Page 74 of Allegiant

“Yeah,” he says as he tucks himself away. Then we just sit there, trying to catch our breath, our eyes meeting and flicking around the room before we snag each other once more.

Finally he speaks. “Never shown anyone how I dance before. Not willingly, anyway.”

I reach out and touch his leg, squeezing it gently. “I loved it.”

“I know it’s not any good…”

“No, it’s perfect. It was perfectly you. Don’t ever change.”

His smile is cautious but beautiful. “Yeah, don’t think I will.”

Mine is bright in return. The first real one in…god, a very long time. “Good, because I like you just the way you are.”

19

ROWAN

Samson shows me around the grounds after that, his hand finding mine, strong and steady as he guides me past the gazebo, the large pond, and an ancient oak tree that’s been here for two hundred years.

When we make it back to the house, Wylder pulls Samson aside. He doesn’t go willingly, grumbling the entire time he’s being led away, leaving me to stand awkwardly in the hallway.

But then Neo finds me, appearing from nowhere and startling me.

“What are you doing?” he asks, his head tilting as he assesses me.

My cheeks darken. I know Neo is the one who recorded Samson in his dancing shed. Did he see what we just did in there, too?

“Samson showed me where he dances and then gave me a tour of the garden. We’d just gotten back inside when Wylder pulled him away.”

“Hmm. That’s annoying, but their shit’s important. Blah, blah.” He waves his hand in a dismissive way that has me grinning.

I can’t help but ask, “What does Wylder do?”

“Besides run the family?” He lets out a small laugh. “He runs a scholarship charity. I help manage it. He’s terrible at it.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, the guys are…rich as fuck, but they all have ways they put their money to good use.”

“What does Samson do with it?” Does he even work? On the one hand, I feel like this grumpy, gorgeous man is showing me sides to himself he doesn’t show to anyone else. But on the other, I don’t know the most basic shit about him. I shouldn’t want to know, either. Knowing leads to caring. Caring leads to…

Well, sobbing hysterically on the floor of my closet.

Neo purses his lips. “Actually, I don’t know. Fuck, how do I not know?”

“Know what?” Harley asks, appearing by my side, a lollipop in his mouth. He pulls it out, leaving his lips a dark red.

“What Samson does with his money.”

Harley makes a face. “Don’t fucking know, to be honest. He’s very quiet about it. Don’t even know if he spends it. I mean, you’ve seen his dancing shed. His shitty house off this property isn’t much better.”

That makes my stomach twist uneasily. “I guess it was…beaten out of me, okay? Dancing, anything that was considered feminine was not accepted.”

Samson hasn’t built himself somewhere to dance, not because he can’t afford to, but because part of him feels like it still needs to be hidden, that his joy can only be freed in a dark space where no one else can see.

I don’t like that. Not one little bit.

“Anyway, if you want to know what I do with my money, I’m happy to tell you,” Harley says, almost flirtatiously. But the thing is, I know he’s not interested. Not in me, anyway.