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She clinked her glass against my bottle. “Here’s to a relaxed season!”

“Oh, is it relaxed in your kitchen?” I asked, and she grinned broadly around her straw.

“Yes. Of course!” Her dirty laugh rose above the music and I joined in.

“Hey, you guys!” Mason joined us with a beer. “Have you seen Chloe?”

I pointed to the dance floor. “There. With Madeleine.” The two had found other dance partners and joined together to form a multi-layered dancing sandwich.

Mason nodded appreciatively. “All right. You couldn’t fit a sheet between them.”

We watched the dancers and slowly I let myself be infected by the beats and bounced to the rhythm of Rihanna.

The crowd on the dance floor moved with fervor. Bodies rubbed against each other. Arms entwined. The dancers became one. In front of us, the crowd parted, revealing a dancing couple. My breath caught in my throat.

In front of me, Shane was dancing with a guy who represented a carbon copy of himself. Same height, same physique. Same broad, relaxed smile. Same unruly hair. Only brown.

Both stumbled slightly. Shane’s dance partner took a big gulp from the glass he was balancing in one hand. Immediately, he pressed himself back against Shane, who held him loosely in his arms.

The dance partner ran his free hand through Shane’s hair.

My hand clenched into a fist. That hair was so soft. Why was I still aware of it? I wanted to touch it. Why was there still that need inside me?

I exhaled slowly and deeply. I wanted to run away screaming. But I forced myself to watch. Over the last few days, I had somehow forgotten the situation we were in.

Shane was the king of the dating market. And I was a sturdy farmer who would never make it to the king’s court. No matter how generous the king was and how nobly he treated his farmers, the king would marry a prince.

I snorted. Mason cocked an eyebrow. “What’s up?”

I quickly waved him off. “Just thinking.”

Mason nodded and turned back to the dance floor.

With a heavy heart, I inhaled the hot, sweat-soaked air of the party. It was okay. I could and would endure this. It was reality. I had just forgotten that for a moment.

When I lifted my head, I saw straight into Shane’s eyes.

The grin on his face turned into a warm smile and his eyes sparkled. I couldn’t look away.

Shane whispered something in his dance partner’s ear without taking his eyes off me, and the dance partner pouted.

But he immediately turned away and danced with someone else, while Shane walked toward us. His white T-shirt stood out from the crowd. The closer he got, the clearer it became that he had come straight here from the slopes. Over his sports leggings, he wore those strange short sports pants that I still didn’t know what they were for. Where he got the sneakers was beyond me.

Without stopping, he navigated around body parts that swung into his path until he was standing right in front of me.

“Hi,” I blurted.

“You’re here.” He stared at me. And swayed slightly again.

Oh my God, he was drunk.

“You’re really here!”

I shook my head, laughing, and eyed him.

He stretched out his arm, put it around my waist, and pulled me toward him. I automatically shook my head.

“Dance with me.”