Chapter 4 #2
“No, no, I didn’t mean get out of here,” he said, stressing the “out” with a cringe. “Dance with me.”
Before I could decline, he gently tugged on my arm and guided me to the dance floor with his hand on my lower back. By the time I prepared to be outraged, I realized I was rather comfortable in his arms as we swayed back and forth. The simple slow dancing didn’t require much coordination at all.
“So I actually didn’t get your name before?” Our faces were so close I could lick him, taste his breath: spearmint, vodka, and a faint fruity, cough-syrupy smell.
Robitussin will forever have a place in my heart now.
I took in a slow breath to savor his scent.
Don’t lick him, don’t lick him, don’t do it.
“I’m Cici. Short for Cienna.” For some reason, sharing my name made our whole interaction feel even more terrifying, and my cheeks flushed with warmth. Now when he was back home telling stories about the awkward girl he met his first night on the cruise, he’d have a name to share.
All my senses fixated on this man. His smell, the scratch of his stubble, the rumble as his words hit my ear. “Cienna… Mmm,” he hummed. “Pineapple doesn’t go on pizza.”
A twinkle lit his features, and I shot him a teasing scowl and gave myself a mental high five for not melting into a puddle.
Praying for my voice to come out normally, I cleared my throat. “So what’s your name?”
“Reed,” he answered while we swayed to the steady beat.
I pitched my head back. “Ugh, of course it’s something cool like Reed.”
His eyebrows squished together, and he opened his mouth to speak, but I cut in.
“Reed. It’s such a sexy dude name.” I stopped our sway and motioned up and down his body. “It’s like your parents knew you’d be this hot guy.”
A blush spread across the bridge of his nose, but amusement glinted in his eyes.
I continued my rant, “And then they thought, well, we won’t name him something overtly alpha and douchey, like Derek or Chad. We will do something subtly sexy, like Reeeed…”
His name rolled off my tongue over and over as he shook his head at me, holding back a grin.
“And here I thought I was just named after my grandfather. You do know that a reed is a piece of long, wavy grass, though, right?”
“Well… A reed is also the piece of wood that vibrates to make the sound on an instrument when it’s blown.”
Bam. Hit him with band-geek knowledge that doubles as a sexual innuendo. Brilliant.
Reed took a step back, mock affront in his features, clearly not expecting something so suggestive from me. I peered up and curled strands of my hair through my fingers. The giggle I was holding in finally managed to escape.
As he pulled me back into him, the touch of his body connecting to mine made every point of contact flutter warmth to my chest, neck, face, and cheeks.
All of this was beyond anything my body or mind had ever experienced. Sure, I’d been attracted to men before, but my body had never buzzed in this way.
He guided me into a twirl, and I squealed as I spun under his arm, then had to brace myself with a hand on his chest.
Song after song passed, and I completely lost track of time while we debated over which fruit could get away with crossing over into the entrée domain, then rated ginger celebrities and their attractiveness.
My timid giggles became hearty laughs as my body pushed up against his, all nerves firing, but in a way I found alluring.
How long had we been on the dance floor, laughing together?
Could have been seconds, could have been hours, days even, and not once did I shrivel up with shyness.
I wanted more of this, of him, and not a single part of me wanted to flee.
At least, not until I heard hoots and hollers, along with my name, coming from a table at the back of the room. It broke through the fog of enchantment that enclosed us.
Fuck these ever-loving, penis-obsessed bitches. Maybe it was revenge for not bringing back drinks, but the truth was, they were egging me on, taking every opportunity to fuel their ridiculous fixation on me getting… some.
With a groan, I flopped my head down, nearly nuzzling into his shoulder.
Staying there, feeling his words vibrate in his chest, taking him in, sounded like heaven.
But alas, I had a gaggle of noisy-ass girlfriends to deal with.
“Sorry. They don’t get out much. It’s a long school year for us teachers. ”
He pulled me in closer for one moment, then dipped me, causing me to squeak.
When I was back upright, facing him, the most seductive grin appeared on his delicious lips, and I couldn’t help but gaze at his mouth a little longer than socially acceptable.
Swept into a daydream, I let myself imagine what those lips would feel like on mine, what they’d feel like traveling down my neck, lower and lower.
Nearly ready to combust, I noted the cougar across the room, leaning into another man in his late twenties, her cleavage nearly escaping her barely there crossover top. “Looks like the coast is clear.”
He peered over to my line of sight, then turned back and tilted his head. “Maybe just one more dance, to be safe.”
My relenting sigh was nowhere close to being discreet, but I nodded, my soft blush turning a scarlet red.
He shifted his hand a little higher on my back and inched his body away, creating a little space between us.
While I could catch my breath a little easier, I immediately missed his warmth pressed against me.
“So, Cici… who likes pineapple on pizza.” He made a dramatic gagging sound. “How did you get deemed the cat lady in that wild group of ladies over there? From where I’m standing, you’re totally the hot one.”
“Wow.”
“What?”
“That line.” I rolled my eyes to the heavens.
“Not a line.” He tried that smoldering-eye shit again, but I wasn’t buying it.
“It’s clearly a line.”
My skin prickled at the awareness of his warm chuckle next to my ear. Then he gave a breathy exhale, and the sensations traveled straight through my body to my tummy, down to my core, and lit a match.
“Fine, it was a line,” he finally admitted. “But I really am curious. You’re funny, you’re sexy, and you’re the only one dancing, let alone talking to the, and I quote, hottest guy in the room.”
I shoved his shoulder playfully. “Modest much?”
“Dude, you said it, not me.”
I smiled, holding in the giddiest of giggles. This, him. It was comfortable and enjoyable, this banter with this scorching-hot man.
“Ha,” I scoffed. “Now I’ve moved into dude territory? Boom, friend zoned. I guess now is when we go play Xbox and trade Pokémon cards.”
He looked up at the ceiling with a groan.
“Well, do you have an Xbox?” I raised an accusatory brow.
“Guilty as charged. But I only play M for mature games.” He had the audacity to wink and lift a brow. Were our eyebrows having a love affair? That’s a dangerous game, man.
“Well, that is different.” I fluttered my lashes. “That’s even a swoony line worth saying.”
He eased me back into him, fully pressed together, knocking the breath out of me with a sound that was nothing close to quiet.
He peered down at me. “Did it work?”
I made brief eye contact with him before turning my head to scan the room. “Maybe a little?”
The music ended, and the singer said something to the crowd.
I wasn’t listening. I could only focus on the fact our moment of swaying and teasing was coming to an end.
Once again, I wasn’t sure what the precedent called for after dancing with someone for what felt like forever.
Or what to do when part of you didn’t want it to end.
“Now what?” I asked. I knew my eyes were big and hopeful.
He cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll excuse myself.
Rethink my life choices as an avid pineapple hater, and call my parents to thank them for naming me…
” He crossed his arms over his chest, plumping his biceps under his shirt.
“Then I’ll pull myself together and buy you and your ladies a round of drinks.
Pink, of course.” He winked. Then, with a nod and a coy smile, he stepped back from me, turned, and walked away.