Page 30 of The Love Wager

“Brooks and Indie,” Daisy says into the microphone.

I catch a smug smirk from Taylor, and I swirl Indie around, so my back is to the little fiend.

I can’t say I’m mad at having met Indie or upset that I’m in a dance class. I can say that she’s turned my world upside down, and I’m not yet sure if it’s for the better.

“You can dance,” Indie breathes, her face looking dazzled.

“I can. I learned from the best.”

Curiosity brims in her eyes. “Are you going to make me prod you to go on?”

I laugh, nodding toward Daisy.

“No. You took classes?”

“Not much to do in a small town after school. My mom thought it would do Nick and me some good to learn to be a little less…”

“Brutish?” she asks, a goofy smile on her face, adding to the beautiful rouge on her cheeks from the drink she had.

“Something like that.”

“Well, it’s something I’m sure the ladies appreciate,” she says as we continue to move through the invisible box we’re dancing in.

“I wouldn’t know. Do you appreciate it? You’re the only woman I’ve ever used the talent on.”

Something about that admission has her lost for words, and she stutter-steps, tangling her foot with mine. I stumble, grabbing her around the waist as I knock her backward, but try to keep her from hitting the floor. I flip us so that my back hits the floor, and Indie lands on my chest, her laugh barreling through the dance hall like she’s just gotten off a roller coaster atDisney World.

“Well, maybedon’twatch Indie and Brooks,” Ms. Daisy adds, walking past and giving us a disapproving look from above as I realize I’m still holding Indie close to my chest as she lies atop me laughing.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened,” she says as I help her up after pulling my own massive body off the wood floor.

“I do. Sally’s punch.”

Ms. Sally, the local gossip, sits in the corner, tapping her foot as she looks on at the dance with a cup of punch in her hand.

I pull us back onto the floor, joining in on the same waltz, now with a new song. There are a few couples who can’t get their shit together, and it allows me more time to press Indie close and tuck into the buzzing feeling I have when I’m near her.

“So, you snuck out this morning,” I whisper in her ear.

She tugs deeper into my arms. “I was late for a spa day. Taylor was freaking out.”

“Can’t have that, now can we?” I reply, realizing we’re staring at one another, our faces inching closer together as we’ve stopped waltzing and are only swaying lazily across the floor.

“No, we can’t.”

“Indie,” I breathe, a haze of attraction encircling us, blocking out the world around us entirely.

“Yeah?”

“What’s the plan for PDA in this scheme of ours?” I ask, hovering near her mouth as my breathing speeds and my body begs me to close the distance.

ELEVEN

Indie

Ifreeze the soft sway we slipped into instead of waltzing around the room. His lips move closer, only a breath away from landing against mine. PDA? That’s probably a good idea, especially with everyone here and able to bear witness.

Pushing onto my tiptoes, I answer his question with a kiss that leans toward publicly indecent. My body’s muscle memory from last night takes over. A throat clears, and we jerk apart, but Brooks doesn’t drop his hand from around my waist.

---