Page 73 of Love, Just In

Do I want to dance to one of the raunchiest songs in the world with Zac Jameson? I sure as hell do.

‘Yes!’ I shout to the DJ as I slide my palm into Zac’s, all my senses sharpening to that point of contact. I follow him into the middle of the dance floor, where he turns around and begins moving to the music, our bodies centimetres apart but not touching. I look up, and his gaze locks on mine, making me glance down shyly. I shift my focus to keeping up with his moves, memories of other kids circling around him at our Year Twelve formal reminding me that this boy candance.

By the time the song finishes, we’re giggling like idiots. We hover in wait for the next track, cheering when we realise it’s another one of our high school favourites: ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by The Black-Eyed Peas. We’ve shiftedeven closer together, the bodies around us disappearing as I shut my eyes and lose myself in this moment, almost hip-to-hip with Zac.

I’m ready for a break, but when the DJ launches into ‘One More Time’ by Daft Punk, Zac and I share a look that agrees we can’t miss this one. We jump and sway and go full freak until I’m nearly crying with laughter. Halfway through the track, the song slows to a soft trance. When the couple beside us wrap their arms around each other, Zac blinks at me, a decision forming in his eyes, before he reaches an arm around my waist and drags me against him.

A gasp flees my throat as his face falls into my neck, and I close my arms around his soft shirt, my fingertips brushing the muscles in his back as the line between us blurs.

Holy shit.

I’m wrapped up in Zac’s arms, his heart thumping hard against my chest. He flattens his palm against the patch of bare skin between my shoulder blades, kicking all the air out of my lungs. When his soft lips make the lightest graze over my neck, my grip on him tightens.

The slow part of the song is over, and we should be back to jumping around and being idiots, but Zac hasn’t loosened his hold on me. Instead, his hand is making a slow, purposeful glide down my back, leaving a trail of sparks. Just as I want to get closer, he suddenly pulls away, and I mourn the loss of contact. His fingertipstrace a line from my bare shoulder down my arm, and his eyes demand me to look at him.

I’m staring into the most gorgeous shade of honey, his gaze searching mine.

Why can’t he just be a cute guy I met at a wedding? Why does he have to be my most treasured friend?

My sightline drops to a safer zone, but as I focus on how his body fills up his shirt, all I can think about is unbuttoning the fabric, one charcoal stud at a time.

The velvety richness of his voice shocks me back into myself. ‘You know, I was happy that we were friends again until I remembered how you dance. I’m not sure I can be seen with you after tonight.’

I breathe half a laugh. ‘Why do you always have to tease me?’ I challenge.

‘Because it riles you up,’ he replies with amusement. ‘Kind of like how you keep rilingmeup by flirting with me.’

My eyes snap to his. ‘What?’

He levels a look at me. ‘Come on, sunbeam. You’ve been baiting me since you got to this town. Don’t even try to deny it.’

‘I have not!’ I poke his rib, which lands me one of those cute laughs.

‘How about spin the bottle?’ he mimics, recalling my suggestion on that first night we spent at Davide’s place. ‘Hey Zac, lie on the couch beside me so that I can stare into your eyes. Oh, and can you please look at my boobs and tell me if they look right?’

I’m barely moving to the music now as I stare at him open-mouthed, wondering why I feel so delighted with the direction this conversation has taken.

‘And what about you,Zachary, gluing the TV remote to your junk?’ I retort. It’s my turn to mock, and I’m the impersonation queen. The moment I morph into him, the smile expands on his face. ‘Come and get it, Josie … Come and stick your hand down my pants. Do you like it “hard”?’

He blurts a laugh. ‘I never said that!’

I can feel the heat between us building, our bodies back to being centimetres apart, those incredible eyes burning into mine again.

Just stare down at the buttons. The buttons are safe.

‘And now you’re refusing to look at me,’ Zac quips. ‘That’s curious.’

I scramble for a response. ‘Well, you can blame your stupidly attractive colour-changing eyes for that.’

His chuckle lifts an octave. ‘My what?’

‘One minute, your eyes are brown; the next, they’re green. I wish they’d bloody decide.’Josie, shut your trap this instant.

When I lift my gaze again, he’s looking at me in a way that fills me with the urge to speak so I don’t do something else with my mouth that I can’t take back.

‘Why isn’t Meghan here with you?’

His smile disappears and his expression clouds. ‘I’m not with Meghan anymore. I ended that weeks ago.’

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