Page 119 of Rival Darling

“I thought you didn’t like dancing,” she replied.

“I like dancing with you.”

She smiled and took my hand. We’d arrived to the formal reasonably late, and the place was packed with other students. I would have much preferred it to be just the two of us, but I wasn’t going to complain. There was no better feeling in the world than having Violet in my arms.

As we made our way through the crowd to the dance floor, I heard a few whispers following after us. Some people were commenting on my game today while others on the beautiful girl at my side.

“There’s Reed Darling. Did you see him today?” I heard one kid say. I recognized him from tryouts this year, but he hadn’t been good enough to make the squad.

It didn’t take a huge leap of the imagination to guess how his friend might respond. I might have won us the game, but it was my other performance on the ice that had people talking.

“Yeah, he was incredible. Did you see how high he could jump?”

Wait? They were impressed with my routine?

“I know,” his friend replied. “I heard the reason he’s the best player in the state is because he took figure skating lessons. I’m thinking of taking some.”

“I was thinking the same thing!”

I struggled not to roll my eyes as I listened to the two of them. Despite what Parker said, apparently, not even breaking into a figure skating routine in the middle of a hockey game could completely destroy my reputation. I guessed the Darling Devils were here to stay.

We reached the center of the dance floor, and I wrapped my arms around Violet. The music was slow, and as we swayed together, she released a contented sigh and rested her head on my chest. I couldn’t help but hold her a little tighter. I’d experienced a lot of highs today and enjoyed some unforgettable moments, but this one seemed to top them all. Because in this moment, Violet felt truly mine.

As the song changed, Violet lifted her head and nodded past me. “There’s your other brother.”

I glanced over to see Grayson dancing slowly with Paige. She was held somewhat awkwardly in his arms, and I imagined it was probably because he was trying his best not to step on her feet. I didn’t really like dancing, but at least I wasn’t as bad at it as Gray.

“He’s not a very good dancer,” I explained, focusing on Violet once more. “Paige’s toes are in grave danger tonight.”

“Guess we can’t all leap through the air as gracefully as a ballerina,” she joked, making me narrow my eyes at her.

“Not funny.”

She laughed before returning her attention to Grayson. She tilted her head as she watched them. “I don’t think Paige is complaining.”

I glanced over once more to see Paige smiling up at Gray. I’d seen her look at him like that a million times before, but I usually tried my best not to read into it too much. Paige was just a happy, smiley person.

“Do you think they’d ever get together?” Violet continued.

I shook my head. “Doubt it. He’s too stubborn, and she’s too oblivious.”

“Too oblivious to what?”

I let out a sigh. “To the fact my brother’s madly in love with her.”

She frowned slightly but then looked thoughtful. “You never know. They might figure it out.”

“Maybe.”

I heard Paige squeak, and I cringed. “There goes a toe.”

“Poor Paige.” Violet grimaced.

“Poor Paige,” I agreed. “But I have to be honest, I didn’t drag you out here to talk about my brother.”

“You didn’t?” She laughed lightly.

“Nope. I was thinking I’d trap you on the dance floor so you could regale me with compliments on my win today.”

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