I see Darryl put his hand out for her, while he puts his other hand on his stomach and bows just a little. “It would be my honor.” I watch them and then I hear him from beside me.
“So what do you say, Lexi?” Kirby says my name. “Care to open the dance floor with the second co-chair?” He holds out his hand. I look around to see if I spot Trent, then look back to him, the twinkle in his eye making my heart speed up. “I dare you.”
ten
Kirby
I stand next to her as Cheryl starts talking and I’ve never in my life felt a pull to someone like I do to her. Even though I know it can never go anywhere. Even though I know she’s not that person who would ever step out on her husband. Even though I know in a few weeks I’ll leave here and I won’t see her. The thought alone makes my stomach lurch.
I hear clapping and then look over to see Cheryl reaching for Darryl’s hand, leading her to the dance floor when I turn to Lexi. “So what do you say, Lexi”—she stops mid-clap to look at me—“care to open the dance floor with the second co-chair?” I smile at her, holding out my hand as she nervously looks around her. No doubt looking for that piece-of-shit husband of hers, who’s been mingling the whole fucking time, not once going to check up on his wife. Her hands are in front of her, one hand in the other, as she contemplates my question when I tease her, “I dare you.”
She smiles and looks down at her hands before she looks back up at me, side-eyeing me while she tries not to smile too big. “I mean, if it’s a dare,” she replies, reaching out her hand to put in mine. “I sort of have no choice but to dance with the bachelors.” She steps into me as my hand goes to the middle of her back. “I guess so.”
“Well,” I laugh, “I’ll take it.” She puts her hand on my shoulder as I sway her to the side. “On a scale of one to ten, how nervous are you?”
She chuckles. “A million.” She looks around at the dance floor that seems to be filling up faster and faster. “I think I’ll only be able to do a sigh of relief once the bidding is over, and we see how much we’ve raised.”
“I don’t know how the last one went, but from the looks of this place”—I look around at the decorations—“it’s kicking the last one’s ass.” I laugh.
“You just said you didn’t know how the last one even went.” She shakes her head. “So you can’t compare it.”
“Well, I think this one is going to be better than the last one because you put your heart and soul into it.” I pull her even closer to me. “All of the touches with the dances, the videos, the silent auction. Look around, everyone is having a great time and you did that. It’s just—” She looks up at me and I can see the compliments are all new to her. “You look beautiful,” my mouth says before I have a chance to stop the words from coming out of it. Her smile goes sideways as if she’s embarrassed.
“Thank you,” she says softly and my thumb moves on her back up and down. “You look very handsome,” she adds and immediately looks down at our feet.
“I mean, it’s not what I would usually wear.” I try to make a joke out of it.
“Oh no,” she joins in on the joke, “you don’t like dressing up in a tux every Saturday?”
I laugh. “I mean, I’m usually suited up on Saturday nights.” We sway side to side. “But that is only because I have no choice.”
“I forgot, you guys have to dress up before the games.” She softly laughs. “We used to call it the thirst traps.”
“What?” I can’t help but laugh at her.
“Yeah, the guys dressing up before the game and being filmed walking in. The swagger you guys have because you are being filmed.” She’s laughing now, and not a fake laugh, it’s a real fucking laugh. A laugh that makes her eyes crinkle at the sides. “Matty was the biggest one. Then Michael was second, for sure, no doubt about it. He would even give a little smirk. Dylan did it, not even aware he was doing it. Franny’s husband, Wilson, used that as his personal fucking Tinder.” She mentions the men in her family with so much love and pride.
“I never even thought of it like that,” I admit to her, “but you might be right. I have to check next season when I do it if my follower count goes higher when I swagger in there.”
“I bet it does, for sure,” she assures me and she’s about to say something else when we both look to the side, hearing Cheryl speaking.
“Okay, time to switch out,” she says, letting go of Darryl and smiling at me. “Come here, handsome.” She motions with her head, and I let go of Lexi’s hand almost unwillingly.
“Be careful with that one,” Darryl warns, “she’s handsy.” He winks at me as he laughs at the joke, making Cheryl gasp.
“You should be so lucky.” She turns her head to the side.
“Burn, Darryl,” Lexi jokes with him, holding out her hand for him. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
“I am feeling so much love right now,” he mumbles. “I don’t know what to do with it all.”
The three of us laugh as I walk to Cheryl and take her hand in mine. “How amazing is tonight?” she asks me. I look back over at Lexi and see her in her gown, and again, she takes my breath away. When I walked in and saw her, it was as if she was the only one in the room. Her blue eyes shone even brighter as she talked to people coming in, and when our eyes finally met, it was as if the earth shifted under my feet. For the rest of my life, I will be looking for that moment, and it scares the ever-loving fuck out of me, because I am petrified I’ll never find it.
“I’ve attended my fair share of fundraisers throughout the years, and this has to be the best one.” I smile at her.
“I totally agree and I wish I could take half the credit, but Lexi,” she says, her face filling with the biggest smile, “she is the one who did it all.”
“It’s always a team effort,” I remind her, “and knowing Lexi, there is no way she would let anyone think otherwise.”
