Sparks - Wendy Higgins Page 0,14
Elliott’s “Work It.” He reached for mine, but I put my hand on top. “I need to slow down.” How did these guys drink so much? My head was floating.
“You good, Cap?” he asked Shawn.
Shawn raised his cup with a drunken grin and took a sip, making Jerome smile big as he danced his way back to the group.
Moments later I witnessed something unexpected and beautiful happen. The first notes of Nelly’s “Hot In Herre” came on and the entire room burst into cheers, all of them turning to Shawn and pointing. He nearly spit out his drink and threw his head back to laugh, shaking his head. Whatever this inside joke was, it was a big one. I smiled, filled with curiosity, as they converged on their captain and pulled him to his feet, into the circle of dancing bodies.
I felt nervous for him, wondering how awkward he’d be out there, but he didn’t hold back. He danced, and it was fucking adorable and hilarious. His moves were somewhere between the classic white-man shuffle and some damn rhythmic hip thrusting. He looked so happy, and I loved how he didn’t seem to care what anyone thought. The group’s full attention was on him, and I about fell out the chair laughing when he yanked his shirt off. Shawn’s shoulder muscles flexed as he spun the shirt over his head. He was lean with wiry muscle and a flat stomach.
Next thing I knew, the entire dance floor was taking off their shirts and spinning them, women included. I hadn’t laughed this hard in a long time. When the song ended, they all cheered and proceeded to hug their commanding officer or give hand slaps and high fives. Shawn was laughing his ass off as he pulled the shirt back over his head and left them to keep dancing. He was grinning and rubbing the back of his head as he fell back into his seat beside me. A light sheen of sweat shone along his hairline. My face was sore from smiling.
“I’ve got to hear the story behind that,” I said.
“Ah, my God.” He took a drink. “On my first tour of duty with these guys we were out in the desert during a really dry patch. It was so fucking hot. I’d never been in heat like that. We tried to do most of our exercises at night, but there were some things that just had to be done in the daylight.”
We both sipped again. I finished mine and felt the room getting fuzzy.
“This one particular day it felt like we were dying. All my men—sorry, I’m not trying to be sexist, it’s men and women—all of my soldiers were getting cranky. Snapping at each other. Fucking griping. I could feel the tension and knew it would be bad if anyone snapped. I had my device and a speaker in my pack, even though I had no service. When we stopped to rest I pulled up that song—because naturally, I have it on my playlist.”
“Naturally.” I giggled, and he kept grinning.
“And I just started dancing. And then I took my shirt off. And we were all fucking dancing shirtless in the middle of the desert. We spent the rest of the day laughing about it. Mostly laughing at my dancing, but hey, it worked.”
“You’re a hero in many ways,” I said.
“Ah, no, cut that shit out.” He waved off the compliment and my heart squeezed. Humble, too? Sigh.
I found myself staring at his mouth and really, really wanting to kiss him. A wave of sadness pummeled me, followed by guilt. I’d had way too much to drink.
“I need to get to bed, Shawn. It was really nice to meet you.”
“Already? Ah, come on. Hang out a little longer.” Ugh, his fucking cute smile! He was drunk. And way too tempting. Maybe this was just innocent friendship to him, but I was not having appropriate thoughts for this engaged man, and that just wasn’t me. Sometimes you just had to nip temptation in the bud before it had a chance to bloom.
I shook my head and stood, stretching.
He stood, too. “I had fun talking to you.”
“Me too,” I told him, wishing he’d stop looking at my face so intently. “Night.” I started to turn but he called out.
“Wait! Let me give you my number. Just in case you ever need a mean, green marine to rough someone up for you.”
I rolled my eyes to cover the fact that my blood