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I’m not sure who’s listening to my prayers, but I send a silent thank you whenHappybyPharrell William’sstarts playing.
Moving my head from side to side, I sway towards the speaker, slowly turning up the volume until I have to shout over the music. Jay-Jay’s head pops up, his eyes wide.
“What are you doing?” he screams, covering his ears with his hands.
I laugh, shaking my hips like a crazy person. There’s no rhythm, just jerking movements, limbs with no control, and every worry drifting to the back of my mind.
“Dancing.” I shimmy to his side, patting my thighs. “Pop your legs up here.” He’s laughing, but he does as I ask. A few seconds later, he’s giggling until his face is red when I pull his trainers off and toss them across the room.
I grab his hands, dragging him off the chair. He collapses into me, the sound of his laugh the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.
“Come on. Dance. It makes everything better.”
Wiggling his eyebrows, his shoulders begin to move up and down, then his legs, matching my flailing body around the kitchen. We jump until our muscles burn, both our faces coated in a sheen of sweat, but so deliriously happy.
The microwave pings in the background. I ignore it.
One song blends into another, and I’m not sure whose idea it was to race each other by running and sliding in our socks.
There’s a long hallway from the kitchen to Jake’s office, and it’s the perfect racing spot.
Memory lane.
“You’re really bad at this,” Jay-Jay says, breathless.
“I’m wearing the wrong socks.”
I’m losing by two when we set off again, determination furrowing my brows. We both take off on a run. I begin to slide when the kitchen door flies open, and I crash into a brick wall of wet flesh. Instinctively, I put my palms up to steady myself, but my tired legs betray me, and I stumble backward. He’s fast when his arm snakes around my waist, setting me back on my feet.
Looking up, I try to hide the blush across my cheeks, but I’m pretty sure I’m so out of breath he can’t see it, anyway. And my stupid stomach does a weird flutter. His hair is soaked, drops of rainwater falling onto his face. One lingers on his lower lip, and I find myself licking mine. His eyes drop, as does my heart.
I clutch at the shoulders of his suit jacket. The material is soaked through.
“Sorry,” I mutter, but the only thing my body is aware of is his touch.
His eyes roam from me to Jay-Jay and around the kitchen before a raging glare sets on me again. It’s so different from the heat in his eyes just a moment ago, I rear back.
“What the hell is going on? Why is the music so loud? Are you trying to make my child deaf?”
Flinching, I step back and out of his hold.
You’re welcome, asshole.
I swallow the sting in the back of my throat before opening my mouth to speak, but Jay-Jay cuts through the music. “We were dancing and racing in our socks.”
Every muscle in Jake’s face is tight, the vein in his temple throbbing.
I’m in trouble.
“Are you trying to break his legs, too?”
I’m a little lost for words. I was only trying to help. I open my mouth to speak, but the only thing to leave my parted lips is air.
Jake shakes his head with a frustrated sigh before walking away, kissing Jay-Jay on the head and saying, “Get dressed for bed. I’ve got some work to do, and I’ll be up then to say goodnight.”
Then he walks away. Just like that, he disappears down the hall, the set of his shoulders stiffening with every step he takes. One final disapproving look back, and he disappears into his office.
I was just scolded, put back in my box, and taught my place in the time it took for the last thirty seconds of the song to play.
