Page 10 of Naz & Roz

“A dance,” she agreed.

Roz was light on her feet when she danced—she blamed that on the four years she’d wasted in dance classes that ended up going nowhere because becoming a pianist had always come first. She could hear a beat, though, and she could move to it, too.

She was trying really hard to focus on dancing and less on the way Nazio’s hands ghosted over her waist before grabbing tightly to her hips. She swore he only did that just so he could get her closer. Not that she minded.

She was, however, trying to maintain a little bit of dignity and space between them. It wasn’t like there weren’t a whole bunch of people watching them. Including family.

Her focus was entirely lost when the song blasting through the house changed to a slower tune altogether, and Naz spun her around with one hand. His arm curved tightly around her waist, so his hand could rest on her lower back while his other caught hers and wove their fingers together.

Roz laughed breathlessly when Naz winked. “I thought I said a dance, Naz.”

“I wanted two. I’m not very good at denying myself things I want, Roz.”

Well, then …

She could hear the murmurings of the people around them. Despite the house being quite large, it was filled to capacity. Someone had decided the best bet would be just to move the furniture out of the living room so that they had room to dance, and mingle. The hallways were still full of people, too.

“Food’s ready!” someone shouted.

Roz looked away from the man still staring at her to watch as people started to filter out of the living room into the conjoining dining room. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“In a minute,” Naz said.

His gaze caught hers again, and she swore it was like the floor tilted under her feet. “Why do you keep staring at me like that?”

Like the rest of the world didn’t exist. Like this was the first time he was ever actually seeing her, but he intended to make it last.

“Catching up,” he murmured vaguely.

“What does that mean?”

“It means … I don’t know what it means,” Naz admitted.

“Really?”

“My brain fails me today, apparently.”

“That’s a sad thing,” Roz whispered.

Naz shook his head. “I don’t think it is. I think it’s pretty amazing, actually. My mind never stops, Roz. Even when I’m sleeping, my dreams are overwhelming because my brain just goes, and goes.”

“And it’s not right now?”

“It’s going,” he said, “just not like it should.”

“Is that a bad thing or a good thing?”

“Right now, it’s good.” Naz tugged her a little closer, and her body tucked against his chest. Never once had he stopped moving them to the beat of the slow song echoing out of the speakers. Most of the room had filed out for food. A few people remained, but they weren’t paying them any attention. “It’s really good.”

“Huh.”

Naz quirked a brow, and his gaze drifted over her face slowly. “Can I take you home later? We could walk, or I can drive. Whatever.”

The butterflies were back.

So was her racing heart.

He just … waited.

“You probably should,” Roz said, “I might get lost.”

Naz laughed. “You got it, sweetheart.”