The Avery Shaw Experiment - By Kelly Oram Page 0,27

was being escorted into the middle of a crowd of people. Pamela whirled around to face me and grabbed onto my hands. “First, I just want you to relax. This isn’t as hard as you think.”

“Yeah,” Chloe chimed in. “You’ll be fine. It’s a lot easier to dance by yourself than with a guy.”

I looked at them with gratitude and a sense of awe. I’d always assumed that the most popular girls in school would be the catty mean girls you read about. Those girls definitely existed, Pam and Chloe had even warned me of the worst ones, but so far I’d discovered that Grayson didn’t put up with jerks, so the people at the top of the food chain with him were all really nice.

“You guys didn’t have to do that,” I said, even though I was more than grateful for their rescue.

“Oh, yes we did!” Chloe laughed. “Grayson gets away with murder. You were amazing out there. I can’t believe he made you mess up like that. We girls have to stick together. Plus, I was really looking forward to Owen’s strip show.”

“More than that,” Pamela said, “you are not ready to dance with Grayson.”

Chloe moaned in agreement and fanned herself. “So true. He means well, but . . .” She shivered at a memory. “That boy is trouble without even trying.”

I had no doubt about that. I looked at the couples dancing around us. That was enough to make me blush, and I was sure it would be worse dancing with Grayson.

“The best kind of trouble,” Pamela said wistfully.

I was pretty sure I understood what that look meant. Not that it was surprising that she’d dated Grayson.

Pamela may as well have been named after Pamela Anderson, because she was destined to be a supermodel. She was five ten and a perfect hourglass. She had rich chestnut hair that flowed all the way to her waist and always behaved no matter what the weather was like. She was the ideal counterpart to a guy like Grayson.

“You guys dated, didn’t you?” I asked.

She and Chloe both gave me guilty smiles.

“She was first,” Pamela said of Chloe.

“But she lasted longer,” Chloe said.

That surprised me. I was serious when I said I didn’t think anyone had ever lasted longer than the weekend with Grayson. “How long did you guys go out?”

Pamela smiled. “Not as long as you.”

“Me?” I gasped.

“It’s been almost three weeks since New Year’s Eve. I think that’s some kind of record for Grayson.”

“But Grayson and I aren’t dating!”

“Please.” Chloe laughed. “You are the closest thing to an actual girlfriend Grayson has ever had. You may not be kissing, but he doesn’t even look at other girls anymore.”

My jaw fell open and Pamela turned me around to face the couch. Grayson was sitting there watching us. He smiled at me and then yelled across the room at Pamela. “I don’t see any dancing going on! Do I need to come over there?”

Pamela rolled her eyes at him and then turned me back around.

“You see?” Chloe teased. “He only has eyes for you.”

“Completely smitten,” Pamela agreed.

I felt a flutter in my stomach and told myself it was nerves. No way could it be actual butterflies. I was in love with Aiden, not Grayson. The two brothers couldn’t be more different. Grayson and I had nothing in common. He just felt sorry for me. I was just one of the few girls he hadn’t conquered yet. It had him curious, but his interest, if it was really there, would fade. I was just a shiny new toy at the moment.

“I think it’s sweet,” Chloe said, while Pamela shook her head and laughed.

“I think it serves him right. As many girls as he’s made fall for him? It’s about time he gets a dose of his own medicine.”

I stumbled at the insinuation. “You think he’s fallen for me?”

“Enough chatting,” Pamela said with a knowing smile. “We’re supposed to be dancing. So, first I want you to just hear to the music. Listen for the beat. Close your eyes if it helps.”

She’d changed the subject, and that was fine by me. I couldn’t think about Grayson anymore, so I closed my eyes. The song was one I didn’t recognize, but the underlying beat was easy to pick out. The base was so deep that it vibrated in my chest. “Okay, so what am I supposed to do now?”

“Now? You just start to move.”

Like that was any kind of instruction?

“Try bobbing your head in