Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“We should sit,” he suggests, looking around when he sees people starting to sit at tables.
“Are you here by yourself?” I ask, and his head tilts to the side as his eyebrows pinch together in confusion. “I don’t know if you have a date for this thing.”
“In the past seven months, when have I had a date?” he asks, and I roll my eyes.
“Keely was at your game,” I point out to him.
“That was date one and none,” he mumbles, and I try not to let his words get me excited. “Let’s go sit with Cole and Brittany.” He motions to the side with his head.
I nod as we walk across the dance floor to the table where Cole and Brittany are sitting and talking to each other. “Is this seat taken?” Christopher asks, and Brittany gasps when she sees me.
“I’m so happy you came.” She gets up from her seat to come over to me. “I didn’t want to pressure you, but”—she kisses my cheek—“I’m glad you came.”
“Thank you,” I reply, smiling at Cole, who comes to me and also kisses my cheeks.
“Love that dress,” Brittany compliments while Christopher pulls out a chair for me to sit in, and I smile at him.
“Thank you,” I say to him, then turn back to Brittany, who sits next to me. “It’s from a new up-and-coming designer I’m working with,” I state proudly, and her eyes almost bulge out of her head.
“You have a job?” she asks, and I nod before taking another sip of wine. “Tell me everything. I feel like I know nothing.”
“Yeah.” I look over at Christopher, who takes the seat next to me, holding his tie as he sits down. Brittany and I chat back and forth about what I’ve been up to. The table fills with a couple more people, all shocked and a little surprised to see me, but all of them cordial.
The head of the hospital fundraising committee comes up to give a speech as food is passed out. I finish the glass of wine and another is quickly poured for me by a passing server. I sit with my hands in my lap while Christopher stretches one arm around my chair, something he’s done in the past, but I’ve never been affected like I am right at this moment. I try to focus on the speech, but the only thing I can think of is the heat of his hand near my back. “And with that, I announce that the dance floor is now open,” he says as a song comes on.
Cole gets up from his seat, grabbing Brittany’s hand and pulling her to the dance floor that’s getting full by the second. Christopher pushes his chair away from the table, and I look up at him as he holds out his hand to me. “Let’s go.”
“Is that your way of asking me to dance?” I put the napkin that is on my lap back on the table.
“This may be why you don’t have a date,” I joke with him, but even though saying the words as a joke, it bothers me. I put my hand in his as he leads me to the dance floor. He wraps his free hand around my waist, while he tucks the hand he was holding to his chest. I put my free arm on his elbow.
“I don’t have a date,” he leans in to whisper in my ear, “because I don’t want to have a date.”
“Good to know.” I try to ignore the way the back of my neck heats as he moves us in a circle. “Why don’t you want to have a date?”
I swallow down the bile that feels like it’s creeping up my throat, trying to get my heart rate back to normal while I’m so close to him. In his arms, it feels weird but also so good. “I—” he says. “I want to have a date,” he admits, and my knees about buckle when he looks into my eyes, “but she’s unavailable.”
I don’t ask him anything else. The only thing I can do is stare into his eyes. I could get lost in his eyes. His arm pulls me closer to him as we dance, neither of us saying anything. It’s like all we are saying is in the look we are giving each other. His chest rises and falls under our hands so fast it’s like he’s working out. “I need some air,” he says to me when the song comes to a stop. “Want to come with me?”
I look into his eyes. I want to go anywhere with you, I want to say, but I don’t trust myself, so I just nod. He doesn’t release my hand as he pulls us out of the room. We walk down the steps, and anyone looking at us would think we are a couple.