The room had filled up and was echoing with conversations and laughter. The DJ had Andi grinning with all her fiery song choices, but when Katy Perry’s “Firework” ended, CJ didn’t blend it into another track. She spoke into the microphone instead.
“We’re going to kick off karaoke in a few minutes, so start making your choices. But before then, let’s play a few slow ones. Ladies, get those firefighters you bid on out on the dance floor. And don’t let them claim they can’t dance. Anyone can do the high-school-prom penguin.” CJ mimed the stiff side-to-side swaying slow dance that high schoolers often did. “Let’s do this.”
James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” started up, and Jasper pushed his chair back from the table. He put his hand out to Hollyn. “May I have this dance, milady? I do a fine penguin.”
Hollyn gave him an adoring look and took his hand. “I’d be honored.”
Eliza scooted her chair back as well. “Y’all go dance. I need to go to the little girls’ room.”
“Oh, we aren’t going to—” Andi started, but Hill tightened his grip on her hand.
“I can probably manage a penguin,” he said, lifting her hand. “If you’re willing to join me.”
Andi’s belly did a little flutter. She knew Hill didn’t have the sudden urge to dance. He was doing this for her. “I’d love to.” She let him pull her gently to a stand. “I actually don’t know if I can penguin. I never went to prom.”
Hill frowned, and she could tell that he’d read between the lines. She hadn’t gone to prom because prom had happened post–Evan Longdale. No way would she have been in any state to be held by a boy and not have a compete panic attack. She’d spent her prom night watching Prom Night, parts one, two, and three.
Hill led her out to the dance floor, where a number of other couples had already started to sway under the twinkle lights that had been strung from the ceiling. They found a spot, and she looped her arms around his neck. “You don’t have to this if you don’t want to, you know.”
He squeezed her hip, a slightly sad look on his face. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I love being close to you like this.”
“I love it too,” she said softly and then leaned in to kiss him lightly.
She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Hill didn’t talk, allowing the music to sweep her away a little, and he guided her gently into movements that were definitely smoother than a penguin waddle. Soon, she felt herself sinking into the moment, imagining this was her prom and this was the guy and this was a real date and a real relationship.
They were dangerous thoughts, but she let herself indulge in them for now.
The song ended and blended into Sarah McLachlan’s “World on Fire” and the beat picked up a little. She lifted her head, looking into Hill’s eyes as he guided her into a turn. Sarah sang a line about not being alone in this story’s pages, and Andi felt a surprising urge to cry. She’d always had friends but, on some level, had always felt alone. No one could understand what she’d been through. No one could relate. But what she saw in Hill’s eyes told a different story. The guy knew pain, too. He knew that separate-from-the-world-but-still-living-in-it feeling. He saw her, not the armor she tried to put on each day. He’d known she needed this dance.
Andi reached up and stroked the hair at the nape of his neck, trying to keep her tears in check. “Thank you for this,” she said. “Waiting all these years for my first prom dance was worth it. You were worth the wait.”
He closed his eyes, and she could feel him take a deep breath. When he opened them again, he leaned down and kissed her. Not like the light brush of lips from earlier. This was a kiss. Soft and slow, his hands on her face and her palms sliding down to his chest. They were still moving to the music but not leaving their spot on the dance floor.
She lost herself to the feel of him, the music fading, and all her senses homing in on their kiss. She forgot they were in a crowd, on a dance floor, that her friends were here somewhere. She forgot everything.
But too soon, Hill broke away from the kiss and stepped back. The song rushed back into her ears. A lyric about the world being on fire and it being more than the person could handle. She expected to find Hill smiling or maybe a little embarrassed at the public display. But instead, his expression was stark, his eyes impossible to read.
Dread snaked through her. “Hey, you okay?”
The song was too loud. Hill looked away. “I’m fine. I need a break.”
Something about his tone set off her alarm bells. “Want to step outside and get some air?”
He wouldn’t look at her. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Hey,” Andi said to her friends when she and Hill walked back to the table. “We’ll be right back. We’re going to get a little fresh air.”
Eliza fanned herself and gave them a knowing grin. “Yeah, I can see why.”
Hill’s heartbeat was in his ears, panic digging its claws into him. You were worth the wait.
Before Hill realized what was happening, Andi had grabbed her purse and was leading them along the edge of the dance floor and out into the humid night air. The door clicked shut behind them, leaving them on a quiet street, a line of parked cars their only company. They walked a few more steps and around the side of the building to the parking lot, shielded from anyone who may go in or out of the venue.
Andi turned to him before he could get a word out. “You look like you saw a ghost. What happened in there?”
“Andi…” He didn’t want to do this.
Had to do this.
“What?” she said, standing in front of him, searching his face. “Tell me. I can feel something’s going on with you.”
He stared at her, everything welling up to the surface, all the things he’d been trying to keep down punching through. He leaned back against the brick wall of the building, dipping his head and closing his eyes.
“Tell me,” she repeated softly, her hand going to his bicep.
Honesty. He’d promised her honesty. It was all he could give her right now.
He lifted his head. “I’m falling in love with you.”
Andi’s eyes widened and her lips parted, her bright-red lipstick making the expression even more dramatic. She blinked. “You’re…”
He let out a ragged breath. “I knew it the second I stepped out onstage tonight and saw you in the audience. I didn’t just feel happy to see you. I felt…” He searched for the right words. “Lit up inside. Like, ‘Oh, there she is. I’ve been waiting for her.’ I tried to shake it off. But just now…when we kissed…”