Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
“What about your day?” Kay asks, following up on our original conversation at the bar. “You said it was shitty too?”
I feel Maddox’s eyes jump to me. We had a great day, and an even better game, winning by two against the Marauders.
“Uh…” I stammer. I only said that because I was trying to keep the conversation going. “One of those days that beats the hell out of you physically, you know?”
I mean it literally. I take body shots on the regular, hand them out too, which is also hard on me in a whole different way. Kay takes it as metaphorical, nodding sagely. “Some days do that. I’ve had migraines sometimes after a hard day.” She glances toward the dance floor, where a line dance has people moving in time to the music. “So, do you come here all the time? I asked the hotel concierge for a bar, and this is where he sent me, but I’m not mad at the music.”
Maddox shoots laser beams at me with his eyes, virtually yelling ‘ask her to dance’, but I don’t need the advice. I’m not that out of practice. I’ve got this. “Wanna dance?”
“Oh, I don’t know the moves,” she answers, her hands up like she’s warding me off, but I see the way she’s watching the choreography. I’ve noticed her fingers unconsciously tapping the table in time with the music.
“Me neither, but I bet we can figure it out. Come on.” Maddox makes it sound like dancing was his idea, standing and waving Kay and me out of the booth too, but I’m secretly glad. With Kay’s hesitation, I would’ve let the idea fall away, but Maddox is always up for a good time, and he won’t let her off that easily. Me either.
“We might as well do it. He won’t shut up about it otherwise,” I tell her out of the side of my mouth, making sure Maddox hears me. He grins, unoffended, as I lift the other corner of my mouth the slightest bit in a silent thank-you.
I take Kay’s hand, not wanting to lose her in the crowd, but there’s no chance of that happening with Maddox bringing up the rear of our trio. People move out of the way for us as we approach the floor, even making room for us in the middle, but I lead us to a back corner, away from the masses and lights. With Kay between Maddox and me, we begin following the couple in front of us. The woman sees us staring at her feet and starts calling out moves to help. Pretty quickly, we catch on, though I miss a turn because I’m staring at Kay’s hips as she ‘swoops and sits’ then ‘shake, shake, shakes’. She’s a great dancer, and surprisingly steady in the high heels that make her shapely legs look a mile long. In fact, I wonder if she was or is a dancer. I could see that with her tall, long, lean body. A ballerina, maybe?
We’re doing pretty well with the choreography, and when the song ends and a fast tempo electronic dance song begins, the dramatics of the beat have us staying on the dance floor along with most of the crowd. We turn into each other, becoming a small circle of our own as the rhythm drives us. Kay raises her hands in the air, her eyes closed and her chin lifted, and my gaze licks over her body. I can see the stress floating off her as her movements become more sway than structure.
Maddox takes one of her hands, and when she opens her eyes and meets his, I see the soft smile on her lips for a moment before he spins her. When she’s facing us again, her smile has grown, lighting up her whole face. I take her hand from Maddox, who releases her to me easily, and I spin her the other way. This time, as she turns back to our little circle, her eyes jump from me to Maddox and back again, a litany of questions passing over her face in quick succession.
There’s no jealousy between Maddox and me. We’re brothers, not in blood, but by choice. There is no other man I’d rather have at my side on the ice, no one else I’d give my life for, and absolutely no one else I would ever consider sharing a woman with. But Maddox and I have an understanding about all three of those scenarios and every one in between, and there has never been jealousy between the two of us.
I pull Kay in, using my hold on her hand to wrap her arm around my waist. I lean into her ear. “Relax. We’re just dancing.”
Her answering look is shrewd. We’re not just dancing. We’re testing boundaries, and she knows it. I hold my breath, the anticipation for her next words growing in my chest, and lower, behind my zipper.