7. Mia
MIA
Now that I’ve got him here, what do I do with him?
David Bennett is not a flirt. He’s not chatty. He’s not outgoing.
And he’s not going to come over here.
I know that.
He doesn’t think we should even be friends. He’s not going to approach me in here in front of everyone.
What was I thinking?
I was thinking that maybe he would think this was safe. We just ran into one another here, it’s a social setting, it’s harmless if we spend time together here.
But he’s barely looked at me.
He’s sitting at the table with his brothers and friends. There are no women around. Carver has interacted with Kaelyn, of course, but for the most part they seem to be just enjoying a guys’ night.
I almost feel like I’m interrupting.
But he’s here because of my machinations. So I feel like I need to do something.
I lean in, grateful for the live music to cover my voice. “Now what?”
Whitney, Sloan, and Kaelyn all lean in too.
“Go ask him to dance,” Kaelyn says.
I shake my head. “I can’t.”
“Everyone at that table knows that you wanted him here and why,” Whitney says. “They’re probably wondering why you haven’t yet.”
“But that puts him on the spot,” I say. “He’s made it clear that he thinks this…us…is a bad idea.”
“You wanted him here tonight,” Whitney points out. “What did you think would happen?”
“I…” I sigh. “I don’t know. It’s not like I know what I’m doing. I told my sister I was going to seduce him. What the hell do I know about seducing anyone? Especially someone like David?”
Kaelyn grins. “Why is David a special case?”
“Because I’m pretty sure he’s used to women knowing what they’re doing,” I say with an eye roll.
“A confident woman who wanted to seduce a man would probably go ask him to dance,” Sloan points out.
“But if he says yes, it’s only because he’s nice and doesn’t want to turn me down in front of everyone,” I say.
“So you want him to say no?” Sloan asks.
“That would be so embarrassing.” I cover my face with my hands. “See? I did not think this through.”
“I’ll go ask him to dance,” Whitney says, sliding off her stool and adjusting her blue dress over her slim hips.
“And then what?” I ask.
“We’ll see what he says.”
“But then what?”
“Then we’ll dance,” Whitney says. “Or not, I guess.” She flips her long dark hair over her shoulder. “Though I have a pretty good track record.”
I grab her arm as she turns. “No.”
“No?”
“Don’t ask him to dance.” I can not be jealous of Whitney. My God, how stupid.
Yes, she's beautiful and confident and sweet and funny and...David would be stupid to not want to dance with her.
But I can't be jealous.
I still feel a little niggle of something that feels suspiciously like jealousy.
This night is starting to seem like a bad idea.
I got David here, and now I have no idea what to do. All of my options seem bad.
Maybe I should just go home. I'm reading a great romance right now. Or I could work on my fanfiction. For some reason, when I'm writing, I always know what to have the characters do.
Whitney gives me a little knowing smile. “Why not? I can ask him if he likes you.”
I roll my eyes. “We’re not in eighth grade.”
Whitney laughs. “Let’s just see if he’s even interested in dancing. Then we can see who he’s interested in dancing with.”
I sigh. I can’t keep David from dancing, just like I can’t make him dance.
“Fine, go ask him,” I say, letting go of her. “But don’t ask him about me.”
She nods. “Okay. Promise.”
I turn back to the table. Since David and his brothers are sitting behind me, I can’t watch what happens. I sip my drink, watch the dance floor where everyone else seems to be having a good time, and try to pretend I don’t care if David says yes to dancing with Whitney.
But he does not. She does head to the dance floor, but it’s with Jack, not David.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Kaelyn says. “They’ve all been so worried about Jack.”
With good reason. The poor guy. I’m surprised he’s dancing even now, but Whitney is basically his cousin, so it’s not like there’s any thought of romance there.
I get the impression from what everyone in town is saying that Jack is heartbroken and dating and romance are the furthest things from his mind.
But I’m glad he’s out and socializing at least.
I almost laugh at that thought and bring my glass to my lips. I’m not one to be judging anyone else’s social life, or lack thereof.
“I’m going to grab Charlie,” Sloan says.
“Yeah, I want to dance too,” Kaelyn adds, obviously eyeing her husband.
They both slide off their stools and head toward David’s table.
I pause with my glass halfway to my mouth.
What just happened?
Now I’m sitting here alone.
As is, I presume, David.
I don’t turn to look.
Did our friends just set us up to dance by process of elimination? Or did they all just really decide they couldn’t sit still a moment longer?
I wait, still not sure what to do. Will David come over here now?
