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“Me next!” Vera shouts and Jackson obliges, taking her for a whirl while she laughs.
Garrett watches them with a soft smile playing on his lips. I head to the blanket to re-join Luke, but Dylan grabs my wrist. “Not so fast.”
We dance barefoot in the dirt as he enjoys making me look like the amateur I am. He shakes his head when the song ends. “All this time and you still suck.”
I smack his arm while we both laugh. I missed him so much.
Brando dances with me next. I glance at Luke and find him smiling, much like Garrett was, as he watches us. I blush again and Brando grins. “You never stood a chance, Sparrow.”
I’ll never tell him he might be right. Garrett dances with me next, then my uncle and Dad before he pulls Barbara up despite her weak protests. Charlotte insists on dancing with everyone in my hunky entourage, as she likes to call them. When I’m with Mark, I notice Garrett dancing with Vera and smile at the tenderness in his gaze. Maybe he never stood a chance, either.
The opening notes to Brian Martin’sBeauty in the Strugglebegin and Jordy spins me to face Luke, who holds his hand out to me. I take it without hesitation, and he pulls me into his body, just like he used to when we would dance at The Lone Boot. Emotions swirl at the familiarity of my head against him. He wraps me up with one arm and holds my hand to his chest.
Neither of us speaks, but we don’t need to. He moves me in slow circles, his heartbeat echoing against my ear. It’s fast, matching the pace in my own veins. He sings along and I pay attention to the lyrics, my eyes burning as I recall everything we’ve been through.
When the song ends, all too soon, he stops moving and I lift my head. The urge to kiss him is overwhelming, so I lift on my toes to reach him, but he stops my movement by placing his hands on my shoulders. He cups my face and stares into my soul, then he steps away, squeezing my hand before he returns to his blanket.
A beer can appears in my vision and Garrett grins at me. “Thought you might need to cool down.”
“WHOO boy! We all need a cool down after watching that,” Jackson quips.
Luke shakes his head at his friend and grins at me before taking a sip of his drink. I take a seat next to Barbara. “Oh, honey. You two are so cute together. Things are going well, huh?”
I nod. “Yea, I think so.”
She claps with excitement. “I’m so happy for you.”
Vera rolls her eyes at me from across the fire. She’s not a huge fan of Barbara.
People filter back to the houses. My uncle tells us to leave everything, and we’ll pick it up in the morning before he leaves with Charlotte. Mark says goodnight and Jackson, Brando, and Dylan follow him. It’s then I realize Garrett and Vera are nowhere to be found. Jordy and Skye return to the house, too.
My parents share a glance, then stand and make their goodbyes. Luke climbs to his feet as they leave, and for the first time in ages, we’re alone.
“We’ve been set up,” he says, and I chuckle.
“I’m not mad about it.”
He grins and my heart soars. “I’ll walk you back,” he says, gesturing to the path. My smile slips along with my hope of spending more alone time with him. We put out the fire, and he falls into step next to me.
“Man, that sky is beautiful. We don’t get stars like this back home,” he says, looking up.
“No, we don’t.”
He rubs the back of his neck and takes a deep breath, still nervous around me after everything. “So, there’s a rumor floating around that you and Charlie didn’t work out?”
I shake my head. Bunch of blabbermouths. “It’s true.”
“Is that why you were crying the other day?” His tone is soft, and I nod.
“Charlie is a great guy. I could have had a good life with him. But there was one problem that we couldn’t get past.”
“What problem?”
We come to a stop, and he faces me. “I think you know,” I say, and he looks to the side.
“If you need some time to process, I can give you some space.”
“I’ve had a year to process. I don’t need space.”
