Page 57 of My Last Dance

“Should we…get in the elevator?” Ria asked hesitantly.

“This feels a little creepy. How well do you know this guy?” Paige asked.

“Really well.”I thought,at least.

A second later, a group of women, all definitely tipsy and dressed in bright pink, crashed loudly into the little lobby area. The lone girl dressed in white had a sash draped over her outfit proclaiming her the bachelorette.

I whirled around to face Ria and Paige. My eyes widened, but I couldn’t even form words.

“Yes!” Ria jumped up and down, making the group of women give her curious glances.

“What? What’s going on?” Paige asked, clearly still clueless.

Ria grabbed my hand and pulled me in to whisper, “I’ve always wanted to go to one of these!”

“Are you guys going to Lucinda’s too?” one of the girls asked.

“Lucinda’s? What the hell is Lucinda’s?” Paige pulled a face.

I gulped and shook my headnoat the same time Ria said, “We sureare!”

Grabbing mine and Paige’s arms, Ria tugged us into the cramped elevator with the bachelorette party.

Seconds later, the elevator opened to a dark room with leather booths along the sides, a dance floor at the center, and a bar at the back. Up front was a large stage surrounded by chairs and high-top tables.

Paige looked around. “Is he a musician?”

I gulped.

“No!” Ria laughed.

“He’s a…he’s a…he’s a…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence.

“A dancer!” Ria finished for me. “Prolly a good one too, he’s probably raking in the money. Make sure he takes you to a nice steak dinner, got it?”

Paige started mingling with girls from the bachelorette party, and Ria went to the bar to order fruity-looking drinks for us, meanwhile, I was having amental fucking breakdown. Because Richard,myRichard, was dancing for other women.

Wait. I clenched my eyes shut.

No, no, no.

He wasn’tmyanything.Iwas the one making sure of that. He wanted to kiss me the other day, I could tell. I was the one who put a stop to it. But it was easier to have my boundaries and guard my heart when it was just me and him. Now that jealousy was creeping in, I wanted to claim him as mine.

Shit.

Why was I like this?I desperately whined to myself.

As soon as the drinks were delivered, I snatched one of them and basically gulped a bunch of it.

Ria just laughed while the lights started dimming.

“It’s starting,” Paige quietly screeched.

A minute later, a remix of a Backstreet Boys song blasted through the room and spotlights came down to illuminate three guys. Kappy, of course, stood tall in the middle, shirtless, with jeans riding low on his hips.

The girls hooted and hollered as the guys danced.

“He’s got great rhythm. He’s a natural dancer. Goes with the flow of the music and everything,” Paige said, absolutely mesmerized by him and the two guys dancing next to him.

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