding his way” after meeting Elliot.
Nobody had meant anything cruel by it, but all I could think while listening was this: What the hell did that make Seth then?
Five years together reduced to a stepping stone. I’d glanced at Seth during the speech expecting hurt. Instead, Seth had just looked tired. That unsettled me more somehow.
It made me wonder how many times he’d already forced himself to make peace with it.
“You okay?” Seth’s voice pulled me back immediately.
I realized he’d been watching me carefully for the last several seconds.
“Yeah,” I said automatically.
He narrowed his eyes slightly. “You disappeared into your own head again.”
“Dangerous neighborhood in there,” I joked.
“I believe that.”
I smiled despite myself. I gazed into the distance, at the ocean that stretched dark and silver beneath the moonlight. Seth followed my stare.
“Want to get out of here?” he asked softly.
