He was disappointed, and my stomach hurt. I didn’t want to disappoint him. Not after everything he’d done for me.
“Wait,” I said, reaching out for his hand. “Can’t be nearly as bad as ice skating, right?”
“Whole lot less of a big deal if you step on my toes,” Aiden said, quietly encouraging.
He wouldn’t be mad at me if I sucked.
I pulled him right out into the centre of the floor, smiling shyly once we got there.
“Be gentle with me,” I said. “It’s my first time.”
Aiden laughed, eyes sparkling, joy rolling off him. I knew how lucky I was to have his attention, and this just reminded me all over again.
“Where do my hands go?” I asked, feeling like an awkward seventeen-year-old at prom.
“Hang onto mine with this one,” Aiden said, squeezing my hand. “Traditionally you’d put the other one on my shoulder.”
“Traditionally?” I raised an eyebrow, following his instructions. “Are you secretly into competition ballroom dancing or something?”
“No.” Aiden smiled wryly. “Morgan’s made me watch a lot of dance shows with him, though. Guess some of it stuck. Besides, I wanna release you back into the dating pool ten times as confident and twice as sexy as you were before.”
“Only twice as sexy?” I asked, trying not to think about the twinge in the pit of my stomach at the idea ofreleasing me back into the dating pool.
“Hard to improve on perfection.” Aiden grinned. “Being able to dance at a wedding would be a nice bonus extra, though. Especially since your dad’s thinking about tying the knot.”
He rearranged my hands and let one of his own rest on my waist, every touch as gentle as I could ever have asked. Aiden had the patience of a saint.
“Have I ever mentioned that you smell great?” Aiden asked. “Because you really do smell great.”
“Thanks.” I chewed on my lower lip, the tips of my ears tingling with heat.
“Relax,” Aiden murmured. “Pretend like you like touching me and you’re comfortable with both of our bodies.”
“I am,” I said. I’d never been more comfortable withanyonethan I was with Aiden.
I couldn’t stop thinking about being with him. About how good it felt, about how goodIfelt after. He didn’t make me feel used, he took pleasure in my pleasure. I’d never had sex like we’d been having the past couple of days before.
But he was right, I was holding myself like I was afraid to move. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to relax, loosening my death grip on Aiden’s shoulder, letting my thumb just barely rest on him, stroking the fabric of his sweater.
Aiden gripped my waist a little tighter in response, and I was starting to see the appeal of this wholedancingthing.
Just as I had the thought, a slow song came on through the venue speakers.
“Just testing the sound system,” Trent called from the stage, barely holding back a broad grin. “You two keep being cute.”
Now I wasreallyblushing, but Aiden was giving me that look again. The one I didn’t understand, the one that made me feel like he was thrilled to be around me.
“We’resocute,” he said, stepping sideways. “Just follow my feet. Trust me.”
The thing was, Ididtrust him. He’d never given me any reason not to, not once.
I felt safe with Aiden. I’d never thought about that as something I was looking for in a partner—none of them had ever felt like athreat—but there was something comforting about knowing that I could trip over my own feet right now and land us both on the floor and Aiden would just laugh it off.
He didn’t care that I wasn’t perfect. I didn’t have to work so hard to pretend I was around him.
“Having fun yet?” Aiden asked, voice low and soft, and I realized then that I’d been… following. Like it was nothing.
I laughed, surprised at myself as Aiden twirled me under his arm and it just came naturally, like I’d done it a thousand times.
