Page 13 of Eye of the Hurricane
“Kat, you live in dresses. You’re already dressed up,” she says with a laugh. It’s one of my less fancy dresses, but she’s right.
The dress I’ve got on is a baby blue dress that sits about mid thigh with a swoop of fabric sitting a little higher on the other thigh. One strap is off the shoulder and the other sits normally. It’s just solid blue, no sparkles, no lace, just blue. She’s right, though. This is still dressing up for most.
“Right, I don’t know why I said that.”
I walkthrough the wooden doors of The Sand behind Luna, watching as the sea of people part to make way for her. She has a brightness and boldness about her that demands attention.
“Pick your poison,” she says, gesturing to the dance floor that’s normally vacant. Tonight, it’s packed with college aged singles like me looking to find someone to partner up with.
Some are looking for something for the night, some are looking for someone more permanent. I think it’s safe to assume I’m the only one looking for a fake date to a family wedding.
I scan the room and land on a tall brunette in the corner. He has that sexy nerd look about him. Plaid pants, a button up, big glasses that don’t seem too big.
“Okay, I’m going to go talk to him,” I tell Luna. She nods and shoos me away.
I approach him and I’m greeted with a big and bright smile.
“Hi, I’m Katherine, you can call me Kat.” I stick my hand out for a handshake but he pulls me into a hug. The bright and bubbly smile falls from my face quickly at the unexpected contact.
“I’m Dalton, nice to meet you.”
“What are you here looking for, Dalton?” I ask, flashing him a bright smile. Maybe it’s a basic question but I’m looking for something specific, not to lead someone on.
“I feel like I’m finally ready to settle down. I’m ready to find my wife, you know?” The word wife makes me physically recoil. If it wouldn’t be extremely rude I swear I would have turned and ran in the opposite direction.
“Oh… well, I’m not really looking for anything serious. Not that I’m looking for some hookup,” I add quickly. “I just mean… I’m not really looking for a husband. Or a wife. Spouse? Regardless, that’s not… I’m not…” Holy shit, I’ve never stammered over my own words like this in my life. I’ve never been the nervous type. I guess this whole thing just really has me out of my comfort zone.
“Got it. Something casual,” he says, putting me out of my misery. He’s looking at me like I have a third eye but I can’t blame him considering the word vomit I was just spewing at him.
“I’m sorry this is new for me,” I admit. He offers me an sympathetic look.
We share some awkward pleasantries before parting ways. I make my way back over to Luna where she’s sitting at a booth alone, nose deep in her phone.
“I hate this,” I grumble, plopping myself down on the opposite side of the booth.
“You talked to one person.”
“He was talking about marriage, Luna. Nothing liketalking rings and cradles on the first date. The first conversation, really.” I physically cringe and shiver. All Luna does is laugh.
“Not everyone has a phobia of marriage, you know.”
“You can thank my mom. Beverly ‘women-are-wives-and-mothers’ Graeves.” I slump forward, craning my neck to rest my head on my fist.
As I’m waiting for Luna to give me the all clear and tell me I can go home and pretend this never happened, the little bell above the door rings. I turn my attention to the door.
Ares walks in the doorway, scanning the room. For about a second I find humor in him coming to a single’s night. It only takes about fifteen seconds for me to realize he wouldn’t come to something like this. That can only mean one thing. This is Luna’s doing. I whip my head in her direction, shooting daggers at her.
“You know anything about this?” I ask, raising a brow at her.
“I’m team Ares, I let that be known. Had to give him a fair shot,” she says, shrugging.
I steal another quick glance at Ares before noticing him making his way over to us.
“What did you say to him?” I grumble, as quietly as possible. Before she can even answer, he’s standing at the end of our booth, towering over us.
“Luna says you asked her to invite me.” The wiggle of his eyebrows and the crinkle of his eyes is annoyingly alluring.
“I did not.”
