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Wanting a break from dancing after that, she moved across to the bar. Seeing that Juniper had just sat down, she seized the opportunity to grab a moment with her between dances.
Handing Juniper a glass of wine, Mikayla sat down, “Cheers. Lovely party,” she said, clinking her glass against Juniper’s.
“Isn’t it?” Juniper gave a contented sigh as she looked around the room. It certainly looked like everyone was having a great time.
“Hello, what have we here?” Mikayla grabbed Juniper’s wrist urgently.
“What is it?”
She gestured to the dance floor, where Callum was leading Leah out, pulling her into his arms as the first strains of Kaleo’s “All the Pretty Girls” floated on the air. She watched them for a long moment, seeing how careful Callum was as he touched her, just a light touch high on her back, her hand held loosely in his. Leah, for her part, kept her eyes lowered, holding herself back just a little. The beat quickened and he spun her out quickly, then back in. She stumbled a little, landing against him, looking up, startled. He lowered his head, saying something close to her ear and Mikayla could almost feel the intensity of his gaze as he looked at Leah, noting the shy smile Leah flicked up at him.
“Oooh, the bugger.”
“What, why?”
“I think he planned this.”
“You reckon?”
“Yeah, he loves Kaleo. Played with them at a gig in England. Check out the way he’s looking at her.” Mikayla rubbed her hands together with glee. “This is perfect.”
Juniper laughed at her enthusiasm. “You are a relentless shipper.”
“I know, but I just really want her to be happy, you know. Have some fun. She bloody deserves it.” Leah had spent many years in an unhappy marriage. Although she hadn’t been very forthcoming with details, Mikayla and Juniper had surmised that it had possibly crossed over from unhappy to abusive. “Callum’s a good guy. He wouldn’t hurt her.” She continued to watch them with a thoughtful frown on her face.
Juniper said, “This is the most I’ve seen her interact with him. They look good together.” Then she shot Mikayla a warning look. “But you don’t need to get involved. Just let it play out.”
Mikayla sighed. “You know me too well.” She grinned as Juniper laughed at her. “I know you’re right, so I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed for them.”
“Good plan.” She took a sip of wine, but then jumped hurriedly to her feet. “William’s dad is leaving. I’m just going to go say goodbye.”
“Okay.” Mikayla took the opportunity to use the bathroom, thinking it might be nice to find Rafe and have a beer with him as she came back out. Or maybe she could get some girls together and hit the dance floor. Hmm, she’d need to convince Callum to change up the playlist. He had definitely set up the mood for some slow dancing and unless she happened upon some spunky guy in the next five minutes that she could schmooze with, she was not interested in it. As she skirted the dance floor, she felt an arm slide around her waist and she was pulled hard against a hot, sweaty body.
“Hey, let’s dance.”
It was the guy in the red shirt and hideous tie that had been eyeing her earlier. Mikayla, repelled, pushed at him. “No, thanks.”
“Aw, come on. Don’t be rude.”
“I said no thanks.” She tried to add some force to her tone, turning her face away as it seemed like he was about to attempt to kiss her. His breath reeked of beer and she felt her stomach turn. He pulled her tighter against him and she felt a wave of rising anger. How dare he manhandle her here, of all places, where she would have no choice but to cause a scene if he didn’t let her go right away. “Fuck off. I said no.”
“Bitch.” He slid a hand up her side. “Don’t show your tits off if you don’t wanna be hit on.”
She felt the hot sting of tears at the sheer injustice of his actions and clenched her hand into a fist, taking a deep breath and barely resisting the urge to punch him hard in the gut, spectacle be damned.
“Hey mate, get your hands off her. I think you’ve had enough.”
Mikayla’s knees almost buckled with relief as she heard Rafe’s voice behind her.
“We’re just tryna have a dance,” the man objected. But he looked up, over Mikayla’s shoulder. One look at Rafe had him pulling away, hands up with his palms facing out in an appeasing gesture. He moved off, disappearing in the swaying bodies on the dance floor.
“Thanks,” Mikayla turned to him, trying to still her shaking body. She felt overwhelmed by the mix of anger and humiliation stemming from the encounter.
“All good?” He looked down at her and feeling a bit calmer, she nodded. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”
“Great idea.” His hand on the small of her back soothed her as they made their way over to the bar. She slid onto a stool, resting her chin on her hand, sighing angrily while she waited for Rafe to order the beers. “Fucking creeper.”
“Who is he? Do you know?”
