Claps and whistles sound.
“You’re not the only one with a hidden talent, sweetheart.”
I throw him a grin. “Let’s see what you got.” The sudden playfulness is a tiny piece of the old me. It now being an unfamiliar piece to the puzzle that was once whole. It’s like an old friend visiting. One I haven’t seen in a while. And I really missed her.
After the first round, the crowd around us grows. More people wanting to see just who the two people causing a scene were. It’s odd because it’s something so simple. I picked updarts at the many college parties my sorority hosted. I was lucky enough to get into collage on scholarships considering my parents didn’t have a lot of money. But I wasted my degree chances on flunking out. Not my finest moment. Guess some things about me I don’t miss.
Anyway, how beer pong was for others is how darts was for me. No big deal, but with nothing else to do in a house full of women and rules hanging over our heads, I taught myself how to play. Darts and yoga were the two things I was good at.Reallygood at.
With confidence flooding back, my mind stops on yoga. It makes me wonder if I do want to revisit it one day. Get that passion back I’ve missed so much. It’s nothing diabolical. I wasn’t making history having a love for yoga, but it was my thing. Always has been my thing and that alone gives me great joy. Or should I say, once upon a time it had.
Angel hands me my beer, like fueling me up for a fight and after a quick chug, I take my turn.
We continue until I have him beat and Tank shamefully surrenders heading back to playing pool.
“On that note. Let’s go dance.” Angel snags Tequila’s wrist who then grabs mine, dragging me behind them and I find myself giggling at the gesture.
The music thumps and all three of us let go. Let out our worries. Our anxieties. Our past.Mypast. Even if it’s just for this one moment. To forget.
The dance floor gets busier, and arms start to graze mine, as we dance to the beat of a hip-hop song. A couple of men bump into me causing me to falter. But the tension leaves my body when they look away, stalking off the dance floor and to the bar.
Tequila throws her arms up in the air and I study the ease she releases. I’m not jealous. Or at least, I don’t want to be. I’mhappy she’s able to be present. Be happy. I know she said she still has nightmares, but she looks happier.
Someone pushes into me from behind and Angel grabs my arm to steady me. “You okay?”
I nod, casting an uneasy look at Tequila. She slides in next to me as I survey the people around me. There’s a lot more. But the space begins to decrease by seconds, and my lungs are feeling tighter, making it harder to breathe.
Gracie.
As people dance around me, I take Tequila’s hand. “I need air,” I whisper but she’s able to understand my plead for space and she nods sympathetically.
“I’ll come with you.”
Just as I’m about to pry myself out of the crowd, I spot Hush in the same spot. His arms now at his sides and his eyes quickly dart over me then back to the crowd. I tell Tequila I’ll be all right and head straight for the only man who unwillingly gives me a sense of security.
He doesn’t look away as I slowly stalk straight for him.
“Is this spot taken?” I prop my heavy body against the wall beside him, and he peers down at me, confusion hinting in his brows.
“You all right?”
I shrug. “Yeah. Things just got a little heated in there.” Keeping my focus on the dance floor full of people, Hush backs up, holding up the wall with me. I hadn’t noticed he was standing so close.
I lose track of how long we stay like this for. Many songs finish as we stand in comfortable silence.
I notice him casting glances at me from the side and while it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, it does the very opposite and more. “I’m going to step outside for a minute,” I tell him, hopinghe’ll follow. And as I saunter past, his large body shadows over mine telling me he’s doing just that.
Outside, the air is frigid, it feels like the inside of a damn iceberg. The snow falls steadily, and I wish I had grabbed a jacket.
To put any warmth back inside, I tightly hug myself, but as the snow lands on me, it makes the bone chilling air worse.
Claustrophobia teased me inside so even with the cold, this is still better. The openness calms me, and tonight progress was made. The old me showed herself even if it was only for a brief time. It was great being in touch with her again, but this, being here with the man who gives me heart flutters, is even better. At least for right now.
Hush wears a leather jacket, his cut over top of it, with his usual black wash jeans with purposely worn sections on the knees. It’s crazy I know what jeans he normally wears. But they look good on him, fit him perfectly. You can tell he works out and keeps in shape, but not overly bulky.
I tear my glance away before he catches me staring. But as the snow falls more heavily, a shiver runs through me.
Hush shrugs off his cut and removes his jacket, handing it to me. The only thing he wears now is a thin grey T-shirt. No way am I going to take his only source of heat.
