Chapter 20 #2
Blair and I look up and see she’s standing there with a microphone in her hand while the music from the karaoke machine blasts through the speakers.
Griffin is shaking his head on the ground behind her, and if smoke could come out of someone’s ears literally, it would be fuming right now.
I can tell he’s nervous that she’s going to fall face-first off the bar.
Nan sings the lyrics of “Can’t Fight the Moonlight”, at the top of her lungs.
My stomach hurts from laughing so hard at this point as she continues, shaking her hips as if she’s a twenty-year-old working at the Coyote Ugly bar.
She brings her hand to her ear, signaling for everyone to join her in the last part. “Can’t fight the moonlight.” And the entire bar erupts with the final words of the chorus. She points to where Lily, Blair, and I stand. “Get up here, girls.”
I shake my head, waving my arms to say no while Blair jumps up and down with her arms in the air, ready for this moment.
“I think I said it already, but it’s worth saying again, this is the greatest night ever,” Lily shouts. “Let’s go!”
“Hell yeah,” Blair says in approval, making her way behind the bar. She pauses to give Griffin a pair of puppy dog eyes that beg for him to help her on top of the bar. He visibly groans, but helps her up anyway after pressing a kiss to her forehead.
She moves in sync with Nan, swaying their hips side to side with their arms around each other. Everyone is having the time of their life watching them up there.
Lily tugs at my wrist. “Let’s go up there, Pop.”
“Oh no. I can’t, Lily.”
She turns to face me. “Poppy, you’re having the most fun I’ve ever seen you have.
If you’re worried that other people will see you up there and say something about you being a teacher, you truly have nothing to worry about.
Besides, I just saw the fourth-grade English teacher beeline it for the bathroom, covering her mouth to puke. No one gives a shit.”
I do. I say to myself.
Glancing around the bar, she’s right. The way she always seems to be. No one cares right now. Everyone is dancing, grinding their hips against each other to the music as if Seven Stools is a nightclub all of a sudden.
The last thing I need to be doing is dancing on a bar.
But it’s my sister.
It’s Blair
It’s Nan.
It’s my brother’s bar.
It’s all in good fun.
You know what? Screw it.
This time, I’m the one to grab Lily by the wrist, guiding her behind the bar for Griffin to give us a boost, too.
I can tell by the look on his face that he hates everything about this, but obliges us anyway.
He helps Lily first, and she quickly joins Blair, moving and swaying their hips with the beat as Nan continues belting the words of the song.
“Well, this is a first,” Griffin says with a smile.
“Don’t start,” I joke back, lifting myself to join them on the bar.
Music thrums in my chest, and my hips sway on their own.
I feel lost in the music, and I love it.
For the first time, there’s no negative thoughts flowing like a raging river through my head.
It feels good. It feels free. Lifting my hands in the air, I close my eyes.
Feeling the music reverberate through my body, I can’t help the huge smile that takes over at how much damn fun this is.
Nan keeps singing, her words louder and louder as the energy in the room grows.
They love this. I love this. When I open my eyes, they immediately connect with an intense stare from Dallas on the other side of the bar.
We stay locked in that moment as I move my hips in a way I’ve never moved them before, letting my hands trail down my neck, down my body, until they find their place on my hips, still moving and swaying.
I don’t know who I think I am right now, but I’m addicted to the way he’s looking at me.
He’s looking at me like I’m the only woman in the bar.
He’s looking at me like I’m the answer to everything.
The only thing missing from his stare is his signature smile. There’s nothing but a hard set in his jawline, likely grinding his molars together. It’s the same jealousy as before, written all over his face. It’s not until he averts his gaze to his left and then back to me that I do the same.
Ben is watching me, and it instantly makes me feel uncomfortable. Did he see that mini performance I just put on for Dallas to see? He had to have. Dammit. It felt so good having Dallas watch me, and letting the music seep into my skin, that I didn’t even think about Ben being in the room.
I’m ready to jump off the bar and hide because I don’t want to give Ben any more ideas about flirting with me more, but I’m saved by the music ending. Griffin helps guide each of us off the bar, and I can tell he’s relieved the song is over.
I quickly excuse myself to the bathroom.
Once inside, I splash some water on my face and look at myself in the mirror to see if any of my mascara has rubbed off under my eyes.
Even with the heat blasting to keep it warm from the winter weather outside, I’m shocked I don’t look like a sweaty disaster after that.
When I exit the bathroom, my body collides with someone. Their hands grip my forearms, and I instantly hope it’s Dallas when I look up, but I know it’s not.
My body knows it’s not.
“There you are,” Ben says. “I was looking for you.”
“Yeah?” There’s a nervous squeak to my voice. “Sorry, I had to use the restroom.”
“I was wondering if you’d be up for that dance I asked about earlier tonight.”
I swallow, looking around to see if anyone else is here. Ben isn’t that type of guy, but he’s had some drinks in him. My gut is throwing up all sorts of red flags for this situation, as I feel backed into a quiet corner in front of him.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You know, since we work together and all.”
He takes a step toward me, and I try to move back, but a wall stops me.
“Come on, Poppy. You know the gym teacher and the fifth-grade science teacher are dating. It’s a small town, so it’s inevitable that some people might be together and work together.
” He reaches up to tuck my hair away from my face, and I flinch. “You can’t help who you fall for.”
