me?” she rasps, squeezing my bicep in her tiny hand.
“That’s not how this works.”
Her head jerks back, brows furrowed.
“A gentleman always asks a lady to dance.”
Her face splits into a dimpled smile. “Another one of your Mimi’s lessons in chivalry?”
I nod.
“Well, you’d better hurry. They only play a few slow songs before the line dancin’ starts up again. Beau and Kate are already out there.”
“Patience,” I whisper placing a placating finger at her lips. “Our song’s next.”
“Our song?” she gasps. “Wyatt Landry, what did you do? We don’t have a—”
“May I have this dance?” I ask, rising from my seat just as Perfect Stranger’s “You Have the Right to Remain Silent” begins filtering through the speakers.
“Thought you’d never ask…”
With her trembling hand in mine, I lead her out to the floor, give her a quick twirl, and pull her body flush with mine. Her arms lace around my neck, her fingers threading into my hair while I splay one across her back, resting the other at her waist.
My heart lurches as I whisper the lyrics into her ear, each one piercing it with truths. “So many times, my eyes have held you. Tonight, please give my arms that chance,” I croon.
“Wyatt,” she starts.
“Shhh.” I push her hair back from her face, brushing my lips over hers. “Just listen.”
She rests her head against my chest, her arms tightening around my neck while I sing into her ear about remaining silent and allowing our hearts to do the talking while we dance.
By the end of the song, something’s shifted between us. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly, but her gaze suddenly burns hotter and lingers a little longer. Every touch is slightly more intimate and purposeful.
All I know is it feels like I’m finally making my way out of the friend zone, and absolutely nothing could thrill me more.
The front door swings open before my fist has even met with the weathered wood to knock, revealing a freshly showered Wyatt. “Y’all made it!”
I greet him with a smile, allowing myself a quick second to catalog his appearance beginning with his still damp hair and piano key smile surrounded by a couple days-old scruff. Today’s tee is gray and fitted with a V-neck. He’s traded his usual worn denim for black and gray tapered Adidas track pants. His feet are bare, and ridiculously hot. Because of course they are. Why am I even surprised that the least flattering body part in existence is drool worthy on this man? He hit the genetics jackpot for sure. I mean, is one crooked toe too much to ask for?
“Barely,” Prissy complains, drawing me from my examination. She rolls her eyes at me in dramatic fashion before slipping past Wyatt, right into his house, like she owns the place.
That girl…
“Hey.” I shift my weight from foot to foot, trying to determine how embarrassed I should be by his demeanor. Acid rolls in my tummy, serving as a reminder of the potentially poor choices I might’ve made last night at the bar. I’m not sure whether it’s a blessing or a curse that I can’t seem to recall a huge portion of the evening before. Definitely blaming the extra Crown Kate put in my first drink. And my second. And third. “Sorry about last night,” I offer, erring on the side of caution. Judging by the hangover I’m suffering this morning, I’m sure I did something to warrant it. “I don’t get out much, and I guess I went a bit overboard on the alcohol.”
“Why are you apologizing?” He drops back, ushering me inside. “I had a blast.”
As I step around him and take a deep inhale to calm my nerves, I get a whiff of Irish Spring soap and coffee. Always coffee. My stomach begins to settle at the comforting aroma.
With a timid smile, I cross my arms over my chest as I take a stroll around his quaint kitchen, absorbing all the details, like the floral wallpaper that’s starting to peel at the corners and thick wood trim surrounding the doors and framing the bay window above the sink. “I think I did too…”
“You don’t remember?”
“Bits and pieces,” I admit. Flashes of riding home with my head hanging out the window of his truck fill me with mortification. Momma had to help me scrub the chunks from my hair when I stumbled in last night at a quarter past two. She was still making fun of me when she literally had to haul