Allegiant (39 page)

This would be my third. “I don’t think
that’s wise.” I feel pretty good, but then again I’m seated. I
don’t want to risk it.

Dane makes a face at me and leaves. I guess
I’ll be driving home. I watch him weave his way across the dance
floor and disappear through the bodies. When he reappears, bottle
in hand, the blonde from earlier swoops in from his right, setting
her hands against his chest. Her invitation is clear. She wants to
dance.

At first it looks like he’s going to refuse,
but then he glances at me. We make eye contact and a knowing smirk
spreads across his face. My mouth falls open as I watch his bold
move. He decides to dance with her. What is he trying to do? Piss
me off?

Little Miss Mini Dress smiles broadly and
runs a hand through her hair as she moves. I watch them and a
stunned expression takes over my features. Dane can dance. Like
really dance. My face flushes as I remember my comments from the
other day, when I told him I thought guys who could dance were hot.
I adjust my face and my posture, crossing my arms and trying to
look impassive. The blonde puts her hands on him, he shoots me a
look, and I raise an eyebrow. I know why he’s doing this, but it
still doesn’t stop the jealousy that seers through my veins.

“
Who’s your
friend?”

I look to my right and find a guy standing
beside me. He’s blonde too, with perfectly styled hair and tanned
skin. He rests one hand on the table, and I can tell just from his
arm that he’s built. I follow his line of vision and see that he’s
staring at my floorshow.

I shake my head. “She’s not my friend.”

He smiles. “Not her. Him.”

“
His name is Dane.” I
uncross my arms and turn my body to face him. “And you
are?”

He holds out his hand. “Aiden.”

I take it. “Emma.”

He reveals his perfect smile again. “So,
Emma, is your friend, Dane, available?”

What? I look at Dane and then back at Aiden.
“Um, no. He’s not.”

He sighs. “Figures.” I must look really lost
because he elaborates. “He doesn’t look that into her and he’s not
dancing with you, so I thought maybe…”

The light dawns, and I suppress a giggle.
“I’m sorry; I’m afraid you’re not his type.”

He nods like he knew that was coming then
steps back. “So, I take it he’s with you?”

I shrug. “We’re working on it.”

“
Well, you’re not getting
anywhere sitting here,” he says and extends his hand again. “Would
you like to dance?”

Would I? I grin. “Yes, thank you.” I take
Aiden’s hand and hop off my seat. He leads us into the crowd and I
shoot a look over his shoulder at Dane, which is hard because he’s
quite tall. Dane gives me a nod with both eyebrows raised. Game
on.

Aiden turns out to be a pretty good dancer
and it’s not long before I’m lost in the fun of this. It’s only
when I glance at Dane and Brittany Wannabe that I come crashing
down. He’s not touching her, but she’s all over him. The longer
they’re together the more irritated I get. I can’t blame the
alcohol; I only had two drinks and I feel fine. As the songs morph
into one another, one thought becomes crystal clear – he’s mine,
damn it, and you can’t have him.

Aiden notices my distraction and places his
hands around my waist, turning me, so my back is to Dane and
Brittany. He leans in to my ear and speaks over the music, “I’m
going to move you his way then you cut in, okay?”

I nod and follow his lead. When we get
close, Aiden reaches out and practically turns me between them,
cutting off Miss Mini Dress and distracting her. I land in front of
Dane and he grabs me, pulling me close. He smiles as he finds my
ear. “It’s about time you came to save me.”

I smirk. “You’re the one who decided to
dance with her.”

“
You know who I’d rather
dance with.”

I lean back. “Speaking of, you’ve been
holding out on me.”

He grins. “I can’t reveal all my secrets. I
have to play them when the time is right. I wouldn’t want you to
fall in love with me too fast or anything.”

I shoot him a sarcastic look; although, the
way we’re moving is making my heart race.

He looks over my head. “Who’s your new
pal?”

