tonight. Are you game?”
“To do what?” she asked, not really in the mood to leave the apartment. She’d studied all day and was exhausted, and on Sunday she liked to be up early at the horse preserve for her volunteer day.
“Let’s head out to the roadhouse. I feel like eating greasy barbeque and dancing my ass off.”
Heart sinking, it was the last thing Amber wanted to do. Gone was the earlier excitement about getting married and making plans to move to a bigger house, things she’d thought about all day and was eager to speak with him about further. He was in the here and now and wanted all the physical satisfaction he could cram into one evening.
“Let’s stay home, and I’ll make you something to eat, and we can have sex again.”
Shoulders drooping, she almost laughed it was so pathetic. So this was Dave in a mood.
“Maybe later. Right now, I need to burn off some steam. Let’s go.”
“I need to get dressed.”
“You look fine. We’re going to a roadhouse, not a five-star dining experience.”
Resigned, this was the beginning of their relationship. It sure hadn’t taken long to deescalate. In silence, he drove farther out of town. The roadhouse was set back from a dirt road, and even with the windows up, they could hear zydeco music, the beat vibrating in her chest.
In the parking lot, Dave moaned.
“Great, that’s my brother’s piece-of-shit truck, looking like it just came out of the damn carwash. I don’t feel like having to make small talk with them.”
“Let’s not go in if it will bother you to see him,” Amber said softly.
“Why would it bother me?”
“You just said you didn’t want to talk to him.”
Parking the car, Dave didn’t reply, but Amber could see a tic in his jaw. They walked in together, holding hands. Dave usually attracted a lot of attention when he went out, but tonight all eyes were on his brother and Maggie moving like they were auditioning for Dancing with the Stars. Dave didn’t see them, but Amber cringed, wishing she’d listened to her inner voice and fought to stay home on the couch.
“What’s the attraction?” Dave asked the host, nodding toward the dining room, where diners had abandoned their meals, gathering around the dance floor to watch.
“Watch that couple in there, a little kizomba, a little salsa, my boss wants to call the cops for indecent dancing, but he’s gettin’ all horny now.”
The employees around the desk laughed, and Dave’s temper escalated. “If you’re not too horny, will you seat us?” he asked.
They continued to laugh as the host grabbed two menus and led the way.
Then he saw Maggie in the arms of Justin, gyrating for all she was worth, spinning around with Justin’s hands on her waist, and then their hips melding, doing the two-step around the dance floor to the clapping of onlookers.
“Yikes, Maggie and Justin dancing,” Amber said, envious that she couldn’t dance like that. “They look ridiculous. I always said she’s too young for him.”
“She is not,” Dave said, frowning. Then he remembered Amber had had sex with his brother, a one-night stand. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
“Maybe a little bit,” she said, forlorn. “They look pretty amazing together.”
“We can do better. Let’s dance,” he said, pushing away from the table. “I want to have fun tonight.”
“Look, you’re not going to have fun with me, then, because I have two left feet.”
“Oh. Why didn’t I know that?”
“Because all we’ve done so far is fuck,” Amber said, annoyed. “That might be all we’re good at.”
Dave looked at her, and something softened, a little regret that he’d been abrasive with her. “I hope we’re better at more than that,” he said, taking her hand. “Because I really like you.”
“This morning you said you loved me,” she replied.
“I do. I love you. Come on. I’ll teach you to dance.”
“It’s impossible. Others have tried and failed.”
“Just pretend you’re making love to me standing up,” he said, laughing.
She let him lead her out onto the dance floor, and when he took her into his arms, she closed her eyes and did as he had said, pretended she was making love to him standing up. It must have been good because she noticed something protruding from the front of his jeans.
“I guess I must be doing okay,” she said.
“You’re doing great. And face it, I’m irresistible.”
The judge walked among the dancers, tapping the shoulders of those who were disqualified, and surprisingly, Dave and Amber were selected to keep going. The