Not Without You [Chris Evans]

15

Megan's POV

Jaimie bumped hips with me as a new song came on – one of my favorites. "I love this song!" she said, pulling me over to a more open spot so we could really get into it.

"Do you know how to jitterbug?" Sadie asked when I'd finished my drink and the next song with the right beat came on. We both knew it wasn't really a jitterbug, it was more of a country swing dance if you wanted to get technical, but that's what we called it back home.

"Of course!" I grinned and held out my hands to her and we started moving through the steps only to be separated when we unsurprisingly missed the first behind the back catch - I always missed that one when I was dancing with a woman, not used to taking the other side of the steps.

"Mind if we cut in?" Firm arms held me tightly and I blinked up into a pair of steel blue eyes in surprise for a second.

"Not at all," I said as Chris smoothly stepped back and took my hands in his to start moving through the steps with me. I loved to dance and I could tell he'd done this before, so I let myself follow his lead through more complicated figures, laughing in delight as he even flipped me a couple times - something I couldn't have done with Sadie.

He was an excellent partner, easy to follow as he guided me though the twists and turns I hadn't done in a long time, my body remembering what my brain had forgotten. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Sebastian was smoothly going through the steps with Sadie, just not flipping her. Tom Holland and Scarlett were on the other side of us, not quite as fluid but still knowing the basic parts of the dance. Scarlett was the perfect size for Tom to do the moves with, being just enough smaller than he was.

Somehow we'd attracted a crowd, the rest of the people on the floor having made a space for us, the moves requiring a little more floor space than most dances. I was breathing hard when I finished the final spin, Chris pulling me tight to him as the music ended and applause broke out.

I looked over at Sadie, who was laughing up at Sebastian and taking a bow, along with Scarlett and Tom on the far side of them.

"I've never gotten applause for dancing before," I said to Chris when he let go of me so we could take a bow. "This is just how we do it back home."

"You were great. Not many people around here know how to swing dance quite like that."

"I'm surprised you know how," I said, letting Chris pull me closer for the slow dance that was starting, twirling me before putting one hand on my back, his much larger hand completely enveloping mine. His arm was incredibly firm under my hand; the muscles shifting under my fingers. For the first time ever, I felt like I was where I belonged and it was simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying.

"I've been doing all kinds of dances since I was a kid. My Ma's a dance teacher, so I can do everything from tap dancing to the waltz. Sadie's brothers taught me and Seb at one of her cousin's wedding dances back in South Dakota."

"That explains it. How about ballet?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I managed to skip out on that one – Dad put his foot down."

I laughed at his relieved expression and told him about my failed attempt learn ballet as a kid. I didn't resist when he pulled me closer on the crowded floor, adeptly preventing collisions with other drunken dancers.

His eyes held mine, and I found myself getting lost in their vivid blue depths. When he held me this close, his arms firmly around me so he was the only thing I could feel, his intoxicating distinctly male scent all that I could smell, I found it hard to remember why I shouldn't be attracted to him when I kept wanting to know what his lips would feel like on mine. Just in the nick of time, the music ended, forcing me to return to reality.

"You have to let me go, Chris." I said, intending to take a step back from him to find that I couldn't move, his strong arms still locked around me, holding me to him.

"I don't want to," he said in a low voice, his eyes holding mine.

"You have to," I took a deep breath, my chest aching from denying what I felt. "This - whatever this is - it can't happen."

While I was incredibly attracted to him, it would be better for both of us if I didn't let myself get involved. I wasn't the kind of girl someone like him was normally seen with. He reluctantly released me, his hands sliding down my arms to take my hands in his as I desperately tried to find the strength to walk away from him before I did something stupid like fall for him.

* * *

Chris' POV

Time slowed as I looked into her eyes. I knew I should let her go, but I didn't want to. She fit so perfectly in my arms it was like she was made just for me. I'd been looking for someone like her for so long that I'd started to wonder if I'd ever find who I was searching for. When she was right here by my side, looking me in the eyes - I caught a glimpse of heaven. If this is what Seb felt for Sadie no wonder he fought to keep her close to him even when she couldn't be his.

Her scent mingled with mine as I pulled her closer on the crowded floor, shifting colored lights shining on her brilliant hair making her almost look ethereal. I could see the rapid beat of her pulse in the hollow of her throat and her lips parted as she took a deeper breath. Her fingers tightened on my hand almost imperceptibly and I knew she wasn't as unaffected as she tried to make me believe.

As much as I didn't want to let go of her right now, this wasn't the place or the time to make her see that I had no intention of just letting her walk away. Robert came up just then as the music ended, putting an arm around my shoulder and pulling me away from her. She slipped away from me, disappearing into the crowd.

"Come get a drink with me, Evans," Robert said, steering me to the bar. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked him, seeing her slip away from me. "I don't need a drink!"

"Saving your bacon. She's good, I'll give her that; almost had me convinced she wasn't interested in any of you guys."

"What are you talking about?"

"Redhead about yay high? Ring any bells?"

"Megan? What's wrong with dancing with her? I didn't exactly give her an opportunity to decline."

"Of course you didn't. There's dancing and then there's dancing. If you were thinking with your brain instead of your dick, you'd see how stupid you're acting, drawing attention to her with that little show you guys put on a little bit ago. Check your phone."

I pulled it out and checked my various social media sites. "So Lizzie put up a video of us all dancing? So what?"

"She tagged us all in it. You remember how Sadie reacted when that happened to her, right?" Robert asked, rolling his eyes.

"I was there. That was a way different kind of thing, Bob. What did she do to get on your bad side so quickly? Have you even met her yet?" I looked over to see Megan dancing with the other girls and ignoring the rest of the guys on the dance floor that were trying to get her attention.

"We've met," he snapped, crossing his arms. "She's too good to be true. She's pretty but not too pretty, has a good personality, little bit of a temper to keep her from being too boring, not in awe of us - too good to be true."

"You forgot accident prone," I said, raising an eyebrow. "I've just barely caught her twice - once as she fell coming out from Seb's trailer - and Tom Hiddleston's already caught her once today."

"Better," he said, nodding. "A flaw is good. So you and Scarlett really are through?"

"We're just friends. Her choice, not mine."

"So your interest in Red has nothing to do with the fact they're the same height, size and has the same color of hair as Scarlett's character?"

I snorted and shook my head, not even sure what to say to that. "She's more Ariel than Natasha Romanoff, but don't call her that because she doesn't like being called Ariel."

"Can't say I blame her," Robert said with a laugh. "Although the analogy is fairly apt. She's not part of your world."