Page 121 of Time Out

“You two-step?”

“Learned in middle school PE class. I was the best, obviously.”

This idiot. “Obviously.”

I turned back to Ruth. “You don’t need my permission. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

She slipped her hand into Mason’s in almost slow motion. “I think I’d like to learn?”

“Then we’ll do that.” He held her hand and moved closer to the stage, backed up, shoving the crowd back around him. He bent in, whisper-yelled something in Ruth’s ear.

I stayed focused on them, the way he guided her hand into his. The way he formed her arms into squares and then the way he kept a full arm’s length of space between them.

Maggie noticed, and her gaze fell down to her sister with surprise as she sang the chorus to “Any Man of Mine” by Shania Twain and then broke out into a wide grin.

Mesmerizing. The next time I slid deep inside of her, I wanted her wearing that grin and that dress.

Movement and clatter came from behind me, and I was jostled forward. Stumbling, I threw my arms out and hit the people in front of me. I curled my hands around them, pulled them back as they gaped at me over my shoulders.

“Sorry. Sorry. My bad.” I turned. What the fuck had happened?

It was mayhem behind me, pure chaos, and I caught sight of Dawson, shoving his way through the horde of people on his way to the bar to our right.

Oh shit. I grabbed Carr. “Come on!”

“What?”

“Dawson!” I shouted and pointed in his direction, and of course…

Of fucking course. Crystal was at the bar, and before Dawson reached her, she threw a glass of whatever she was drinking at some guy standing by her, who already had his hands out, palms facing her like he was backing down.

“Fuck. Butler,” Carr groaned, and we joined the rest of our teammates, shoving men and women out of the way to get to him.

Dawson was a lunatic when it came to his sister. And Crystal was the ringleader of completely shitty and narcissistic behavior.

By the time we reached him, Dawson had the man’s shirt gripped in his fist and he was screaming at him.

“What’d you do to her?”

“Nothin’, man. Back off. I didn’t do anything!”

“Bullshit.”

Crystal was smirking. That freaking bitch.

Dawson swiveled and pinned her with eyes blown black with anger. “What’d he do?”

“I offered to get her a drink, and she lost her shit!” the guy yelled.

Crystal’s smirk vanished in a blink, and she shook her head. “I told him no thank you, and he didn’t listen, Dawson.”

“The fuck I did!” the guy screamed. “You lying bitch! I asked, and the next thing I knew, you were fucking slapping me.”

“Dawson!” I called out his name as I got closer and settled my hand on his shoulder that had the guy’s shirt in his fist. “Let him go before you get kicked out.”

“No one treats my sister like shit, especially not this bachelor-partying wannabe playboy.”

He did have the guy tagged pretty damn close. Looked like he’d just stepped off a golf course before coming in.

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