“Canyou do the splits?” Henry asked behind me, his voice taking on an edge that made me half-turn to take him in and note how the light in his eyes matched the intrigue in his voice.
“And you want to know because…?” I raised a brow.
He shrugged like he didn’t care, playing his part. “Just interested to know if you were a little looser than your stiff personality implies.”
That was a good one. I had to give him that.
I stared up at Henry, half turned on, half infuriated that we had to play this game at all. “If I told you what I was capable of, Cohen, you’re the one who’d be stiff.”
“You thinking about my dick again, Phoebe?”
“Kinda hard to miss when you’ve got one on your forehead for everyone to see.”
Jace laughed out loud while Henry’s forearm brushed over my arse cheek in approval, his small smirk forcing me to turn back to Rhea and Jace before we gave ourselves up.
“It’s such a shame you two aren’t into each other.” Jace shook his head. “I can see real potential here.”
“Give it a rest, Jace,” Rhea told him, but she gave me the same look she’d given me at the beach.
I had to look away from her, too. For all this secretive pact I’d made with Henry excited me, lying to my best friends sure had a way of making me feel like a shitty human being, even if I knew, deep down, they wouldn’t have a problem with me going after something I wanted.
SomeoneI wanted.
After all, Bailey had been trying to get me to look at any man with a pulse from the moment we’d stepped off the plane and into the suffocating heat.
I could feel that heat creeping up my neck now, especially when someone walked past Henry, making him rock forward again, and his hand dropped to the top of my arse cheek. Instead of removing it quickly, he let it linger there, as though he wanted to see just how long he could get away with being that close to me without anyone knowing.
Was the risk of all this what he was in it for? Or was he actually interested in me?
I had no time to ponder on that before Henry flexed his fingers into my flesh, letting me know he was there, as though I couldn’t feel his touch taking over every part of my body. His hand was huge, and all I could focus on as I watched the others were thoughts of those fingers grazing my naked skin.
“Will someone just dance with me?” Jace moaned.
Henry’s fingers flexed into my arse once more. “Go on, Phoebe. Show Jace how it’s done,” he said, making me half turn to him again only to see his dark brow raised as he looked down at me. “I’ll even hold your beer for you, because I’m nice like that.” He grinned.
He’d just thrown me under the bus, and he knew it, but before I could think of a good comeback or a way to put him in his place, he slid my beer bottle out of my grip, and the next second, Jace was dragging me over to the dance floor, where Bailey and Andy were all over each other.
I glanced back at Rhea and Henry, who were grinning at me like they both knew how uncomfortable I felt, and they were relishing it.
Who needed enemies with friends like that?
With a grace and ease I hadn’t expected from Jace, he lifted his arm and spun me around under it, making me twirl effortlessly as though he, too, had done this before. When he pulled me back to him, my body now flush with his, he gazed down at me with a mischievous grin. “Surprise!”
“You dance?” I asked, wide-eyed. Of all the things I’d expected from Jace, this had to be the very last on the list.
“I did five years of classic ballroom as a kid. Shh, don’t tell Andy or Cohen. It’s a secret I’ve managed to keep from them for years. They’d rib me to death if they found out I used to wearsequined shirts and heeled shoes. They’d ruin my reputation even more if they knew I actually enjoyed it.”
“You little dark horse.” I chuckled, just as he let me go, putting some distance between us. “I wonder what other secrets you keep from them.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
I cast a glance at Henry who wore a look of amusement as he watched me.
If he wanted a show, I’d give him one.
When I turned back to Jace, all I had to do was nod at him for us both to start moving as though we’d danced together for years. We didn’t make contact again, but we spun around each other, moving in time to Calvin Harris’s “How Deep Is Your Love”. I made my little silver dress work with me, moving my hips in a way I knew would make my body look the best it could, and Jace seemed to enjoy the challenge of keeping up with me. Before long, my arms were in the air, my head moving from side to side as I lost myself to the rhythm and the lyrics.
Mainly the lyrics.
