Page 33 of Barbed Wire Hearts

He smiles and boops me on the nose. “Save a dance for me, yeah?”

And then he releases me to get comfortable. It’s a trait I appreciate about Wiley. He’s always there if I need him, but he gives me the space to do things on my own, too. For a golden retriever, it’s a powerful trait I’ve never seen before. It’s hard to imagine he was once in the military. I can’t imagine the Wiley I know with a buzzcut following orders without complaint. He’s mentioned he’d seen war, and yet I never see him not wearing a smile. It makes me thinks there’s more hiding beneath that smile than he lets down.

The Boot Scoot fills up fast. The bar is busy, but we still somehow manage to get drinks brought over. When Dakota grins at the bartender, I realize it’s probably because of who he is. Sometimes I forget that the ranch is a big part of this town, and that Dakota comes from old money. Hell, the town is named after his family, and at one point, a lot of the town was owned by them. I don’t know the ranch’s finances now, but I assume it’s pretty decent. Dakota’s truck certainly doesn’t look like it came cheap.

A song comes on over the bar and a bunch of the women scream before rushing to the dance floor and lining up. I frown and glance over at Naomi to my right where she’s currently throwing back shot of tequila. “What’s wrong with them?”

She laughs as she slams the shot glass back down. “Girl, haven’t ever heard Morgan Wallen?”

“Who?” I ask, furrowing my brows. “I don’t know much country.”

She shakes her head. “Come on. We can’t have you working on a ranch and not having your first Morgan Wallen experience.”

She stands and drags me to the dance floor with the other women, putting us at the end of the line. “Just watch the steps,” she instructs. “It’s all in how you move. Once you get the steps, you can add in your own flare.”

She starts to move, two steps to the right, two to the left, crisscross, kick, kick. It takes me a few times of watching her to be able to try it myself. I jump in and laugh when I miss the step and nearly bump into her, but after a few tries, I’m doing the basic steps.

Wiley whoops from the sidelines. “Get it, city girl!”

I flush and glare at him. “I don’t see you out here.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” he says, handing his beer off to someone and rushing onto the dance floor. “It’s Morgan Wallen, ladies!”

The women around me cheer and laugh as he jumps in and does the steps without hesitation. He shakes his butt and drops it low, and I snort and lose my step. He has everyone eating out of the palm of his hand as he dances around and has a good time, including me. When the song ends and switches to a slower one, he grabs my hips and jerks me against him.

“Put your arms around me, witchy woman,” he teases. “Let me dance you real slow.”

Giggling, I let him hold me close and sway to the music with him. He keeps his hands respectable around everyone, but wiggles his eyebrows, letting me know he wishes he could run his hands up under the edges of my short shorts. The song ends three minutes later, and Naomi reappears at my side.

“Sorry, Wiley. She’s coming with me!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I laugh. “I need to grab a drink first. I’ll be right back.”

Wiley stays on the dance floor, continuing to make those around him laugh as he dances around expertly to the music. Meanwhile, I head on over to the table and find my drink. They’ve all been watched by someone but this time, It’s only Levi sitting at the table alone. His eyes focus on me as I take a sip and fan myself. At first, I think about not saying anything to him. But I’ve been drinking and I’m having fun, and he looks so lonely over here.

“You don’t wanna come dance?” I ask, grinning at him.

He raises his brow. “No.”

“Come on, Levi. Have fun a little,” I goad, offering my hand to him. “Dance with me?”

He looks down at my hand and then back up to my eyes. “I don’t dance like Wiley.”

The song switches to another slow one and I grin. “Then we can dance slow.” When he still hesitates, I add, “please.”

Something flashes in his eyes and I think he’s about to tell me no again. I won’t keep bothering him. If he says no again, I’ll leave and let him sit over here all alone. But to my surprise, he tips back his beer bottle and sets it back down on the table empty. Then he shuffles off his stool and comes around the table. He doesn’t take my hand though, so I drop it back to my side and follow him to the dance floor. He doesn’t go deep into the center like Wiley does. Instead, he stops just on the edge and a little in the darker side of the dance floor before he turns to me. He hesitates when I stop in front of him and smile. Levi is much taller than me, taller than any of the others even. His shoulders are wide and strong, intimidating when I’m as short as I am, but I’ve never felt safer when around him. Except for his prickly personality.

“Can I touch you?” he asks, holding his hands up.

“Of course,” I muse, guiding his hands to my hips and settling my own hands on his chest. I’m too short to loop my arms around his neck.

We begin to sway from side to side and the entire time, I’m just surprised that he agreed to dance with me. After his last blow up, we’ve hardly said two words to each other, let alone get to this level. We don’t say anything to each other now, just sway side to side, keeping a respectable distance between us. I’d normally think it awkward, but it isn’t. It’s comfortable despite our silence.

When the song ends and another lively one starts up, he releases me and steps back.

He clears his throat. “Thanks for the dance.”

And then he turns without waiting for me to reply, obviously intending to leave the dance floor.

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