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea, Ben.”
“Oh, stop. It’s fine.”
“She said it’s not a good fucking idea, Ben.”
My head turns to the voice, and Dallas stalks down the tiny hall toward us.
“Ah, Dallas.” Ben lights up. “My man! How are you?”
Dallas stops next to us, eyes bouncing between us, and I can tell they linger a little longer on me, ensuring that I’m okay. “I’d be a lot better if you weren’t cornering Poppy here in the hallway,” he says to Ben, but doesn’t take his eyes off me, as if I’ll disappear if he does.
“It’s not like that.” Ben laughs, oblivious to what’s happening here. “Poppy and I go way back. Don’t we?”
I shake my head, but Ben doesn’t notice.
“Oh!” Ben continues to Dallas. “Let me buy you a shot, Dallas. I’ve been wanting to for a while now, as a welcome to town kind of thing. And because you’re…well, you’re Dallas freaking Westbrook.”
“Why don’t you run off and do that,” Dallas tells him.
“Oh, hell yeah,” Ben says, running back to the bar and leaving us alone.
Dallas repositions himself across from me, the same way Ben just was. My back is still pressed against the wall, but the discomfort from before is gone. It’s been replaced with a calm. It feels like I can breathe again.
“Are you okay?” he asks flatly.
“I’m fine.”
His molars grind together as he glances down the hall. I feel the effects of the alcohol mixed with his presence through every inch of me. I’m not even thinking when I reach up, running my fingers along the sharpness of his jaw, forcing him to face me again.
“This is all hard and tight. Are you angry?”
“Yes,” he says quickly. Too quickly.
We stand there in silence. Gravity pulls my body off the wall, putting us closer than we were before. I have to angle my head up to get a good look at him.
“I’m okay, Dallas. But curious minds would like to know…were you jealous?”
Damn, alcohol mixed with a clear mind is making me bold.
He grumbles some kind of denial under his breath, but I can’t make out what it was. He leans in, letting his hand fall to the wall over my shoulder, leaning down and pressing his lips to the shell of my ear. “Do you really want the answer to that?”
He pulls back, locking eyes with me again. Instinctively, I bite down on my lower lip, which forces him to look down. My breathing picks up—labored and uneven. I couldn’t even form a coherent answer if I tried because everything about this man stirs up new and strange feelings in my body.
He’s still close. So damn close that I wonder if he will kiss me this time.
Please. Do something. Anything.
I nod, answering the question he just asked.
“I’m trying really hard to be a gentleman here.”
I know I want this when I shouldn’t. I want to feel his lips on mine and taste whatever is on his tongue. It’s wrong because I’m Sage’s teacher, and it’s so unlike me. Panic surges at the thought, but I keep everything under control the way I always do.
“And I’m trying really hard to be professional,” I say back.
He stays silent, just staring. The two of us are in this tiny hallway with no one else. My back to the wall, his one arm caging me in. If anyone rounded the corner and caught us, it would look exactly as it seems.
Two people fighting to remain in control and not cross the boundaries.
But my head is screaming, kiss me, dammit.
He’s still frozen in place, heat radiating off of him, refusing to break the intensity of the stare.
The longer he looks at me like this, the thicker the air feels around us.
I’m ready to break. I’m ready to end this inner fight with myself.
It’s the first time anyone’s ever looked at me like they’re obsessed with me—intoxicated with me. And I know it’s not the alcohol.
What if I just leaned in?
What if I initiated it?
He’s trying to respect my boundaries, and I’m now saying screw them.
I push up on my toes, resting my hand on the side of his face.
A move he’s done with me before. He leans into my touch, and he knows.
He knows I want this. I can see it in the way his eyes darken like the storm outside.
I trail my hand down until it’s on his neck, feeling his pulse pound rapidly under my touch, and then he presses his forehead to mine.
“Not here. Not like this,” he whispers softly.
I pull away, letting my back fall into the wall as if it would give us some space. Fear crushes me like an elephant sitting on my chest. I went too far. I’m too much. He knows the most vulnerable parts of me, and now I’ve scared him away.
Then he surprises me when he takes my face in his hands, holding me in place, his thumbs brushing the apple of my cheek.
“Is this okay?” he asks.
I nod eagerly. It’s more than okay. His hands are the reassurance I need right now. His lips are the confirmation I want, but I won’t push it.
“The first time I get a taste of your perfect, soft lips, it won’t be in this tiny dark hallway at a bar, Poppy.
When I say not here, that’s what I mean.
Trust me when I tell you this, I will have my taste of you.
There isn’t a part of you that I don’t want to taste.
” My breath hitches at his words. “But you’re in control here.
I may be stopping it right now, but next time—”
A group of girls comes barreling out of the woman’s bathroom, laughing, and it pulls us both away as if we’ve been caught.
He rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sorry.”
This time, it’s my turn to smirk at him, reversing the roles.
He’s smiling, and it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for all night. That smile. I side-step him, retreating down the hallway. But before I round the corner for the bar, I turn around one more time, and he’s still standing where I left him.
“Next time,” I say, grinning.
He shakes his head, still smiling from ear to ear.
Not here. Not like this.
I turn around and make my way through the crowd with only one thought on my mind.
Don’t you dare fall in love with him, Poppy.