Page 33 of Rookie Move
As the years passed, she stopped being afraid. Georgia felt strong—happy, even. But solitude was habit-forming. Parties now seemed too loud and overwrought. She preferred dinners out with small groups of friends.
Sometimes there were dates, and sometimes more than once with the same guy. But nobody she’d met after Leo really clicked, or she held herself aloof. One or the other. In either case, she hadn’t had a boyfriend since Leo. Funny how she’d never stopped to do the math until he turned up, either. Almost six years she’d been single now. And it hadn’t seemed pathetic until tonight.
“Hi, Silas,” she said, stopping beside him.
“Hey, Georgia. Is there somewhere I’m supposed to be?”
“Nope,” she said, smiling to put him at ease. Geez, was she really as frosty as that? She said hello, and he assumed he’d done something wrong? “There’s no place I’m supposed to be, either. So I decided to hold up this section of the wall beside yours. Just in case you needed help.”
“Ah,” he said, touching his drink to her water glass. “I’m just tired. And the next week is going to be nutty.”
“True.” It was the longest road trip on their schedule. And the backup goalie had to practice just as hard as any player on the team, even though he expected to play only occasionally.
“When’s the earliest that I can sneak out of here without getting in trouble?” Silas asked.
Georgia peeked at her watch. It was only nine o’clock. “After the president of the charity speaks. But that should happen in thirty minutes.”
“Awesome,” Silas said, grinning at her. “If anyone stops me, I’m going to say you told me I could go.”
“Do you want me to write out a hall pass, like in high school?” The question seemed appropriate since apparently high school was the last time she’d had a life.
“Sure,” he teased.
Georgia found herself smiling back at him. She still wasn’t reckless enough to ask him to dance. Becca was probably chewing off her fingernails across the room, wondering what she was waiting for. It was sort of fun to torture her pushy roommate this way. But even if she didn’t fulfill their bet, chatting with Silas got her mind off Leo for a few minutes. And that had been the point, anyway.
“How shall we pass thirty minutes, then?” he asked.
“We’re very busy holding up this wall,” she pointed out.
He extended his drink, indicating the band playing in the corner. “I like this song. We could hold down the dance floor instead.”
“Okay,” Georgia said quickly. Becca wouldn’t even know she’d chickened out and she’d have to scrub rotten mango juice out of the fruit drawer anyway. Georgia bitback a smile at this little deception as Silas removed the water glass from her hand.
Guiding her toward the dance floor, Silas put a hand at the center of her back. She didn’t mind the warm pressure of his palm. It was steadying. There was something cheerful and open about Silas that she’d always appreciated. He didn’t have the intensity of Leo, but he was approachable. Dancing with a player under the scrutiny of the whole entire world just didn’t seem as weird as it should have. Because this was Silas, with his scruffy beard and easy hazel eyes.
She put her hand lightly on the shoulder of his tuxedo jacket as he stepped closer. With a quick grin, he adjusted their dancing stance and turned her easily to the left.
“You’re a good dancer,” she heard herself blurt out.
He laughed. “You were expecting me to suck?”
“No,” she said quickly. “Never mind me. I don’t dance much.”
“Maybe you should dance more,” he suggested. His tone was light, and his smile easy.
Holy crap, I’m actually having fun, she thought as he guided her around to the beat.And Becca has to clean the fridge. Winning!
“What’s so funny?” Silas asked.
“Not a thing. Did you take dance lessons?” she asked, just to turn the conversation away from herself.
But Silas didn’t answer, so she studied his face. “Can I trust you?”
“Sure. I’m a vault,” she promised.
“My mother made me take six years of dance lessons. Seventh through twelfth grades.”
“What?” she yelped. “Why?”
