Page 30 of The Wedding Pact

Throughout the meal I’m incredibly aware of Raffa sitting next to me, our elbows occasionally brushing, but neither of us saying much to the other. Every now and again, he glances over at me and mouths ‘You okay?’ to which I just nod back in reply.

I appreciate him checking up on me though. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy to be so well looked after. I get the feeling he’s the type of guy who really cares about how others are feeling, when he’s actually in the room and paying attention.

After dinner, we’re told the silent disco is about to start and if we want to join in, we can grab a set of over-ear headphones to wear and pick whichever channel we’d most like to dance to.

‘Okay, dude, time for that dance-off you promised to beat me at,’ I joke, elbowing Raffa gently.

He turns and raises both eyebrows at me, then leans in, his gaze locking with mine and sending a thrill up my spine. ‘Fine by me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though.’

‘Consider me well-warned,’ I shoot back, making it clear in my tone that he’s going to have a fight on his hands.

He just grins at that, then walks over to where the headphones are being handed out, taking one set for himself and passing a second set to me.

‘I guess we should choose the same channel so we’re in sync,’ I suggest.

‘Good call. Something fast, right?’

‘Yeah.’ I put my headphones on and listen to all three channels in turn, switching between red, blue and green, which are all playing different streams of dance music.

‘I vote blue,’ I say.

Raffa nods, turning his channel to blue too. ‘Okay. Good for me.’ He puts his headphones on then takes my hand, leading me through the throng of people that are already dancing and over to the far side the dancefloor where there’s more room.

‘Wait one sec,’ I mouth, then take off my heels and put them to the side of the dancefloor.

Removing his headphones momentarily, he grins at me, then gestures for me to do the same. ‘Wow. You’re really serious about this,’ he teases.

‘I sure am.’

‘Okay then. The dance-off is on.’

Fitting my headphones firmly back onto my head, I start to move, closing my eyes and taking a few moments to get into the rhythm of the track that’s currently playing. It’s a fast one and it takes me a bit of time to acclimatise, but when I start to feel the pulse of the bass in my body, the movement follows naturally.

I know I’m dancing well, helped by the wine I drank during the meal, no doubt.

When I open my eyes, expecting to see Raffa watching me, I’m blown away to see him dancing like an absolute pro, his body moving in ways I can only dream of moving mine. He’s got talent, that’s for sure. It’s like he’s got rhythm coming from his soul.

I stop dancing and stare at him as he continues to move.

It’s utterly mesmerising to watch.

I’m not the only one watching him, I notice. Lots of the other dancers are turning to gawp too.

Raffa opens his eyes and looks directly at me, like he’s sensed he’s got my full attention.

I’m so caught up in my fascination with him I don’t respond for a few seconds, and he looks amused to see me just standing there staring at him, my mouth ajar in surprise.

He slows his movements and moves closer to me, raising both eyebrows in question and lifting one earphone away from his ear.

‘Yeah, okay, dude. You win,’ I admit. ‘You’re the better dancer.’

The smile he gives me is one of pure delight and I feel the joy of it deep inside me.

I move my headphones away from my ears too. ‘Please tell me you’ve had lessons and it’s not just natural talent.’

‘Yeah,’ he says with a grin, ‘I used to do street dancing when I was young. I’ve not done if for ages though, so I’m a bit rusty.’

Rusty my arse.