Page 84 of New River Gorge(ous)
“Let’s dance!” I say, shoving Lynette lightly toward Ben. She stumbles a little, but Ben catches her, steadying her with his hands on her arms.
Logan stalks off just as Beck extends his hand to me.
“Dance with me?” he asks, which seems redundant because I just said I wanted to dance, but I appreciate it just the same.
I grasp his hand and let him lead me to the floor. For once, it’s nice to let someone else lead. The moment his hands setthemselves on my waist, any nerves I had about this moment fly away.
Beck is gentle, and kind, and good, and I love the man. I can’t help the anxiety about new situations that I routinely shove down and power through, but I can give Beck the gift of trusting him, and I do. I lean into him just as he bends slightly to whisper something in my ear.
My heart swoops low when he quietly sings the lyrics to the song. It’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
I am undone. All I want is to kiss the man, to marry the man, to have a family with the man who’s holding me gently in his arms and singing his love for me.
Just as I’m about to tell him this, an extremely unwelcome voice cuts in as someone elbows me out of the way. “That’s him. He’s the one who brought those tourists.”
Addie.
“You said you knew the rules,” the bouncer growls. “They’re out of here, and so are you.”
“Bye, Beckett,” Addie says as she tosses her hair over her shoulder.
The man in black grabs Beck’s arm and twists it behind his back before he pushes him through Billy’s and into the parking lot.
46
Beck
“Billy,” I say as he shoves me through the bar. “What on earth did I do?”
“The young lady said the tourists you brought were bothering her. Wouldn’t back off when she said she wouldn’t dance with him.”
I roll my eyes. Matt didnotask Addie to dance. This entire thing stinks of vindictive malice. “How much did she pay you?”
“Now, Beckett, you know that I can’t be bought,” Billy responds.
“How. Much. Did. She. Pay. You?” I grind out, but Billy just flashes a smile, complete with a missing tooth on the left upper row, a result of a bar fight he broke up single-handedly, if his own tall tales are to be believed. Billy is not someone I believe.
Billy pushes me through the front door and gives me a salute before disappearing back into the bar.
I shake out my arm before realizing I left Brooke alone in there.
I don’t have to panic for long because Brooke, Logan, and Ben spill out of the front door of Billy’s just moments after I start worrying.
“What happened?” Logan asks.
I tell him.
“Well, I’m not staying here on principal,” Logan quips. “C’mon, Ben.”
Ben shakes his head. “I’ll keep an eye on Lynette before Liggly gets to her. He was eyeing her.”
Logan gives him a stern nod before Ben disappears back into Billy’s.
Matt and Melanie stand with their arms crossed in front of my truck. I head to the two of them.
“What happened, man?” Matt asks. “One second, we were dancing, and the next, we were told we weren’t welcome here anymore.”
“My ex,” I grumble.
