Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Why would you do that?” Piper asks him. “Look at them.”
We all turn to look at the happy couple. Brooks has one arm around Palmer’s waist, holding her close, and the other rests over her baby bump. We can’t see it, but it’s the intimacy of the moment that has me feeling all warm and gooey inside.
Music gets turned up, and everyone starts to dance. “You coming?” Archer asks me.
“I think I’ll sit this one out,” I tell him.
He nods and joins the others in making some silly dance moves that the guys who are not attached to their ladies are doing. My eyes search for Declan, but I don’t see him. “You don’t dance?” I hear his voice from beside me.
I turn to my right, to the chair that Archer vacated, and see Declan watching me intently. “No, I mean yes, I do, but I’m just sitting this one out.”
“Didn’t you hear that we’re celebrating?” His grin tilts the corner of his lips.
I turn to look back at the happy couple. “They look good together,” I say.
Declan makes a humming noise in the back of his throat as an agreement. When I hear the chair slide against the floor, I turn to see him standing, holding his hand out for me. “This is a party, Kens.”
Not gonna lie. I love the way he calls me Kens. It’s personal and intimate and something that Lyle would never have done. It was Kennedy to him, and that’s just how it was. When I don’t take his hand, he reaches down and grabs mine, tugging me from my chair.
He leads me to the edge of the group of his friends and family who are dancing and begins to move. I laugh at him when he mimics his brothers and breaks out into some weird dance, flapping his arms in the air and gyrating his hips.
“Get it, Dec!” one of the guys calls out. There are too many of them for me to know who it was. I recognize Archer, Brooks, Deacon, and of course, Declan. After that, I’m lost.
Declan winks at me and pulls me closer, and I copy him move for move. What the hell… if you can’t beat them, join them. I’m laughing so hard that I can hardly stand when the song changes and slows down. The couples wrap around each other, and I smile at Declan and turn to grab water before going back to my seat when I feel a hand on my wrist.
“Dance with me,” he says softly.
“Yo, Kennedy, I got next,” Archer calls out.
Declan steps in close. “He’s going to be disappointed,” he says once his arms are wrapped around my waist and my chest is pressed against his.
I peer up at him. “Oh, yeah? How so?”
“You’ve already found your dance partner for the night.”
“Is that so?” I act as though his words don’t affect me when the reality is that I feel like I have a swarm of butterflies fluttering around in my belly.
“I asked you first.”
“Is that how this works? Kind of like finders keepers?” I joke.
He gives me a slow nod. “We can go with that if you want. As long as I’m the one you’re dancing with, I don’t care what you call it.”
“Archer asked me first.”
He pulls me closer, the warmth of his hand on the small of my back reaching my skin through my sweater.
“And what did you tell him?”
“I was sitting that one out.”
He nods. “You waited for the right brother.” He winks, and my heart stalls in my chest.
“I’m leaving,” I blurt. “I’m only here until my grandma gets back on her feet. Literally.” I laugh nervously.
I watch him as he looks away and swallows hard. “Just a dance, Kens,” he finally replies. “Dances,” he corrects. “All of your dances tonight are mine.”
He says the words, but his facial expression and the way his body stiffens tells me it’s more than just a dance, but I don’t think he knows what this electric current is between us any more than I do.
“All my dances,” I repeat.
He keeps one hand splayed on the small of my back while the other traces up and down my spine. We’re barely swaying to the beat, and I’m sure that all eyes are on us. I should pull away, but I can’t make myself step away from him. There undoubtedly will be questions from the ladies I met tonight. That still doesn’t have me stepping away from him. There’s this force that surrounds us, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt, and I’m not willing to break it.
Not until he does.
We dance for two more slow songs in that very position. Barely swaying, his hand holding me close, while the other drives me insane from the warmth of his touch. When the song turns fast, I lift my head from his chest and peer up at him. He tucks my hair behind my ear and leans in. I lick my lips. This is it. He’s going to kiss me. Except for a pair of hands land on my hips, and I’m lifted out of his arms.