Chapter 16 The Dance
The Dance
Iwas drunk and caught off guard. Cursing myself for being so careless, I raised a trembling hand to grab Grey’s steady one.
I moved without thinking, guided by the magnetic pull that had ensnared me from the moment I’d met Grey.
The corner of Grey’s mouth twitched upward for a moment, then he led me to the dance floor.
Now, it was my turn to have questions buzzing in my head. What is he doing, leading me out onto the floor during a slow song? What is he thinking? That wasn’t something friends did. And it certainly wasn’t something someone did if they were in a happy, committed relationship.
His fingertips brushed my waist—a warning before his hand found its resting place at my hip.
He grabbed my left hand with his right, and my arm fell instinctively onto his shoulder.
We fit together almost too perfectly. Neither of us had held the other like this before, but we knew what to do without thinking about it.
I would have been in heaven if it hadn’t been for the injustice of it all.
Grey leveled his deep eyes at me, and my breath hitched in my throat. Static filled my drunk brain. The air seemed to freeze around us, locking me in place.
Then Grey and I started to dance, stepping back and forth to the music. The movement cleared my head just enough for me to remember that other people were in the room. The moment I remembered that, I was certain all eyes were on me dancing with Grey.
“What’s wrong?” Grey muttered into my ear. “You look worried.”
“It feels like everyone is staring at us.”
“No one is paying us any attention,” Grey said. “But even if they were, let them stare. Who cares?”
I was about to point out that I very much cared until I realized…
maybe I didn’t. I was so used to hiding any sort of feelings toward Grey that my nerves around the idea of people spotting it had become reflex.
Hell, I’d even done a pretty decent job convincing myself that my feelings had faded over the past few weeks. Looks like that’s out the window now.
“Now will you tell me what was wrong earlier?” Grey asked. “Or are you going to keep pretending badly that you’re fine?”
My ears burned. “I don’t think I’m that bad of an actor.”
“Please, I’ve seen better acting in porn.”
Thinking about what dirty things Grey watched in his personal time wasn’t a can of worms I was ready to open. But it was too late. I couldn’t shake the image of him lying in bed, his hand going into his pants as he pulled up a video on his laptop.
Nope. Stop it. Attempting to drive the thoughts away, I clenched my jaw so tightly that my teeth squeaked under the pressure.
Grey narrowed his eyes at me, clearly waiting for an answer. So, face flushed with embarrassment at the thoughts that had leaped into my head, I decided to tell him the truth.
“I was thinking about your wedding,” I said.
Grey blinked. Clearly, that was the last thing he’d expected to come from my mouth. “It’s a bit premature to be thinking about my wedding, considering I have no idea who I’ll marry.”
My cheeks heat in response. “It was stupid. I imagined you getting married to Carina and how happy you’d look, and I just got…
” I shrugged. I couldn’t finish admitting that I’d gotten so worked up by a fictional scenario that it had made me tear up—that I’d been so emotional because, in that scenario, I had been nowhere to be seen.
Grey fought to keep a straight face and failed. His mouth broke into a smile, then he started laughing.
“See? This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” I said. “It was dumb. I’m sorry I burdened you with that.”
“It’s not dumb,” Grey said. “I think it’s sweet. But I don’t think you have to worry about me marrying Carina anytime soon.”
The heat in my face spread down my neck to my chest. I wanted nothing more than to kiss Grey in that moment. I inched my face forward, emboldened by the alcohol in my system before I realized what I was doing and forced myself to stop.
“You don’t think things are serious enough with Carina to marry her one day?” I asked, hoping that I sounded casual and not at all like Grey had just thrown me a lifeline—and also praying to God that he hadn’t noticed my almost kiss.
Grey smirked. “I didn’t say that.” In the pregnant pause that followed, he seemed to choose his next words very carefully. “However, there are a lot of things I want to do before I get married to anyone.”
I nodded, pretending that his anyone hadn’t stung.
It wasn’t like we would rush off to Vegas to get married tomorrow, even if we did magically end up deciding we wanted to be together.
But like I kept reminding myself, we were just friends.
Nothing more. Especially not while Carina was still in the picture.
“What about you?” Grey asked.
The song changed, but we didn’t stop dancing, just adjusted our movements to match the rhythm of the music.
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever pictured getting married?”
