Redd shook his head. “I don’t dance.”
“Yes, you do! You dance with me all the time.”
“Not when there are witnesses.”
“You danced with me at our mating ceremony,” she argued, poking him on the forehead.
“That was a special occasion.”
“Thisis a special occasion, too.”
He lifted his chin to meet her eyes. His gaze was vacant and glassy. I had to stifle my laughs.
“You want to dance with me? Right now?”
She pulled his hand from the table, slapping it on her waist. “Yes.”
Kizzi chimed in. “Fi, that vampire is drunker than a skunk. He’ll fall and bring you down with him.”
Fiella’s laugh was loud, shaking her entire frame. “I’ll keep him up.” She tugged Redd onto the dance floor. He wobbled a bit, but he didn’t stumble.
His cheeks were flushed, and a goofy smile tugged on his mouth as he stared into Fiella’s face. The pair clumsily traversed the dance floor.
It was adorable. My stomach twisted a bit at the sight.
Nobody would ever look at me that way. I was destined to be the simple, lonely barkeep for my whole life.
And I was okay with that.
Most of the time.
“Can I steal a dance, Miss Moonvale?” a familiar voice asked from behind me. Asher.
My spine straightened. “No,” I said instantly.
“Are you mad?” he asked.
I whirled to meet the shifter’s gaze, crossing my arms in front of me. “Of course I’m mad! You ditched me!” I tried my best to keep the words from slurring.
“I didn’t ditch you,” he argued.
My brows shot to my hairline. “Really? What would you call it then, abandoning me after we made an agreement to look out for each other?”
He wrung his hands together in front of him. “It’s hard to explain. The weirdest thing happened to me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Try your best.”
He lifted a hand into the space between us. If I wanted answers, I would have to dance with him.
Begrudgingly, I placed my palm in his.
He took a deep breath as he led me into a simple dance. “It was so strange. I was in the ballroom, waiting for the trial to begin, and then I drifted to the wall to find a quiet alcove to readjust my boots. It got really dark, almost like I closed my eyes, but I swear I didn’t. And then, poof! I was outside—in the woods.”
I squinted at him. “You just appeared in the woods? You really expect me to believe that? If you didn’t want to dance with me, you could have just said so.”
He squeezed my hand, earnest eyes begging me to believe him. “I’m telling the truth, Ginny. I told you it would be hard to explain.”
“Fine. Did you… sleepwalk?”
