AllFreeNovel
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I stand there not really knowing what to say or do, so instead, I just take another sip of my champagne.
“Nice night, isn’t it?”
“Hmm.” Another sip.
“Shit. I’m so bad at this,” he says, laughing at himself while running his fingers through his curly brown hair.
“Bad at what?”
“Small talk.” He laughs.
“Me too.” I smile, finding his nervousness endearing.
Gael has kind brown eyes, even if he is wearing a tux that’s probably worth more than my mom and Curt make in a month.
“How about we skip all the talking and just dance? Promise I dance better than I do chitchat.”
“You’re doing okay.” I grin.
“Yeah? Because it kind of feels like I’m coming off like a dork. Newsflash, I am one.”
I let out a giggle because he’s being funny as well as sweet.
“That’s okay. I’m one too.”
His brown eyes twinkle as they look at me.
“Not possible.”
“Oh, believe me, it’s very possible.” I laugh. “But if you’re still up for it, I wouldn’t mind a dance.”
“Yeah, I’m up for it,” he exclaims with glee, offering me his hand.
I stare at it for a bit, uncomfortable with holding another boy’s hand that isn’t Noah’s, but then I remember that he’s probably done more than just hold hands with Stacy tonight. Without giving it a second thought, I lace my fingers with Gael’s and let him lead me to the makeshift dance floor.
We start to sway to the sound of the piano playing a rendition of “Blue Moon,” his hands carefully placed on my hips, my hands on his shoulders. He tells me the reason he’s spending Christmas break with the Monroes in Thatcher’s Bay is because his parents decided that an African safari sounded more fun than spending the holidays with their only son. It saddens me that such a sweet guy could have assholes for parents, but he doesn’t seem to be too bothered by it. He asks about my family and my plans for when I graduate high school this year, and I offer the information willingly.
He's easy to talk to.
There’s no tension or angst between us whatsoever.
It’s just nice.
Innocent almost.
Normal.
My heart squeezes in my chest at how I’ve never hadeasyornormalbefore. With Noah, everything felt heightened, like at any moment I would burn to ash. The tension between us was always so thick you could cut it with a knife. It had always been like that between us, and when we crossed that bridge where hate and love collide, the electricity between us just intensified.
There’s no electricity with Gael.
There isn’t even a spark.
Yet in less than the half hour we’ve spent together, he’s made me feel safer in his arms than I ever was with Noah.
“Hey, are you okay? You look sad all of a sudden.”
“Do I?” I mumble.
