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“Is,” Brooks corrects.
Irritated by Brooks’s abruptness, Alex’s shoulders push back. “Funny, I’ve never heard your name mentioned before.”
His hair is shorter on the sides than I’m used to. The length on top is more pronounced, falling along his forehead messily. His light eyes still break at my soul, still lined with the blackest lashes I’ve ever seen.
His teeth bite into his bottom lip. “Henley guards the most important things in her life.”
Grace frowns at him. “Anyway.” She steps forward, her arm sliding through Brooks’s elbow. “Brooks and I were just going to dance. We’ll catch you guys later.”
Brooks doesn’t budge for an awkward second, his eyes set on me in frustration.
I expected animosity and maybe a little detachment, but he’s given me none of that. It’s as if it that night never even happened.
“That guy’s a dick,” Alex comments when Grace manages to pull him away.
“He is not,” I argue.
Stepping up to the bar, Alex moves up next to me. “You’ve never mentioned him.”
I swallow, avoiding eye contact and gesturing to the bartender for two glasses of champagne. “We haven’t spoken in a long time.”
“Hm.” He wants to push it further, but I clink my glass against his, swallowing the entire contents of mine before gesturing for another.
* * *
“Dad.”Hand to Carter’s shoulder, Brooks takes my hand from his dad. “I’m gonna have to cut in before you claim my bestie for yourself.”
The thick middle section of Carter Riley shakes as he laughs. The sound robust and easily heard over the soft melody of music filtering across the dance floor.
“Of course.” Carter smiles. “I should go and find my wife before she complains about me dancing with all the pretty ladies before her.” He winks at me conspiratorially.
The warmth of Brooks’s hand slides gently against mine, the long bend of his fingers wrapping around my hand as he pulls my body into his. His free hand fits against my lower back, much like it did earlier when he was dancing with Grace. I wonder if she notices now, her boyfriend's hand pressed possessively to the naked skin of my back. Or if she’s confident enough in herself that it doesn’t matter. She knows Brooks is hers. Whomever he touches, whoever he dances with, she’ll be the one tangled in his bedsheets tonight.
“You look beautiful, Squirrel.”
Chin to my shoulder, I check the vicinity for Addy. Confident she’s twisted up with Andrew and out of the vicinity to hear me.
“I feel naked.”
He takes a tiny step back, his eyes turning greedy, taking in every inch of the silk touching my skin. His lips part as he goes to speak, but he thinks better of it. His mouth closes, and he steps back into my body.
“Alex is a dick.”
I push him. “Funny. He said the same about you.”
He shrugs.
“I—”
“Can we not talk?” he whispers against my ear. “Just for this song. I just want a moment of light with you. One without expectation or guilt or . . . let’s just be us.”
Resting my cheek on his chest, I nod. “Okay.”
It’s easy to forget where we are in this intimate moment. Tangled up in one another, the soft melody of a song dedicated to love wrapping us in its own embrace. The scars we’ve nursed over the years forgotten, our hearts finding synchronization, our guards torn down, leaving us at the mercy of our feelings.
I can hear the beat of his heart against my ear. The prominent strum like a whisper of my name, over and over again.
Hen-ley.
