Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,80

joy all wrapped into one special moment she had never seen coming.

As the song faded to a close, he did the sideways lean thing but only a few inches. He came back up, and with a small smile, took her back down into a full dip that swept her feet right off the floor. Like it was the easiest thing in the world, he held her there as his smile grew. The music drifted to a stop, and carefully, he stood her up again.

The others all clapped, and Taylor got herself to clap as well. All she could think was they needed better air conditioning in this building.

Clara and Ryan couldn’t stop chattering as the four of them gathered their coats and headed out and down the Activity Center staircase that wound in a gentle arc from the upstairs to the main floor.

“I love that lean dip,” Clara said. “It’s so easy, but it looks so dramatic. So what did you think, Taylor? Isn’t it just a blast?”

“I… uh… Yeah. It was fun,” Taylor said, glancing at Greg as she put her hands in her pockets. One look at him confirmed it, she was going to have to get a handle on all this craziness because out here, not on the dance floor, he looked just like Greg Everett always had. Her best friend in the world.

“You think you’ll come again next week?” Ryan asked in their general direction so Taylor wasn’t sure who that question was directed at.

“I don’t…” Greg started as he looked at her. “Uh, we’ll have to see what’s up.”

“Well, you should,” Clara said. “Every week, you learn a little more and a little more. Pretty soon, you’re doing dips and flips and spins and stuff you never imagined was even possible.”

When they crossed outside, the frigid air stopped the conversation in its tracks. Ryan and Clara darted off, holding hands, and waving their goodbyes. Obviously Greg couldn’t take Taylor’s hand so he just ducked into the collar of his coat and headed out toward his car. He really hoped she’d had fun. He had, but that was never a good gauge for anyone else. “So, home?” he asked when they were safely in the confines of the car.

“Yep. Sounds good.”

As they drove, Taylor realized she’d never actually asked Greg about the dance on Saturday. She knew he had to work, and making him take her out after two full days of work seemed a little selfish. Still, she had to find a date, or at least a plus-one, and his was the only name she could come up with.

“I had fun tonight,” Greg said when they got to her parking lot. “Thanks for coming.”

“Yeah. I had fun too.” She should get out. She should move or say something—one of the two. “Uh, listen, I know you have work on Saturday, so…”

Worry crossed through his eyes. “Is everything okay?”

“What? Yeah. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everything’s great. I just… Well, I was wondering… You know the whole Alpha Chi Winter Formal is Saturday night. I really do think I should at least make an appearance so they don’t think I fell off the grid.”

“Oh. Yeah.” He sounded weirdly hurt by that, but Taylor didn’t have time to think of why.

“I mean, it’s silly really. You have to work, and I’m sure the last thing you want to do is hang out with Alpha Chi all night. I mean, who wants to do that, right?”

Watching her, Greg’s heart started to fall. She suddenly seemed so fragile and vulnerable, like she was just waiting for him to shoot her down. “Tay,” he said, putting his arm over the seat so his fingers touched just her shoulder. “Hey.”

That dragged her gaze over to his, and he puzzled at how different she looked when she got like this.

“Talk to me,” he said softly. “I’m right here, ready to listen just like always.”

She let out a hard breath and her gaze dropped to her hands in her lap. “It’s just, I don’t… I can’t…” Her gaze came up to his. “I really can’t show up alone, and I don’t want to try to get some random date for it. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

A knife to the heart couldn’t have hurt any worse, but Greg beat that back and down before murdering it with the blade it had sliced him with. Of course, he would do absolutely anything for her. Anything. That hadn’t changed. “Okay. So tell me when