And then he started to dance. Dorky, insane, arm-waving movements that made me blink at him and then laugh.
“Come on,” he encouraged, taking my hand again. “Dive in.”
“You look crazy,” I told him, shaking my head.
“Then show me how it’s done right,” he countered goofily and spun me away from him before he danced his way back up to me again.
I laughed and started to dance too, making it through the whole song and not able to pay attention to anyone but him.
When the music ended, blending into a slow-paced number, I paused and blinked, realizing I’d been able to not care about anyone else the entire time.
Wow.
Luke pulled me up close against him and wrapped a hand around my waist.
“One more,” he said into my hair.
His warm breath on my neck made me shiver in delight. I nodded and shifted closer, moving with him as he began to sway us around the floor through other couples.
His face lowered over my shoulder, and he inhaled. “Not fair. You still smell good after a sweaty, fast song.”
My stomach tightened, and a lightning strike of sensations raced through the lower portion of my stomach. “So do you,” I told him as I breathed in his clean, fresh soap scent.
“Your boobs are a lot softer than Malia’s too,” he noticed.
My breasts tingled at the compliment.
When I glanced up, Luke lifted his brows. “Not that we’re talking about them,” he added. “I just thought you’d like to know. They’re officially my favorite set in the whole damn room.”
I rolled my eyes but then grinned. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “And if you wanted to move them some more to—you know—really rub them against me, that’d be fine, too. Just saying.”
With a laugh, I found myself leaning in just a little bit more and pressing my chest harder against his.
Luke groaned and rested his cheek on my hair. “Good Lord,” he breathed. “You’re a saint. Saint fucking Chloe.”
I could only smile and drift in his arms until the song came to an end. When Malia appeared at the edge of the crowd, watching us with a scowl and her arms folded moodily over her chest, Luke seemed to mope.
“Playtime’s over, isn’t it?” he asked, sending me a puppy-dog frown.
“We can dance one more song, if you want,” I offered.
His eyes lit up over the idea, but then he frowned and pulled his phone from his pocket. The screen was displaying an incoming call from Bella.
He glanced at me and sighed before answering with a moody, “What?” Then, after a moment, he snapped, “Of course I found her. Yes, she’s fine. Yeah, I’ll bring her out in a second. Just hold your damn horses, will you?”
Disconnecting, he stuffed the phone back into his pocket and rolled his eyes. “Your groupies are getting restless,” he said. “I should probably get you back to them, huh?”
I nodded. “Yeah, probably.”
I could walk out by myself; he didn’t need to escort me. But I couldn’t seem to tell him that as he started away with me. I wanted just a little bit longer with him like this.
He held my hand again, keeping a firm hold as if he were unwilling to let me go. And when we made it outside and saw Bella, Bentley, Beau, and Gracen hovering not so far away, he loosened his grip yet made me be the one to pull away.
I did slowly, looking up at him. “Thank you,” I said.
He nodded and bowed his head respectfully. “And thank you,” he countered. “You saved me from at least twenty minutes of Malia.”
“Any time.” With a smile, I turned and started off, heading toward the others who were hurrying our way.
But then Luke called, “Hey, Chloe.”
I turned back. He grasped my hand and tugged me against him until my face landed smooshed against his shoulder. Then he hugged me briefly and tightly, kissing my temple with a hard smack of the lips before he murmured in my ear, “Size doesn’t mean shit. Small or extra-large, you’re fucking beautiful. Inside and out. Don’t ever forget that.”
When he stepped back, releasing me, he looked deeply into my eyes before murmuring, “Okay?”
I nodded dumbly, staring back at him with wide, surprised eyes. “O-okay,” I said, bobbing my head up and down.
At that moment, I truly, honestly believed him.
He smiled a private smile that seemed designated for me alone, then he winked and turned away, striding back toward the gymnasium so he could return to his malodorous date.
I was still watching the doors he’d disappeared through when the others reached me.
“Chloe! Oh my God. Are you alright?” Bella asked, gripping my arm and turning me so I could see the concern darkening her eyes.
I nodded. “I…yeah,” I said, my voice going breathless and high. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Except I wasn’t. I wasn’t fine at all.
In the span of half an hour, I had fallen flat in love with Luke Hamilton.
I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be fine again.
4 CHLOE
A week after I signed my heart over to Luke, the family had a get-together, to celebrate my cousin Rory’s tenth birthday.
Since my dad owned a nightclub with an enormous back room that was often rented out as an event center, we had the party there on a Saturday afternoon, hours before the bar opened.
Uncle Asher had Rory’s favorite meal catered in and a live band set to play, while Aunt Remy had a cake made for her that was three tiers high.
My dad’s brother and his wife had just retired the year before from their music band they’d played in together, and they were kind of mega-rich now, plus this was basically the first year they’d been truly home for any of their kids’ birthdays, so they had gone all out.
There was supposed to be a wall full of carnival-type booths there too, and that was what I was most excited about.
Because that’s where I knew he’d be.
I wore my cutest pair of jeans with the bedazzled back pockets and my favorite top, then I caked on the makeup and did my hair just right. One good thing I could admit about myself was that I had awesome hair. It was pale, bouncy, glossy-soft, and easy to manipulate any way I wanted it to go.
Today, I put it up into a high ponytail and curled dozens of pieces into small ringlets that fell down my back.
I’d just coiled the last piece of hair around my curling iron and was humming under my breath as I waited for it to heat when a knock came from the bathroom entrance.
“How much longer are you going to take?” my little brother asked from the doorway where he leaned against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest, impatiently waiting for me to finish. “Other people have to use this bathroom too, you know. And by other people, I mean me. I’m other people.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “There are two other bathrooms in this house, you know.”
“But I have to take a shower,” he argued. “And all my soap and shampoos are in here. So why don’t you go to one of the other bathrooms? Hell, why do you need a bathroom for hair curling at all?”
“Oh my God, fine!” I muttered and jerked impatiently on the cord to unplug the iron from the wall. “I’ll go to my room.” Holding the cord in one hand and the iron still curled around a chunk of hair in the other, I spun toward Trick and glowered. “You want to get out of my way or not?”