I glance over my shoulder and find Aiden a
few feet away. He’s doing an excellent job of leading on the
blonde. I smile, and he winks at me. I turn back to Dane. “That’s
Aiden. Actually, he wanted to be your friend not mine; if you get
what I mean.”

He suppresses a smile. “I take it you told
him otherwise?”

“
He delivered me to you
didn’t he?”

Dane leans closer. “Remind me to thank him
later.”

We stop talking as we
continue to dance. More people must have joined the party because
Dane and I end up pressed together to make room for more moving
bodies. He takes the opportunity to catch my mouth with his and
kisses me in a way that should be illegal. Blood pounds behind my
ears as I clutch his arm to steady myself. Desperate thoughts of
earlier today race through my mind and mix with the jealous
emotions from moments ago. I thought I’d lost him. Other
women
and
men want
him. What’s wrong with me? The decision hits me like
lightning.

When he releases my mouth, I stand on my
toes and find his ear. “Take me home.”

He leans back and gives me a confused smile.
“I thought I was your home.”

I shake my head and find his ear again. “You
don’t understand. Take. Me. Home.”

When our eyes meet the realization hits. I
don’t have to ask him a third time.

A numb feeling radiates down the left side
of my body, waking me. My eyes flutter open to find both my arm and
leg trapped beneath Dane, asleep and useless. The morning sun
bleeds through the windows and I lift my head to peer down the
length of the couch, my eyes catching on his shirt that hangs off
the back. My gaze moves from the shirt to the floor, where I find
small piles of the rest of our clothes. Memories of last night slam
into my brain and my face immediately flushes.

Yeah. We didn’t even make it past the living
room.

I lower my head to his shoulder, and he
instinctively pulls me closer. One of his arms is beneath me, and
I’m sure it’s just as asleep as my limbs are. I dread the prickling
sensation of the blood returning to my arm and leg once we move, so
I close my eyes, hoping to ignore the feeling and remain where I
am. It’s no use. As much I as want to stay cradled in his arms, I
need to sit up.

His eyes pop open as I try to disentangle
myself. “Hey –”

“
Go back to sleep,” I
whisper.

“
What are you
doing?”

“
My arm’s numb,” I say,
shaking it as I sit. The throw blanket, that used to hang over the
back of the couch, crookedly covers us; I reach out with my good
hand to bring it up to my chest.

He smirks and props himself on his elbow.
“You’re going to be modest now?”

I give him a stale look. “I’m not going to
start parading around here naked, if that’s what you’re
asking.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I’ve already seen
everything. What’s the point?”

“
The point,” I fake
arrogance, “is that I’m a lady. Not an exhibitionist.”

He snickers. “A lady, huh?”

“
Yes.”

“
Since when do ladies
blatantly ask to be taken home and, ah…what’s a good
word?”

My mouth falls open. “Would you rather I
hadn’t?”

He smiles. “Most definitely not.” He places
his hand on the side of my neck, cradling my face, and pulls my
mouth to his. He gently kisses me then leans back, his expression
serious. “Not in a million years.”

I smile, biting my lip. As I look into his
eyes, my pulse starts to race. Images from last night flash in my
memory. I have no complaints.

“
I would have broken out
the dance moves sooner if I’d known,” he says and lies back,
crossing his arms beneath his head.

“
Known what?”

“
The effect they would have
on you.”

I scoot down, propping myself on my side. I
rest my head on my tingling hand. “It wasn’t the dancing.”

“
No?” He smiles.

“
Okay, maybe a little,” I
concede.

“
I knew it.”

I laugh, but then my smile fades. “Do you
want the truth?”

He looks at me concerned and then mirrors my
pose. “Always.”

Carefully, I select my words. “It was the
overwhelming fact that I could lose you. The panic I felt when I
thought you were hurt…or worse. Then, that woman was all over you.
And Aiden! Even guys want you.” I look down. “You’ve done so much
for me, and I’ve done nothing for you. I’ve pushed you away a
million times, and you keep coming back.” I meet his eyes. “It was
time to give you something to come back for.”

