Page 68 of Red Zone Realizations
Nash laughs and swats Wyatt’s shoulder. “Oh, he did.”
Wyatt leans closer to us and talks loudly in our ears to be heard over the music. “I had a buddy, the kicker on the football team, who would show up with a Ziploc bag of coins to pay for his drinks. It would last him all night; I shit you not.”
I blink once or twice. “Wow, Wisconsin sounds like another planet.”
“It is,” Nash adds quickly.
The bartender, a woman with dark hair and a tied-up checkered shirt, sets down their beer bottles and Wyatt whips his wallet out of his back pocket to pay. Noah steps in and puts his hand over Wyatt’s, stopping him.
“Rookies!” Three young men quickly step up to the bar, already reaching for their pockets. Two I recognize from seeing them around, the other I don’t know at all. I watch as the rookies decide who’s going to pay. The one with dark hair and tan skin pays, then slips his wallet back in his pocket and saunters off. The other two seem to be deciding who will pay for my and Noah’s drinks, and the third wanders off in the same direction as the first.
I look at Noah. “What is that about?”
He shrugs. “Everyone knows the rookies get stuck with the bill.”
“You haze them?!” They look so young and sweet!
He holds his hands out in apump the brakesmotion. “This is not hazing. Trust me. I had some friends in college who were in frats, and they could tell you some horror stories. You’d never look at a stick of butter the same way again.”
Nash grabs a napkin to wrap around her beer, but Wyatt whips a koozie out from his other pocket and hands it to her. He grabs a second one and shoves the navy Hurricanes koozie over his own beer bottle. I raise my brows at Noah. That’s some boyfriend shit. But in all the conversations we’ve had, Nash insists they are just best friends. I personally think that’s bullshit, but I’m not one to push, so I leave it where she obviously wants it. Let them have their secrets. I’ll be the first one to say “I told you so” when they end up together. Actually, maybe second because I don’t think I’ll be able to beat Chrissy.
Speaking of, I look around for her. She won’t be hard to find. I saw her sporting a light-up, white sequined cowboy hat about five minutes ago. Looked like something the DJ hands out at a wedding to get the crowd going after the grandparents have left for the night. I spot her, martini glass in hand, dragging Colin toward the dance floor.
Noah and I step up to the bartender. “What are you drinking?” she asks.
I scan the beer on tap and the liquor bottles on the shelf and decide I better stick to what I started with. “I’ll have a margarita.” Noah turns to the bartender and orders two. I like that he asks what I want, but speaks up for me to order. I don’t often feel taken care and I’m soaking it in. The combination of his ass in those jeans, the blatant heat in his eyes, the alcohol in our systems, and how close I know we’ll be when we dance…Is it hot in here?
I pick up my margarita after the brunette sets it down, thanking her. Noah leans toward me. “Sorry, no margarita-specific koozie.”
“Would you have had one for me if I’d ordered a beer?”
“Nope.” He pops the ‘p’ at the end. I glance over myshoulder where Nash and Wyatt went off to. “What’s up with them anyway? Nash says they’re just friends.”
“Oh, he’s in love with her. He’s just too afraid to do anything about it, and she’s gone so much playing international volleyball.” I nod.That I knew.“I assume they will eventually see what they’ve been missing out on.”
“I get it, though. It’s scary to put yourself out there. And at the risk of ruining a friendship? No way.”
Noah’s eyes train on me, pinning me in place. “It’s worth it.” I’m taken by his sincerity and the desperation in his tone. He’s not convincing himself though. That extra effort is for me.
I’m amazed by Noah on the dance floor. He leads me so effortlessly; we look like the couples you see who’ve been dancing together for decades. He keeps the perfect pace and never steps on my toes. We’re a few drinks in but that doesn’t seem to have an effect on Noah’s sure-footedness.
He’s aware of the others dancing around us as we move in a circular motion, keeping us from running into anyone. Which is great because I am totally lost to the moment. Lost in the heat of his arms and the smell of his cologne and the feeling of his body pressed against mine. The way he leans over me slightly to meet my hands. He spins me out, around, and back as the last song ends, but when I hear the beginning notes of “The Kind of Love We Make” by Luke Combs I melt right back into his arms. We are definitely staying on the floor for this one.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
NOAH
As I guide Audrey around the dance floor, I notice how much it’s filled up since we got here a half hour ago. I recognize all the dudes and nearly all the ladies. It’s nice to get out of the routine of eating lunches together in our respective position rooms and let loose a little. Teams are supposed to work togetherandhave fun together. Damn if I’m not having fun tonight. Audrey is so easy to lead, so eager to lean into me during a slow song. Always ready to be spun around. I keep spinning her because I love how the little dress she has on under a jean jacket twirls around her toned legs.
I keep our pace as we circle the floor, and when Luke Combs croons about turning the lights down low, I turn Audrey in my arms so I can dip her real slow. She brings her knee up, exposing more of her lush thighs, like she’s been dipped a million times. I pull her back to me and our foreheads meet. We’re standing still as other couples continue to swirl around us, but I couldn’t breathe in this moment even if I wanted to. We don’t speak because we don’t need to. Herbody has spent the whole song talking to mine. If I didn’t know Audrey was sleeping at my house tonight and that I’d get what I desperately need, I would be dragging her out of this bar caveman style.
The song fades out and the next one starts. I haven’t heard it in a million years, but you could place the beginning notes of it anywhere. Audrey pulls away from me and looks over to the girls who are doing the little tippy-toe dance girls do when they’re excited. The bunch of them move swiftly toward us. I lean back, confused as to what I’m missing. It’s just a Ke$ha song from 2013. I don’t see what the big deal is. I realize just how wrong I am when every lady in this bar swarms on to the dance floor in mere seconds. I think some of these women could run a forty in four-and-a-half seconds.
It’s like a flash mob. Audrey puts a manicured hand on my chest, puts her drink in my hand, and pushes me backward off the dance floor. “Looks like it’s just the ladies!” she calls as she turns and leaves me behind. She shimmies as she speed-walks back over to the girls. I look next to me and see all the dudes lined up to watch. The women are all grouped together, stomping their feet. When Ke$ha starts singing, they start dancing.
I have never in my life seen a line dance to this song, but I’m not at all surprised it exists. They step up in little shimmy steps, then almost skate backward. Moving in one huge group like lionesses hunting together—and we are the lions watching hungrily. My eyes are transfixed on the way Audrey’s hips rock, and judging by the stillness beside me, I can tell that Colin, Wyatt, and Jaden are in the same trance as me. Then all the women simultaneously drop it low when she sings “It’s going down” in the last chorus. I feel my cock stiffen behind these hella starched jeans.
Colin elbows me in the ribs. “Are you seeing this?”
