Page 68 of Claiming Becca

“Ba dum tss!” I pretend to hit a drum, and we all erupt in laughter.

She leans over and kisses Julian on the side of his mouth. “Thank you for humoring me.”

He runs his hand through her hair, gripping it lightly in his fist. “Anything for you, baby girl.” She gives him a bright smile before pulling away and looking toward the dance floor.

“Does the line dancing start at a certain time?” She asks.

“Yeah. It’s usually around eight. We like to get here a little early to get a drink and claim a table before it gets packed.” Becca explains. We settle in and chat while we wait. Bailey glances at her phone and does a little hop in her chair.

“Just a few more minutes.” She grabs Becca’s hand. “Go to the bathroom with me real quick?” She asks, sliding down from her chair. Becca agrees. After saying they’ll be right back, they head to the hallway with the bathrooms. Julian sits up, and I turn around as we keep our eyes glued to the hallway. We don’t relax until they’re in our sight again.

“I had no idea the worry that came with loving someone,” Julian says as we watch the girls giggle and talk animatedly. I nod in agreement. I’m sure his worry is even higher after what happened to Bailey. Becca and Bailey make it to the table just as the music changes from regular country to the line dancing music. They both do this hop of excitement, and I glance over at Julian. He doesn’t look miserable. He’s smiling at Bailey as she wraps her arms around his neck.

The Watermelon Crawl begins to play, so we head onto the dance floor with a lot of other people. It’s still early, so I’m sure more people will show up later. Becca and I head to the front like always, but she pauses and glances at Bailey.

“It’s easy. Just stand behind us and follow along.” Becca instructs. Bailey nods, and Julian shakes his head as we begin the steps. I move back half a step so I can watch Becca. I love doing this with her. One night when she was feeling down, I brought her here to cheer her up.

I think that’s the night I fell in love with her. Seeing her laugh and let loose shifted things in our relationship. So, returning and doing this again, knowing she’s going home with me, hits differently. When the song ends, she walks over to me and wraps her arms around my neck. I smirk down at her dipping her. She throws her head back, laughing as I pull her back up.

“We should do that move we practiced last week.” She exclaims.

My eyes widen. “There aren’t any pillows here, Shortcake.”

She scrunches her nose. “Oh well.” She sighs. Another song starts, and Becca turns to Bailey.

“Did you like it?” She asks.

Bailey nods. “So much fun! Julian surprised me.” We glance over at Julian, and he shrugs.

“I know how to dance.” He replies.

Bailey wraps her arms around him. “Oh, I know you can, baby.” She exclaims. We all laugh, and she wiggles her eyebrows at him. Julian shakes his head at her with a smirk before kissing her. We do a couple more dances before returning to our table to take a break. Julian and I head to the bar for water and more drinks. When we get back to the table, Bailey and Becca aren’t there. My heart drops.

“Where the hell are they?” Julian practically growls. I hear Becca’s laughter and turn toward the dance floor. The line dancing has taken a break, and there’s regular dancing now. Bailey and Becca are out there dancing together.

“Jesus.” Julian breathes out next to me, having spotted them too. I share a knowing look with him before sitting and watching them. They have their backs to each other and are trying to go low but are laughing too hard, so they almost fall instead. I smile at them, happy to see Becca enjoying herself so much. I glance at Julian, and he has the same look I have as he watches them.

“Who would have thought we’d wind up with girls that are best friends?” I ask him.

He glances at me with a grin on his face. “Not me.” He looks at them one more time before turning back to me. “I bought a ring.” He tells me.

My eyes widen. “When are you going to ask her?” I question.

“I’m going to wait until she graduates college, but I saw it and had to have it. It’s perfect.”

I shake my head, still a little shocked. “Wow, that’s a big step.”

Julian shrugs. “When you know. You know.” He says. I glance out at Becca. I couldn’t agree more.

“When are you going to ask Bec?” He asks.

I shrug. “First, I need to talk to her about living with me. I’m going to see if she wants to rent her grandpa’s house.”

Julian grins at me. “That’s great, Connor. I always knew you two would wind up together. From the day I met her at the election, I could tell you were crazy about her.”

I grin at him, nodding. I’m not going to deny it. “Hopefully, she’ll say yes.”

“Come on; she’s as crazy about you as you are about her.” He states.

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