Page 121 of The Wildest Ride

While she swirled in thoughts of him, their dance transitioned into a smooth two-step, bodies fused, both of them taken over by the heat and pace of the beat.

She threw him a curve, stuttering the beat so that her behind bounced against him and he caught on immediately, adjusting his own movement to pull his hips away and thrust back to meet her bounce. They were both fully clothed, but she felt the thrill of each thrust as if they were naked and alone.

Her dress prevented things from getting acrobatic, but the sense that their bodies could take it there thrummed between them like a power line. He had the flow to go with her paired with the strength to lure her to come close. Whether she pushed or pulled, his body promised he’d meet her with exactly what she needed. She closed her eyes and shivered despite the heat of the dance floor.

The song transitioned into a popular dance song with a smooth, heavy beat. Lil wasn’t sure who led the change, but their movement slowed, becoming more fluid and sensual. He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her closer at the same time as he leaned in to press a kiss to her neck, just below her ear, all without losing the beat. It was so tender, even in the middle of the throng of grinding bodies that her breath caught in her throat.

Then he spun her away and back so they were face-to-face and chest to chest. Eyes locked, both of them were breathing hard, their feet moving together in a quick-paced two-step. Lil couldn’t think of another time she’d ever been so in tune with another human in her life.

His eyes lit with pleasure as if he could read her mind and he grinned, lifting his arm and twirling her around to spin again. It was all she could do to spot and hold on, and she laughed, feeling carefree in a way she hadn’t since she’d outgrown the merry-go-round.

Pulling her out of the spin with a mini dip and a kiss, AJ gave her a small twirl in the opposite direction to counter dizziness. As he had before, he spun her first in and then away from him. This time, though, instead of flicking his wrist to spiral her body back toward his, a pair of hands grabbed her waist from behind, used her momentum against her, and spun her around to take her into their own dip and kiss.

The stranger’s lips were hard and cold against hers, his hands like frozen solid ice packs on her back. She balled her fists and slammed them against his chest, but he just laughed before righting them both. She leaped away from him as soon as they were balanced and her mouth dropped open.

It was Hank.

She experienced a moment of strange double vision, images of Hank in the arena running simultaneously to the picture of him standing in front of her. Her skin felt strangely numb.

How did Hank end up at the same spot as the two of them? The place had a secret knock, for crying out loud.

The music that had only moments ago pounded in her blood now just pounded in her head. She refused to rub her temples, even as they begged for the gentle pressure of her fingertips to ease the throbbing.

What was Hank doing there?

She didn’t have time to answer the question, though. Instead, AJ’s fist came flying out of her peripheral vision to land in the center of Hank’s face.

33

Unlike the outbursts of his youth, no storm raged inside as AJ swung his fist into the face of a twenty-year-long annoyance.

He wasn’t hitting Hank because he was annoying, though.

He wasn’t even hitting him because he’d cut in on his dance with Lil, though that was rude.

AJ was hitting Hank, and with deadly calm, because of the way Lil’s body had stiffened when the other man had touched her.

Her freezing, all that joyful fluid grace going rigid, struck him as an injustice that needed immediate righting.

She had been happy and safe and Hank had taken that away from her. So even though AJ might’ve been the one to throw the first punch, Hank had been the one to start it. And once started, neither man was about to back down. Hank swung back and AJ dodged, dimly noting the rising tide of phones in the background, all aimed toward the fight.

This is going to be a scandal...The thought floated through his mind like a leaf on a river, lazy and unmolested, while he caught Hank in the gut with an uppercut.

Doubled over, it was easy to knock him to the ground, but the guy didn’t stay down long. Rebounding with surprising agility, Hank jumped up swinging into AJ’s side, catching him in the center of his left-side ribs.

The air escaped AJ’s lungs with the force of a car wreck and he nearly doubled over himself. Hank had a helluva swing. Probably cracked a rib.

Now wasn’t the time to dwell on it, though. AJ stepped to the right to avoid another one of Hank’s hammer punches and tripped the bastard, this time ready to use the guy’s rapid leap to his feet against him. Hank popped up right into AJ’s outstretched forearm, clotheslining himself with his own force.

Landing on his ass, Hank lost his spring and couldn’t hop up so quick, and AJ got a moment to recapture his breath. The guy hit like a bear.

When he did come back, it looked like he was going for a sucker punch and AJ blocked, but at the last minute he switched swinging arms and hit AJ dead in the eye. AJ’s head snapped back, but he got his block up before it even had time to whip back, so Hank’s number two hit didn’t make its mark. They danced around each other—an odd pair of bare-knuckle boxers both dressed in their go-to-towns.

By this point, they’d captured the attention of folks from both sides of the warehouse. The crowd that encircled them was a thick sea of people and dollar bills and bets were starting to swim through it. There were more phones out recording the scene than he could count.

In the corner of his eye, Lil was a figure in white, separate from both the sea of people and the brawl, but still within the circle.

A feint to the left and a quick jab with the right and he clipped Hank in the side of the head. The other man’s eyes momentarily pointed in two different directions and AJ ignored the twinge of conscience he blamed on his EMT training in order to finish it with a hook from the left. Hank fell backward, landing flat on the floor. AJ knelt quickly and checked for a pulse—it was the least he could do to satisfy the part of him that cared about helping people—before standing up to find Lil. At his feet, Hank groaned, though his figure remained prone. It didn’t matter to AJ, he’d met his professional obligation as far as Hank was concerned and no longer had time for him.

---