Soshe put on her blinders and focused onDavis, and he rewarded her with a big smile.Theydanced together for the next dance, too, and it was also nice.Thenthey headed back toward their table to grab some water.
Asthey neared, her eyes foundParker, like her attention was magnetically pulled toward him whether she liked it or not.Hewas chatting and laughing with a few people.Acouple people were standing just outside the circle they made, looking atParker’sgroup like they wanted to join in but were shy or unsure.Parkerspotted them, and so subtly shifted in a way that opened his circle.Hesaid something to one of them, and just like that, the two others were in their group, chatting and laughing, too.
Whydid he have to go and do sweet things like that?Couldn’the just shout at someone for stepping on his foot, punch someone in the gut, or bump into someone, knocking them down, and not apologize so she could get over him already?
Gettingdrinks of water put them right next toParker’sgroup and they quickly found themselves pulled into the group, and laughing and chatting themselves.
Asthey talked, she feltDavis’sfingers brush up against hers.Aquestion, a nudge, asking if he could hold her hand.Shehad imagined this being a night of fun, dancing with a lot of different people.Doinga little flirting, but nothing serious.Davissilently asking to hold her hand felt an awful lot like he was trying to claim her for the night.Sheliked dancing with him, but she didn’t want that.Soshe just brought her hands together in front.Asubtle move, but one that should get the point across toDavis.
Anew song started, but she wasn’t quite ready to leave the conversation yet, so she didn’t so much as glance in the direction of the dance floor.Parkerasked her, specifically, to say what her favorite cheese was when everyone was saying theirs, and right after she answered,Daviswrapped his arm around her back, placed his hand on her shoulder, and leaned in to whisper, “DidImention how great you smell?”
Andthen he left his hand there.Hehad done it like he was pulling her close to tell her something, but it was as blatant as a guy stretching at a movie theater before draping his arm on a girl’s shoulder.Shedidn’t want to embarrass the guy by pushing his hand off her shoulder.Hewas a nice guy and was probably only doing it because he was feeling threatened byParker.Whowouldn’t?Parkerlooked like a movie star tonight.
Soshe waited a moment, then leaned forward to look atJoy’sbracelet and shook his hand off her shoulder at the same time.
Exceptinstead of taking the hint and dropping his arm to his side, he dropped it to her waist.Shetook in a slow, deep breath.IfDaviswas a jerk, there were several things she could do to make sure he got the message.Buthe wasn’t, and she didn’t want him to think that she wasn’t interested in him at all or that she was mad at him.Shesimply didn’t want someone to claim her as their date tonight.
Aseveryone in the circle chatted, she ran through options in her head of what could send the message but hadn’t come up with any good ones when her eyes fell onParker.Hewas studying her, reading the situation.Hemet her eyes, and it felt like a question.Likehe was looking for confirmation that he was reading the situation correctly.Shecould’ve given him a slight nod but hadn’t, yet somehow he still saw it in her eyes.
Assoon asJoyfinished what she was saying,Parkerstepped into the circle towardKelli.Heheld out a hand. “Wouldyou like to dance?”
Shesmiled and put her hand in his. “Iwould.”
Shewas sure thatDavisgot the message as she andParkerwalked onto the dance floor, and she was so grateful.
Thesong ended seconds after they got to a spot on the dance floor, which was great because then she knew she’d get at least a full song withParker.Hekept one of her hands in his and placed his other hand in the middle of her back.Interesting.Hedidn’t go for the waist.Notthat she would have any problem with his hand on her waist, but between that and the amount of space between them, it felt like he was silently showing that he respected her.
Sheput her hand on his shoulder, resting her arm on his, which made her take inParkerin his suit with touch in addition to sight, and the extra sense nearly overwhelmed her.
“Youare impressively graceful,”Kellisaid.
“Iwas going to say the same about you, butIwas also going to add that you are extraordinarily beautiful.”
“Wow.Agood dancer and a good complimenter.Yourmom must be so proud.”
“Sheis.Butto be fair, ifGrahamandMerithad us make macaroni art andItexted her a picture of it, she would be proud of me for that, too.”
Kellismiled. “Shesounds like a great person.”
“Shereally is.”
DancingwithDavishad felt nice.DancingwithParkerfelt amazing.Maybeit wouldn’t be so bad to have someone claim her as their date tonight.
Wow, did that thought feel dangerous.Itwould definitely be bad to fall for him because she would still see him daily when this was over.
Asthe song was nearing the end,Parkerpulled her closer and said in a voice that couldn’t have been heard by anyone but her, “Igot the impression that you don’t want to be tied to one person tonight, right?”
Shetried to nod, but now that she hadParker’sarm around her, she wasn’t so sure.Shewas currently having trouble simply remembering to breathe.Hemust’ve seen past that, though, because he said, “Ifyou’d like to make sure that message gets across fully,RomanfromQAis a good guy, and with as often as his eyes have gone to you,I’msure he’d love to dance.Ifyou’d like,Ican lead us over there so it’d be natural for you to walk in his direction after the dance.”
“Thanks,” she managed to breathe as she marveled at this man.
Shemight have still been marveling at him when he thanked her for the dance and walked away just as they nearedRomanfromQA.Parkerlooked back at her once, but she hadn’t been able to see his expression long enough to interpret it beforeRomanwalked over and asked her to dance.
Ten
Parker
Parkerwokeup and dressed for an early morning run along the beach.Whenhe opened his door, he saw the outside of it had been decorated with a paperChristmastree and decorations made out of pipe cleaners and other items left over from their craft day.Forthe first second, he thought maybe it was somethingMeritandGrahamhad done for everyone, but the moment he saw the sash draped on the tree that read#1ChristmasFanBehindthisDoor, with a cat drawn curled up beneath the tree, he instantly knew it wasKelli’sdoing.
