Page 66 of Through The Woods

He spun around on the stool and reached for my hand, demanding my full attention. “Well, say that some chicks show up at the party. How can I avoid coming across like that?”

I grinned. “Are you coming to me for female advice, Rooster? Things must be bad then.”

He glared down at me. “C’mon, Neve. Tell me what to do.”

I shrugged. “Do you know how to dance? A lot of women love a man that can move on the dance floor.”

He pressed his lips together before answering. “I’m not sure what kind of party you’re thinking this is gonna be, but we don’t usually dance.”

“Why not?”

He gestured to his cut-off. “Because we’re bikers, Darlin’.”

I pointed the pen at him. “That’s your problem—too concerned with your image.”

When he jumped off the barstool and left the room in a huff, I had to fight the smile that kept creeping onto my face. If I knew Rooster, he was hunting down music so I’d teach him how to dance.

I wasn’t wrong.

Ten minutes later he stormed back in with his phone in hand. “Alright Neve, here’s what I’ve got.”

He turned on some fast-paced rap music and began moving around the kitchen as if he was having a seizure. I gave up on remaining silent and burst out laughing.

“What? What’s wrong with this?”

I shook my head and dabbed at my eyes. “Nothing if your goal is to end up on YouTube. If you want to impress the ladies, you need something slower.” I took the phone from him and scrolled through his music, finally deciding on some Luke Bryan.

“You know we won’t be playing anything like this at the party, right?”

I turned the volume up. “Why not? This is good music.”

His head moved along to the beat of the song. “Hell yeah it is. Doesn’t mean Charm will let us play it.”

I slid off my stool and grabbed his hands. “Okay, put this hand here.” I placed his right hand on my hip. “And this one goes here.” I held his left hand with my right. “Now, we’ll start slow so you can get the hang of it.”

Luke Bryan crooned about dancing on tailgates, while we swayed back and forth in the kitchen.

“Now, let’s do the steps. You’re going to lead, okay? Two steps forward and one step back.”

Rooster started off a little rocky, but by the third time the song played, he’d gotten the hang of it—only stepping on my feet twice. We moved around the kitchen to the beat of the song and, as he got it down, added in a couple of spins.

Joker tapped me on the shoulder before signing that he wanted to be taught as well and I winced as he hopelessly stomped across my toes throughout the song. When PD cut in, I gave a silent prayer of thanks. His arms were stiff, as if he was afraid to move and it took several turns around the room before he loosened up.

The kitchen had become our dance hall and bikers streamed in, happily awaiting their turns. Axel had obviously been taught by Amber and moved gracefully around the kitchen, while Guardrail’s moves were jerky and robotic; making the lack of a female presence completely apparent.

A throat cleared just as he dipped me backward, nearly taking my feet out from under me. “You givin’ lessons?” Charm leaned against the door frame, running his thumb against his beard.

Guardrail pulled me back up and I let go of his hands guiltily. “Why? Do you want to learn?”

He nodded and cut in between us. My heart beat a little faster as he gripped my waist with one hand and my hand with the other. He led effortlessly and I began to suspect that he knew exactly what he was doing. In fact, he could’ve taught every man here, with the exception of Axel.

Whereas the other men and I had probably looked like a couple of junior high kids dancing, Charm’s body was so close to mine that it was impossible to ignore the way his muscles brushed against me as we danced.

He leaned down next to my ear and whispered, “I may have done this a time or two.”

I grinned like an idiot as my face turned cherry red before murmuring, “I noticed.”

He moved even closer and his breath tickled my ear as he said, “I didn’t mention it before now, but if you wanted to go into town and get some clothes for the party, you can.”

---