Page 143 of Major Love

He shakes his head but doesn’t say anything, slowly brushing the large pad of his thumb carefully beneath each of my eyes. And then he takes my shaking hand firmly in his, tugging me behind him as he starts moving us away from the counter.

“Where are we going?” I rasp, casting a nervous glance toward the front doors.

I don’t want to go out there and see Riley right now.

But when Jason finally stops walking and I notice all of the couples that are laughing around us, I realise where he’s taken us.

We’re standing in the middle of the dancefloor.

“Jason,” I laugh wearily, brushing my fingers over the short hem of my dress. My heels sparkle under the warm lighting and I toe the floor, feeling nervous.

“Dance with me,” he murmurs, bringing me in close with one palm on my lower back.

“You don’t dance,” I whisper teasingly, peeking up at him under my lashes.

“I did once before,” he reminds me, and my heart squeezes tight in my chest.

Because he’s right. He did.

On the night of our prom.

I couldn’t face going to the school hall, so Jason drove endlessly through the mountainous roads of Phoenix Falls, until he finally pulled up in a clearing in the lower forest and helped me out of his car.

And then we swayed for what felt like hours, his arms holding me so firm because he knew that it was the last time that we’d get to do this – that once the night was over, our relationship wouldn’t be the same again. Because after losing Cash during his deployment, I wouldn’t be able to handle the worry of having the same thing happen to Jason.

So he wrapped me in his arms all night long, dancing under the dappled light of the moon while I clung to his chest, wishing that I wouldn’t ever have to let him go.

Only now things are different, and that part of our lives is over.

And now I don’t have to let him go.

I nod up at him and brush away the last of my rogue tears, and then he’s hauling me against his chest, his big hands gripping my waist.

I laugh quietly and lace my fingers through his hair as he lowers his head, gently kissing my neck.

“This is how we did it back then, remember?” he murmurs roughly, and I smile and nod because, yeah, this is exactly how we did it.

He’d positioned my ballet flats between his boots just to make me forget about my tears as we swayed.

And it still has the exact same effect on me now.

I rub my pink cheek against his coarse stubble, my lashes fluttering closed at the deep growl that rumbles through his chest, and then his large palms are sliding lower down my back, until they’re resting just above the curves of my behind.

“I like this song,” I whisper, listening to the intimate words being drawled through the speakers, and when Jason’s lower body rocks steadily against mine I start to feel a little lightheaded.

“That fucker out there didn’t sing it, did he?” Jason murmurs, and I bury my face in his tan neck, laughing uncontrollably. Jason chuckles with me and kneads my butt in his large hands.

“No,” I whisper back, inhaling quicker when his grip becomes rough, and then he’s brushing his stubble up my jaw, making my body ignite as he teases me.

“Then it’s a great song, baby,” he rumbles quietly, gathering me closer as he sways us on the low-lit dancefloor. His breathing is deep and steady as he threads his fingers through my hair.

Then he lifts our joined hands and gently spins me out, just so that he can tug my shoulders against his chest, nestling his groin between my thighs.

He groans at the contact and I look back at him over my shoulder, the heavy rise and fall of his chest telling me everything that I need to know.

He presses a soft kiss against my bare collarbone and rolls his lower body more firmly against mine.

“One more song and then we should get out of here,” Jason murmurs, his deep voice making my body ache with heat. But Ijust bite back my smile and spin around, draping my arms over his shoulders.

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