Page 6 of Make the Play

The music, the people. The space between us.

I place my hands at her waist, feeling the soft slide of satin beneath my palms. She’s warm, and the second my hands close around her, a heavy and very fucking inconvenient thought drops into my skull.

She fits.

Zoe tilts her head. “You do know how to dance, right?”

“I play professional hockey.”

“And?”

“And I haveexcellentfootwork.”

She shakes her head, but she’s smiling. “Christ, you’re impossible.”

“You love it.” I tug her a little closer, pretending it’s an accident and not exactly where I want her.

Zoe’s sharp chestnut eyes flit over my face, reading me the way she always does. She lets me lead, and it shouldn’t make my chest thunder, but it fucking does.

The song winds around us, and she follows my movements without hesitation. The thing about Zoe is, she hates giving me the upper hand. But when she does, she’s seamless.

The thought makes my throat dry with possibilities, ones I’ve had a million times over the years. “You know, I think you’re enjoying this.”

Her gaze flicks up. “I think you think too much of yourself.”

“Untrue. I’m very humble.”

She laughs, and it hits me deep—a body check straight to my ribs.

Get it together, Walton.

The music stretches, slower than before. I barely register my grip shifting, one palm sliding lower, fingertips pressing into the dip of her back. Not enough to push, but enough to let her know I could.

She notices. I know she does because her hand glides over my shoulder, and I don’t miss the way her fingers twitch as if she’s caught herself touching me and doesn’t know what to do with it.

I know what to do with it.

I splay my hands enough to make her aware of my fingers balancing delicately on the upper curve of her ass, and suddenly we’re not really dancing anymore. We’re just standing there swaying, pretending this is nothing.

She licks her lips. “Are you actually behaving right now?”

“You’d be disappointed if I was.”

Her scoff is a little breathless. “Oh, please.”

The song shifts again, but neither of us moves to step away.

Instead, Zoe’s gaze flicks to my mouth just for a second before she catches herself and lifts her chin, daring me to say something.

Oh, sweetheart.

I don’t need to say anything, I just grin. Because I’m definitely winning, and she exhales a slow breath like she knows it, too.

But just when I think maybe I could convince her to stay here with me a little longer, her hands loosen on my shoulders and she steps back, clearing her throat.

“I need another drink.”

I shove my hands into my pockets before I do something stupid. “Great idea.”

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