His reluctance was made clear by the way he dragged his feet the entire way there. Let me tell you, trying to force a giant to move took a lot more effort than I wanted to admit.
“I don’t know how to dance,” Frederick yelled when I finally managed to drag him to the middle of the dance floor. His voice was almost drowned out by the loud music that seemed amplified here. The crowd split into a wave to let us through, the dozens of eyes still all locked in on us like they were waiting for the first personto make a move.
I tried to ignore them and pulled Frederick against me. My hands slithered around his hips. “Just do what feels natural.”
He frowned but tried to sway his hips to the beat of the music. His moves were all awkward thrusts and no rhythm, but he looked adorable in his attempts.
I swayed along with him for a few minutes, and more people joined us on the dance floor. I could tell Frederick was starting to loosen up. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as I led him into a spin.
“Can I have this dance?” a voice called out to Frederick when he’d stopped spinning.
The man was tiny—probably the same size as my friend Wren. His eyes flicked toward Frederick, red heating his cheeks as their eyes met, before he looked away.
He looked like the shy type, which surprised me that he’d come to a place like this, much less worked up the courage to ask Frederick for a dance.
My friend’s eyes bore into the twink’s body, and I saw a hint of something there. Appreciation, maybe? Whatever it was, Frederick was definitely interested in a dance, but something was stopping him.
He glanced at me, and I got a hint of what was holding him back. I beamed at him and handed his hand to the stranger.
“Have fun,” I told them and waved them off.
The smaller man seemed to have a boost in confidence from having his offer accepted and showed off hisdance moves to Frederick, leading him around the dance floor. At first, Frederick seemed at a loss, but he managed to follow along, and dare I say, he looked like he was having fun, too.
It didn’t take long for someone to slide up against my back. He didn’t have the manners to actually ask me to dance, but I was trying to keep an open mind. Maybe the dude who was currently rubbing his hands all over my chest was actually a nice guy deep inside. A bit forward, yes? But he could have a good heart.
And then he slid his hand down my chest, past my abs, and…nope. We were done here. I was all for a good time, but trying to grab my privates without consent was a hard limit.
I twisted around before the stranger could get his hands on my junk. He used the chance to grab my ass instead.
Go figure.
Before I could give the asshole a piece of my mind, the man who was trying to feel me up suddenly let out a groan, his hand pulled away from me.
“What the hell, man!” he shouted toward the person who’d grabbed his hand. And by the twisted expression on the stranger’s face, whoever came to my rescue had him in a death grip.
Sucks for him, but it worked out for me.
I spun around to thank my hero, only to be met with the one person I was not expecting to be there.
“Clay? What are you doing here?”
Chapter Six
CLAY
I ignored Dan’s question to focus on the man who’d been feeling him up. I’d watched them dance for a while. At first, Dan looked like he was enjoying himself, grinding up against the man who was very clearly interested.
The more I watched them, the more it felt like I was being gnawed on from the inside out. My skin tingled with a restless energy that had me pacing to try to dispel it.
The people coming up to try to talk or dance with me didn’t help either. They kept distracting me or actively blocked my view. I blamed them for failing to notice Dan’s annoyance sooner.
It was in the way his movements became stiffer, or how his eyebrow twitched in the way it did when he was upset. No one else would have noticed if they weren’t paying close attention to him.
I was always aware.
My body moved to protect him before I could even process what I was thinking. Which was how I ended up being caught following him and grabbing at the person who’d had their grubby hands on him.
“Clay?” Dan tried again when I didn’t answer.
