Page 84 of Bound By Earth (The Nature Hunters Academy 1)

“I told him that for every slow dance I turn down, he has to answer any question I ask, completelyhonestly.”

Shelly’s eyes widened as she tipped her head at Tara. “Well played, Ms. Thompson. Well playedindeed.”

“I thought so. All right, ready?” Tara asked as she pushed her dooropen.

“I’ve been trying to get you to go to a school dance for four years. Hell yes, I’mready.”

“You could have gone without me,” Tara pointed out as they both shut their doors and headed for thegymnasium.

“Batman doesn’t fight battles without Robin, and Piglet doesn’t stutter without Tigger. Why would I go to a dance withoutyou?”

“Okay, I get the whole Batman and Robin connection, but what does Piglet’s stutter have to do with Tigger?” Taraasked.

Shelly scoffed. “Piglet only has a stutter because of Tigger. Tigger’s always bouncing off the freaking walls, literally, and all his motion makes Piglet nervous. Hence thestutter.”

“Oddly, that isn’tcrazy.”

“My mom says even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.” Shelly grinned and pointed at Tara. “Blind squirrel”—then she pointed at herself—“meetnut.”

Tara snorted out a laugh. “Got that right.” She pulled open the gym door. The laughter and music assaultedthem.

“Sounds like people are getting their dance on,” Shelly practically sang as she walked into the building. Tara followed behind and forced herself to keep her arms down at her sides instead of folding them in front of herself. She wasn’t self-conscious, but she’d never worn anything like the dress she currently had on. As they moved deeper into the gym, despite the dark interior, she felt eyes onher.

“I can’t believe this is our gym,” Shelly said as she turned in a circle, her eyes bouncing from one corner to the next, taking in all of the decorations. “It’sremarkable.”

Tara had to agree. Huge backdrops bearing pictures of various cities’ skylines covered the gym’s concrete walls, and hundreds of gold, glittering balloons floated against theceiling.

“Wow! You look incredible.” Tucker said as his hands landed on her shoulders and turned her towardhim.

“Thank you,” Tara said as she looked him up and down. A black tux hugged his muscular body. His hair was combed and gelled to perfection, and his eyes glowed with excitement. He lookedgood.

“You look handsome yourself,” shereplied.

Tucker’s lips turned up in a smile, taking his boyish good looks to roguishly handsome. “Thank you.” He turned to Shelly, took her hand, and pressed a quick kiss to the top. “You look beautiful, as well, Ms.Smith.”

Shelly expertly batted her eyelashes at him. “Flattery will get you a dance, and I love to dance, so, do please keepgoing.”

Tucker threw back his head and laughed. Had he always looked this handsome when he laughed? He motioned to someone, and Tara turned to see two guys she didn’t recognize walking towardthem.

“Who are they?” Shelly asked. At the same time, Tara said, “Do they go to ourschool?”

“No,” Tucker answered and then added, “This is Seth and Hayden. They’re two family friends who live a couple townsover.”

“Welcome to Buffalo,” Shelly said, shaking their hands. “Nice to meetyou.”

Both guys watched Tara with a little more intensity than was comfortable so she turned away from their stares and motioned to the table with punch and snacks. “Want to grab a drink?” she askedShelly.

Shelly must have noticed the weird stares because she nodded and grabbed Tara’s hand. “We’ll be right back, Tuck. Hold our spot on the floor forus.”

Tara let Shelly pull her along beside her and didn’t speak until they were across the room from the threeguys.

“Was there something off about those two?” Taraasked.

“If by off you mean, want them a piece of Tara pie, then yes. There was somethingoff.”

“Eww,” Tara’s face scrunched up and she shook her head. “Don’t ever refer to me as a piece of Tara pieagain.”

“You know,” Shelly said around a bite of brownie, “there’s getting to be a whole lot of don’t-ever rules in this relationship. I’m beginning to feel my creative put-downs beingstifled.”

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