He searches my face. As silent seconds pass,
I start to feel self-conscious. “Well, say something.”

“
You’re so
wrong.”

My expression twists. “About what?”

“
Everything.” He leans
closer. “I will always be there for you. You’ve changed my
life.”

Disbelief clouds my features. “That’s not
true.”

“
It is. Do you want to know
what my life was like before we met? Every day was the same. Go to
work, try to contact Teagan, and fight with my dad. Then, I’d wake
up the next day and do the exact same thing. Go to work, Skype, and
fight,” he pauses. “Until I met you. You turned my world upside
down.”

My skeptical expression melts a little.

“
The more time we spent
together the more I realized what I did and didn’t want. You forced
me to take a good look at myself and make some tough
decisions.”

“
That doesn’t sound good. I
never meant to –”

“
I know; that’s the beauty
of it.” He tucks a wayward piece of hair behind my ear. “You
challenged me in ways I’ve never been before. You gave me something
to look forward to each day, and I craved your attention. You know
why?”

I give him a crooked smile and get
sarcastic, “Because there’s nothing like picking up the pieces of a
stubborn girl’s broken heart?” I still don’t know why he’s put up
with me.

“
You do have the damsel in
distress thing going on.” He smiles and wraps his arms around my
waist, pulling me close. “Honestly, though, it was because your
attention was never a sure thing. When most people find out I’m
Charles Walker’s son they get all clingy and twitchy, but not you.
Your attitude toward me never changed. I had to work hard to
impress you; it made me question who I really was.”

I look down.

“
Remember the day we ran
into James’ mother at the store?”

I nod. How could I forget?

“
That was the moment I
realized what I had.”

My eyes meet his. “And what was that?”

“
Someone to fight for;
someone who needed me. No one has needed me in a really long
time.”

With wide eyes, I reassure him, “You are so
needed. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

His expression softens in response to my
admission, and he stares at me intently. Slowly, he traces the side
of my face from my temple to my chin, as if committing the curve to
memory. “You give me a reason to get up in the morning. Don’t ever
say you’ve done nothing for me, because it’s not true. You’ve done
more than I can ever explain.”

His touch lingers on my chin, and he gently
nudges my mouth toward his. I oblige him and he plants a soft kiss
on my lips.

“
I think your sacrifices
outweigh mine,” I whisper. “What I’ve done wasn’t even on
purpose.”

He gives me a knowing look. “Last night was
on purpose.”

I immediately blush. “Last night didn’t
change your life.”

“
Yeah, it did.”

“
Please,” I laugh. “I’m so
glad I could help.”

He leans forward. “Would you care to help
again?”

“
Right now?”

“
No, next Tuesday. Yes,
right now.” I catch his sly smile before his lips find my
neck.

“
Don’t we have somewhere to
be today?” I ask as I wind my fingers through his hair.

His voice is muffled under my chin. “Right
here works for me.”

I giggle and move to the side. “No; what’s
my surprise for Thanksgiving?”

He picks up his head and glances at the
clock near the television. “We have two hours until we have to be
at the dock.”

“
For?”

“
Fishing,” he says. “I’ve
chartered a boat. Have you ever been deep sea fishing?”

“
I’ve never left the
continental United States. So, no.”

“
I think you’ll love it.”
His mouth finds mine and he speaks between kisses, “You won’t miss
being home at all.”

“
I think you’re right,” I
say as my head swims. “Although, there’s one thing I do
miss.”

“
What’s that?”

“
The feeling in my leg.”
It’s pinned beneath him again. “Is it possible to move to a
different location?”

He raises an eyebrow. “You want to move to a
different spot?”

“
Yes, please.”

“
Right now?”

“
No, next
Tuesday.”

He grins and shifts his weight. “Will you
allow me to sweep you off your feet?”

I can’t help but smile. “I think you’ve
already done that, but sure.”