But, nothing.
The song ends, and another starts, and everyone stays on the dance floor.
Still nothing.
I blow out a breath and pick up my phone.
And text him.
I was going to ask you to dance but wasn’t sure if I should.
He answers almost immediately.
You know you shouldn’t.
It’s just dancing.
If it was just dancing, you wouldn’t wonder if you should.
For some reason, that makes my stomach flip.
Whitney and Jack and Sloan and Charlie are just dancing.
But that’s different than if you and I danced, right?
Well…yes. Whitney and Jack are not going to date. Sloan and Charlie are definitely just friends.
Now my stomach flips twice.
I want to look over my shoulder at him, but there’s something strangely thrilling about texting him, knowing he’s probably looking at me, but not being able to see him.
I got your brother to invite you out tonight.
So I hear.
I thought it would be a casual way to see each other.
Sitting across a bar from one another, not interacting at all, is pretty casual.
I smile.
But that also isn’t leaving this alone, is it, Mia?
My smile dies. But that stomach flip is still there for some reason.
No. It isn’t.
So you’re just going to keep this up?
This?
Pursuing this?
I read those words. Then, think about the question. Does he want me to say no? Does he want me to say yes? I decide to be honest.
I’d like to. But consent is important. If you really don’t want it, I’ll stop.
I mean that. I can’t keep insisting David spend time around me or ask our friends to help get us together if he really doesn’t want it.
“Mia? “
I look up from my phone, realizing that I have no idea what’s going on around me.
Hunter Graves is standing next to my table with a smile.
“Hi, Hunter.”
“Would you like to dance?”
It takes a second for his question to sink in.
He just asked me to dance.
I look from him to the dance floor.
Would I like to dance? Yes. With Hunter? Not as much as with David, but David doesn’t think we should dance. Or anything else.
I nod. “Yes. I would.”
Hunter’s smile widens. He’s a good-looking guy. Just a couple of years older than me. Nice, as far as I know. He never comes to the library, but I guess that’s okay.
I slide my phone into my purse and leave it on the table. It’s Sapphire Falls, we don’t have to worry about purses being stolen here.
I feel Hunter’s hand on my lower back as we walk to the dance floor and then he puts his hands on my waist as we face each other and the song starts.
We chat about nothing important and nothing I’ll remember a single detail about. Every time we turn so that I can see David’s table, I intentionally avoid looking. I don’t want to see him watching me. I also don’t want to see him not watching me.
I enjoy the dance and tell myself that if David doesn’t like dancing, then I probably don’t want to date him anyway.
I say yes to a second dance with Hunter when the band starts a Jason Young song I love. Hunter seems genuinely pleased and pulls me a little closer.
Sure, why not? He’s cute. And he dances. And he doesn’t hate my dad.
But after only a minute, his hands slide from my waist to my hips. Then lower.
His hands are on my ass. And he’s bringing me even closer to his body. I tense up, my hands sliding from his shoulders to his chest. I start to push.
“You know, Mia, I’ve always thought?—”
But I’m always going to have to wonder what Hunter thought because he’s yanked away from me at that second.
“Hey!” he protests.
“My turn.”
And just like that, I’m staring up at David Bennett.
He’s got a foot planted between me and Hunter and his body wedged so that Hunter could reach out and touch me, but he’d have to go past David to do it.
David isn’t touching me, but he’s got a hand on Hunter’s arm.
David’s body is definitely in my personal space, though, and I can smell the laundry detergent from his shirt.
But he’s not looking at me. He’s watching Hunter with an unwavering glare.
“What the hell?” Hunter asks. “You’re kind of interrupting.”
“Exactly,” David says. He shifts, putting more of his body between us and moving Hunter further back.
Easily, I might add.
Hunter doesn’t try to push David away. In fact, he takes a step back, and David lets go of him.
“We weren’t done,” Hunter says.
“Yes, you were,” David tells him.
Then David turns to me. And holds out his hands, palms up. Giving me the choice.
I don’t get the impression my choice is to continue dancing with Hunter—which is fine because I didn’t like the feel of his hands on my ass at all—but I could actually turn on my heel and walk away from David right now.
He’s giving me that chance.
His hands would feel great on my ass, I bet.
Okay, that thought is not helpful.
Hunter has already stomped away and there are only a few people paying any attention to us.
All of the people who came to the bar with us.
No one else seems to care at all.
“See?” I say. “Totally casual.”
He quirks one eyebrow, then reaches out and takes my hand, pulling me close and settling his other hand on my hip.