Page 87 of The Last Dance

‘I don’t think so.’ I laugh.

‘Definitely not her.’

‘Interesting. I guess I’ll never know, then.’ I shrug.

He grins when I look over at him. ‘You might know her, actually. She’s uh—’ He hesitates, laughing to himself. ‘She’s short, foul-mouthed, funny, ballsy, brave, incredibly kind, laughs at my jokes, cannot seem to tell a lie.’ He looks over at me. ‘And she’s more beautiful than anyone I’ve ever laid eyes on.’

I sigh, wishing the butterflies swirling through me would settle the fuck down, so I could think. I can feel myself blushing.

‘She’s pretty perfect, actually.’

‘Lucky girl,’ I say, biting my lip.

He nods. ‘We’ve never really talked about your perfect man, you know.’

‘We haven’t?’ I ask, looking over at him and watching him slowly shake his head. ‘Huh… well, I’ve never been too picky before.’ I laugh nervously. ‘Maybe that’s where I always went wrong.’ I hesitate, second guessing if I want to say what’s going through my head. Not that my mouth will care what my head wants. It seems to be on my heart’s side in all this. ‘There is this one guy I keep thinking about though… especially lately. He was more of a one-night stand, but I – I can’t seem to forget how he made me feel.’Whatam I doing? I’m flirting with him. It’s risky, I know it is. But for some reason, I just can’t stop myself. Is Henry who I want?

He nods, a shy smile on his face. ‘I bet one-night stands aren’t really his thing. I’d even bet he felt the same way you did.’

‘You know… I’m starting to hope you’re right.’ For a moment we stare over at each other. The feelings swirling through me make it hard to breathe. Now is that moment that he should kiss me, but he won’t because I’m with Noah and he’s a perfect gentleman. I want him to, though.

‘Here.’ He finally looks away, pulling an envelope out of his jacket pocket, handing it to me.

‘Henry…’ I say with an overwhelmed sigh. I open the envelope, pulling out five tickets to the upcoming Infusion concert. I knew they were coming to town, but I hadn’t bought tickets because I didn’t know if I could see them again without him. It wouldn’t be the same. I’ve never seen them without him.

‘They’re coming to town and I couldn’tnotbuy them.’ He takes a deep breath, his brow furrowed. ‘I even got one for Noah.’ He looks pained as he says his name.

I look down at the tickets. The Crystal Ballroom written as the venue. I glance over at him. ‘This was really nice. Thank you.’

He’s sitting here, being incredibly nice and a little romantic and yet he bought a ticket, not only for himself and our friends, but for the one guy that, according to Claire, he doesn’t exactly love. My boyfriend.

‘I want you to be happy.’

I nod, glancing down at the tickets again. ‘Seeing Infusion with you again would totally make that happen.’

‘Ditto.’ He nudges me with his shoulder.

I laugh to myself, leaning back on the step and staring out at the people walking by. It might not be much, but this last half-hour has meant more to me than any birthday I’ve had in years. I wish I could say my head and my heart aren’t on the same page, but I think they’re getting closer than I expected.

*

I follow Claire into her room. Passing the room Henry is staying in and trying not to be too obvious when I glance in. Empty. I can’t believe what he did this morning. Even though it was such a small thing, I’m still buzzing from it.

‘Where’s Henry?’ I ask, hoping not to sound too interested. Even though I am. I can’t quit thinking about him.

‘He decided to check into a hotel. He didn’t want to chance witnessing Ben’s threats of a loud evening of sex just one room away.’ She laughs. ‘Like I could have sex with Henry in the next room. Knowing Ben, he probably asked him to leave so he could get laid.’

I laugh. ‘Ben would never admit to anyone, not even Henry, that he wasn’t getting laid.’

‘True.’

‘I saw him this morning,’ I say with a grin I can’t contain.

Claire smiles back at me. ‘Oh yeah?’ She raises an eyebrow.

‘He brought cake, insisted we both wear ridiculously lame birthday hats, and we talked for a while. It was like we were us again.’

‘That’s Henry.’

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