Other than today and to you? I thought, but I would never say that aloud.
“I’ve never been in a serious relationship before.” Hopefully, the half answer would be enough to satisfy Grey.
“Never?”
“Let’s just say that I wanted to play the field when I went to college.” That had been my plan anyway. Until Grey.
“And how did that work out for you?”
Well, I’m currently dancing with my “just friend,” who I’m falling for more and more no matter how hard I fight it.
And all I want to do is kiss you right now, but oh yeah, you’re dating someone who, for whatever reason, you won’t break up with despite the fact that you’ve said multiple times that you might be interested in me.
“It’s going phenomenal,” I lied. “Besides, I’m not sure I really believe in love.”
That surprised Grey enough that he missed a step in our dance. He recovered quickly enough that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t pay such close attention to everything he did.
“Seems like an odd thing to not believe in,” Grey mused. “I’m sure you’ve felt it.”
“I’ve liked people, sure,” I said. “But after my parents split… I don’t know, I guess it doesn’t seem like there’s much longevity in love. Like it’s a temporary emotion and kind of pointless.”
“Pointless!” Grey said in mock indignation. “What else am I supposed to write songs about?”
“I mean, you’ve said it yourself in your own songs,” I pointed out. “Didn’t you write a song about love being just a game?”
“Fair point, but I like to think I’ve matured since then.” Grey laughed.
“So, other than Carina, have you had any serious relationships?” I asked. It was only fair, seeing as I’d just accidentally bared my deepest feelings on love.
“A couple,” Grey said. “But they all seem less serious now.”
“What changed?”
Before Grey could answer, the music stopped, and Meredith, the bride, walked up on stage. Grey and I stopped dancing to turn and watch her approach the microphone.
“Hey, everyone, first I want to say thank you all so much for coming out tonight,” she said to applause from the wedding guests. “I know that it’s starting to get late, but before we go, I wanted to take the opportunity to abuse my rights as a bride on her special day.”
Several people laughed in the crowd, including Grey.
“I wonder who her poor victim is,” he said.
“Most here know that my cousin Grey is in a band,” the bride continued, and the smile fell from Grey’s face. “And I was thinking, wouldn’t it be awesome if he sang us a song before the night is over!”
Loud applause followed, joined by a couple of high-pitched whistles from the crowd.
“What do you say, cuz?” Meredith asked. “It is my special day.” She said the last part in a singsong voice that earned more cheers from the guests.
“I’m going to kill her,” Grey muttered, but he put on a huge smile and approached the stage.
Everyone cheered as he climbed the steps. He stopped near the band, and someone handed him a guitar before he approached his cousin. They spoke to each other in low voices away from the mic, shared a hug, then the bride spoke into the mic again. “Everyone, give it up for my cousin Grey!”
The crowd cheered, and I joined in, clapping along with everyone else. Meanwhile, Grey’s cousin ran offstage, and Grey stepped up to the mic.
“Um, I’m not really used to doing this without my band,” he said. “But I have been writing a new song that I haven’t played for anyone yet. Sorry, it’s not really a dancing song.”
“It’s okay!” his cousin yelled from somewhere up front, and a few people laughed.
“All right then.” Grey shifted the guitar strap in an attempt to get comfortable. “This song is called ‘Just Friends.’”
My jaw dropped as the first few notes came from the guitar. “Just Friends.” I had a feeling the song could only be about one thing—us. It felt like staring down the barrel of a gun as the notes flew from the guitar. I held my breath, waiting for him to sing.
“Friends. That’s all you say we are.
Things can’t ever get too far.
We’ve got to play it safe.
Just Friends. But you look at me like a falling star,
Like a mystery coming from afar.
I don’t want to play it safe.”
“He’s very talented,” someone said in a familiar voice from my side.
I looked over to see Grey’s mom looking straight ahead. Pride shone in her eyes.
“He is,” I agreed.
It seemed, from the corner of my eye, that she had glanced at me, but the movement was so faint I couldn’t be sure without tearing my eyes off of Grey. And right now, I couldn’t seem to do that.
Grey continued to sing.
“Didn’t I give staying away a try?
But I can’t stop seeing you when I close my eyes,
And then you kiss, and there go all my plans.
I don’t want this thing to end,
But it’s clear that we’re not just friends.”