Page 14 of The Weight Of Falling
Sofia rests her elbows on the table and leans closer to me. “Do you want me to take her out?” she asks casually. “Since you’re incapable of harming anything.”
She thinks it’s hilarious that I can’t bring myself to kill spiders, even though they terrify me. Whenever I discover one inside my apartment, I capture it in a glass and set it free in the backyard. Then I collapse on the couch to recover from the sheer terror of the relocation.
“It’s bad form to do away with the bride on her wedding day,” Tess points out.
Sofia releases a disappointed sigh. “I suppose you’re right.” She turns to me with a wide grin. She’s enjoying this way too much. “It looks like you’ll have to dance with him.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
As Gideon and Kate make their way to the dance floor, Kate crooks acome onfinger at me.
I press myself back into my seat, dread crawling over my skin.
Sofia gives me a gentle nudge. “You can’t get out of this one, I’m afraid.”
“I volunteer you as tribute,” I say weakly.
“No one volunteers me for anything,” Sofia retorts. “Besides, Kate’s got her own agenda here and I’m not part of it.”
I follow the direction of her gaze. At Kate’s not-so-subtle prompting, Joel reluctantly rises and moves to the edge of the dance floor. He shoots me a look, his jaw tight, mouth set in a grim line as he waits for me to join him.
Tess pinches my arm.
“Ow!” I jump in my chair, then force myself to stand, my pulse pounding.
Sofia mouths,don’t trip, which is exactly what my shaking legs now feel inclined to do.
As I drag my feet toward Joel, I dimly register Farah’s annoyed expression. Now, on top of all the other emotions jostling for space inside me, I feel a spurt of worry over the fact that Farah clearly isn’t happy with me. I’m not usually the type of person who provokes negative feelings in others.
Gideon and Kate are already gliding gracefully back and forth to Ed Sheeran’sPerfect, completely lost in each other.
I stop in front of Joel, feeling too exposed to meet his gaze. After a second, he holds out his hand, and I take it like I’m stepping off a cliff. His warm fingers close over mine and he tugs me gently onto the dance floor. He pulls me close enough to settle his other hand on the small of my back, while mine sits awkwardly on his shoulder.
We begin to move. Or rather, he moves and I try to follow his lead, but my body is stiff and graceless.
“Relax,” he murmurs. “It’s just a dance.”
I swallow. “Right. Just a dance.”
A dance with a man I grabbed inside a storeroom and kissed like the world was ending tomorrow.
But I’m too busy internally freaking out at the thought of everyone’s eyes on us that I’m not even really thinking about the kiss.
Joel frowns. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s like there’s a spotlight on us.”
“There probably is.”
I release a careful breath. My stomach feels all twisted.
“Forget about them,” he advises.
“I can’t.” Anxiety presses on my chest. “I hate this.”
“Some people like being the center of attention.”
