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Love.
I gulp down a thousand feelings. I’m overthinkingthis.
I can’t fall for a man after one night of conversation and adance.
“I’ve never danced with anyone like this,” Iadmit.
Instead of pulling away, he draws in nearer, pressing his mouth to my ear. I shiver as his crisp breath hits my sweaty skin. “Likewhat?”
“Without grinding my ass against someone while Lil Jon plays in thebackground.”
Proms. Frat parties. Clubs. Those are the only places I’ve danced with men. Never so slow, so personal, so gentle. Never likethis.
He chuckles—not only surprising me, but also making me smile. “I’m taking your virginity of how a real man dances with awoman.”
My response is resting my chin on his shoulder and losing myself to the music as he takes me into another world. We stay silent in our moment, but it’s a comfortable silence, something that feels necessary right now. I expect him to pull away when the song ends, but he doesn’t. We dance into the next one with my arms nestled on his rugged shoulders as we feed something weshouldn’t.
“Last call!” a voice yells in the distance, snapping me out of my powerful trance. I’m unsure of how many songs we’ve danced through. “Five minutes until closingtime!”
I attempt to pull away, but Dallas tightens his hold, silently asking me not to let goyet.
“Give me that five minutes,” hepleads.
“Of course,” I whisper, slipping my hands down his back. “I’ll give you however long youneed.”
He nods his thank-you. Time slows. These five minutes feel like a lifetime. Our embrace grows tighter, our sway to the music slower and the connectionsharper.
“Dallas, man, I hate to do this, but I have to shut this shit down,” the guy who screamed out the last callwarns.
I lose our connection when he retreats a step, my arms splaying down his sides and then falling to mine, and he gives me an apologeticlook.
“Sorry,” he whispers to me before turning his attention to the bartender. “You’re good, man. Enjoy yournight.”
The bartender, the same man who was making our drinks, gives him a thumbs-up and a smile. “It was good seein’ya!”
His gaze lowers to mine. “You ready to go back toStella’s?”
No!No!
I’m debating on asking the bartender how much he wants for this bar, so we can staylonger.
I force a smile. “I have to be, considering we’re getting kickedout.”
He grabs my hand, interlacing our fingers, and holds them against his shoulder. “It’s beautiful out tonight. How ’bout we take the scenic route? Might be a good idea to show you the beauty of Blue Beech since Hudson says you hate it and refuse to move here withStella.”
I tilt my head to the side. “Hey now, did he tell you to give me a good time in an attempt to change mymind?”
“You know me better than to think I’d take commands from my baby brother.But”—I knew thatbutwas coming—“that doesn’t mean I won’t try to convince you Blue Beech is a good place, and you should really consider movinghere.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”Especially if I can get another night likethis.
He bows his head. “Thankyou.”
“I didn’t make anypromises.”
“Not thank you for allowing me to show you around. Thank you for making me forget I’m a miserable man missing half of who he is. Thank you for not treating me like a broken fucking object that needsfixing.”
I hide my face on his shoulder to conceal my smile. “You’ve done the same for me.” With my mouth pressed against his denim shirt, my face hidden, I take a risk that could go horribly wrong. “You know somewhere I haven’t seen in BlueBeech?”
