Whatever It Takes

Dancing

I stumbled behind Dovey, in a stupor as she looked over her shoulder and smiled at me. She squeezed my hand she was holding, and I felt my heart thumping in my chest. We maneuvered around the other tables, Dovey greeting other guests kindly as they stopped us. I couldn't take my eyes off her – how the hell had I managed to pull this off?

She turned to me, taking both of my hands, and walked backwards onto the dancefloor as she beamed at me. I was smiling like an idiot, and I felt like there was a spotlight on me. I practically tripped over my feet as she pulled me to her. Her eyes were twinkling as she set a hand on my shoulder and held her other hand out.

I nervously set a hand on her waist and took the hand she was holding out. She stepped closer to me, leaning into me as she tossed her hair back. I was nervous – holding her like this felt so intimate for some reason, more intimate than anything we had done over the last couple of days. I grinned down at her as I snaked my hand around to the small of her back, holding her tight to me as we swayed together. She slipped her hand that was on my shoulder around the back of my neck, scratching it softly.

"Well, so far, so good," she teased as we moved around the dancefloor. I didn't even register the other people of the dancefloor as I held her close to me.

"Thanks for dancing with me," I said quietly. Her mirthful smile became soft and sweet, and she nodded at me.

"Thanks for asking," she replied.

I grinned at her, trying not to be too dorky as she glided across the floor, dragging my clumsy self along. I desperately tried not to step on her feet and continued to stare at the floor to prevent it. I almost toppled over her as she stopped dancing, planting us in the spot she had stopped. I looked back up at her, panicked I had done something to ruin this. She slid her hand from my shoulder to the side of my face, brushing my cheek with her thumb. I felt my face heat as she smiled kindly at me.

"Can you look at me while we dance?" she asked gently.

I smiled like an idiot and nodded excitedly at her. Her smile grew and she dropped my hand, looping both her arms around my neck. I snaked both arms around the small of her back, pulling her close to me. She started giggling and leaned further into me, making my heart pound. We were swaying together, and I watched her face carefully, committing every feature of hers to memory. She scratched the back on my head.

"What are you thinking about?" she questioned, cocking her head to the side. I pulled her tighter to me, our bodies pressed together.

"How I never thought I'd get close enough to see your freckles this well," I answered, trying to sound confident and not as overwhelmed as I actually was. She rolled her eyes, but her smile turned goofy as she shook her head.

"If you aren't careful, I'll make sure you don't see them again," she teased, winking at me. I grinned at her and set my lips against her ear.

"Oh, you pretending to be mean doesn't work on me anymore," I said lowly. I pulled back, and my smile grew when I saw how red she was. Her mouth was twisted into a nervous smile.

"Damn – I thought I would be able to ride that out a little longer," she joked. "Just to get you to do whatever I want you to."

"Please, Birdie," I insisted, shaking my head. "All you have to do is bat those eyes at me and you could probably convince me to saw my own arm off."

"Oh, you're an idiot," she quipped, setting the side of her face against my chest and pulling me closer to her. I grinned and set my lips to the top of her head, continuing to sway with her. I closed my eyes, taking her smell in.

I had pulled it off. Dovey Henderson no longer hated me, and she was dancing with me in public – the one thing that I was hoping we would do the most. I mean, we had managed to check of a couple of my ultimate dreams over the last couple of days, but I hadn't been so bold to even hope that all of that would have happened. She sighed happily and ran her fingers through my hair as we danced in the spot she had stopped me.