Page 25 of Begin Again

“Yes, you’re my little chick. Whatever your size,” Dawn said, with a grin. “I protect my chicks. I take care of them, build them up and help them until they can fly on their own.”

“Chickens rarely fly. That’s a mean metaphor,” I replied, laughing.

Dawn and I made our way through the crowds to the bar. Amen for the generous “over 21” stamp I got at the door. I could get used to this ordering-at-the-bar thing.

I handed Dawn her drink, and we returned together to our table.

A little later, I had another drink. After a while, Scott grabbed my hand and led me and Dawn out to the dance floor. We shimmied with abandon. It was great not to have to worry about what others thought of me. I felt exuberant down to my toes. At least until I turned and saw Kaden.

To be exact, Kaden and a girl, around whose body he had wrapped his well-formed arms. She moved with him, pressing her body into his.

I gulped.

“We can do that, too,” suggested Scott, dancing around me. He put his arm around my waist and pulled me close. I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the game. Because I knew that Scott wasn’t interested in me, or any woman, for that matter, I unleashed the dance goddess within. I raised my arms in the air and swung my hips, then turned toward him and put my hand on his shoulder. Dawn danced toward Scott from behind, and we laughed as we moved together as one. As I swung around in the other direction, my hair fell across my eyes. I flicked it away from my sweaty face.

Kaden’s stare caught me unprepared. He was only a few yards away and was watching my every move. He hardly noticed the girl he was with anymore, even when she possessively threw her arms around his shoulders.

Instead, he tilted his head toward me, and grinned. He didn’t look away for a single instant.

Suddenly I imagined that he was the one dancing with me, that it was his hand on my waist, steering me.

“Bingo,” I heard Scott murmur in my ear.

I turned to grin at him and Dawn.

“Have I ever told you guys how much I love you?” I asked, wrapping my arms around both of them.

Dawn laughed and returned my embrace. “Yes, but I can’t hear it often enough.”

Over the course of the evening I noticed that Dawn hadn’t been exaggerating: She had no tolerance for alcohol. After only two drinks she was already praying to the porcelain god, and I had to hold back her hair while she puked.

While we were waiting for our taxi, I sat Dawn in a chair then headed to the bar to get her a glass of water.

“Make that two, and for me a tequila,” I heard a soft voice tickle my ear. Kaden’s breath grazed my neck and made me shiver. Normally my alarm bells started to ring as soon as a man came this close, but with Kaden my body seemed to follow another set of rules.

I resisted temptation and turned to him with a skeptical look. “You’ve been watching me.”

Kaden came closer and leaned his hands on the bar, on either side of me. I backed away and felt the edge of the bar against my back. He came closer and closer until his lips touched my ear. I shivered again. “Maybe.”

“You’re drunk,” I said.

Kaden drew back a bit and frowned. “That could be.”

“What’s up with you?” I asked him.

“You are up with me,” he said, tilting his head. “You don’t make any sense to me.”

“Then you know how it feels,” I retorted.

“You’re always whining and spreading your perfume around the apartment,” he continued.

“Shut up, Kaden. This isn’t like you.”

“Why can’t you just be a guy, Bubbles?” He kept me trapped between his arms as he bent a bit closer. My pulse quickened. All my limbs tingled as if they had awakened from a deep sleep.

“Sorry, but we can’t do anything about that now, can we? These things here just grew,” I said, pointing to my chest.

Kaden followed my hands with his eyes and stared down at me. Then he raised his eyes again, slowly, as if he wanted to be sure that he didn’t miss an inch of my skin. He stared at my lips a bit too long, before looking at my eyes again. I held my breath.

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