“Stevie, breathe.” He squeezes my hand. “It’s okay.”
“I’m terrified, Garrick.”
With his free hand, he traces his fingers down my cheek in an infinitely tender gesture that warms my heart and cranks my arousal a level higher. “I know you are, but there is no pressure, and nothing is going to happen tonight. We’re going to put music on. Loud. Really loud,” he adds when Ellen screams Will’s name from the top of her lungs.
Laughter bursts from my lips. “I am going to fucking kill her for this.”
Garrick chuckles. “We both know it’s funny, and it’s great to see our friends so in love. I’m happy for them.”
I step a little closer and our chests brush. “Me too. You’re such a good guy, Garrick Allen.”
“I try my best.” He waggles his brows and grins, clasping my hand tighter as he pulls me into the living room. I cling to his hand as he hooks his iPhone up to our sound system, and loud rock music blares from the speakers, drowning out the sounds of our best friends banging their brains out.
The music instantly unlocks some of the tension in my stiff limbs, and we rock it out, throwing wild moves and crazy shapes, laughing and shouting the lyrics as we dance around the living room like we’re connected to the electrical supply. Elation is the only emotion I’m feeling as we work up a sweat, and I haven’t had this much fun in ages. I can be myself around Garrick, and he appears to be the same. He’s goofing around, causing me to emit deep belly laughs, and nothing has ever felt more natural or more real.
Unexpectedly, the music changes, and my eyes pop wide as Karen Carpenter’s distinctive voice belts out around the room. “You listen to The Carpenters?”
“You know who they are?” he asks, sounding incredulous as he walks toward the sound system.
“Don’t turn it off!” I blurt. “They’re my nana’s favorite band. I grew up listening to them and Abba on repeat.”
Garrick lowers the music a little, and we stare at one another from a few feet apart. “My stepmom would love your nana. She loves all the music from that era. It was Dawn who introduced me to them. She’s the reason I have a playlist on my phone.” He looks a little sheepish, and now I’m intrigued.
“I sense a story.”
He rubs the back of his neck and grins. “I was taking my first crush to winter formal, the year I was a freshman, and I couldn’t dance.”
I find that so hard to believe because Garrick is a fantastic dancer, and it seems innate, like his musical ability.
“I asked my mom to teach me, but her suggestion was to arrange formal dance lessons with a private instructor. It was a shit show, and I canceled after the first lesson. Then Dawn stepped in. She taught me to dance to the backdrop of The Carpenters.” A tinge of pink stains his cheeks, and it’s adorably cute. “At Christmas, I usually end up dancing with her around the kitchen. It’s kind of tradition now.”
I think that’s the moment I give myself full permission to fall.
I can’t deny it any longer, and I don’t want to.
Closing the gap, I walk toward him and hold out my hand. The opening notes to “Close to You” start up, and it’s like a sign from the heavens. “You never cease to amaze me, Garrick. That is one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard. If it’s okay to start a new tradition with me, I would love to dance with you to my favorite Carpenters song.”
“It would be my honor.” He takes my hand and gently reels me into his body.
My arms encircle his neck as his hands gravitate to my lower back. He applies soft pressure, pulling me in flush against his body as we sway in time to the music. Heat seeps from his body into mine, and I’m acutely aware of his solidity and masculinity as we move in perfect tandem. My heart is so full when he softly twirls me in his arms before drawing me back in close. His attention is solely focused on me, and his smoldering golden-colored eyes bore into mine, pinning me in place as I melt in his embrace, feeling cherished and adored in a way I have never felt before with any man.
Butterflies run amok in my chest when he starts singing, peering deep into my eyes as he serenades me, and I fall even deeper.
More Carpenters songs flood the room as the playlist goes on, and we continue dancing. Garrick swirls me around as he sings. He never misses a lyric, and he never moves his attention from me.
I’m enraptured, and it’s one of the most romantic moments of my life.
I never want it to end.
And I never want to stop feeling the things he makes me feel.
ChapterFifteen
Stevie
“Oh my god, that is so romantic,” Mom swoons over the phone the following night when I recount the details of my magical night with Garrick. He was a perfect gentleman, and despite the explosive chemistry we share, the night ended without any making out. We danced, sang, and exchanged longing looks and lingering innocent touches—over clothes—and yet it was still the most intimate night of my life.
“Your nana is gonna love him!” Mom’s blatant excitement breaks me out of my head.
