THE DANCE

Refusing to show any fear, my head is held high as I make my way down the narrow walkway through the seats, ignoring every hateful glare sent in my direction.

The closer I get to the back of the bus, the clearer it becomes that I’m the last stop. As my eyes continue to scan for a place to sit, I find a familiar face in the crowd smirking at me.

My stomach flips and my pulse quickens, stopping me in my tracks. Dropping my eyes to the floor, I hang my head so my hair shields my face, then move forward again, counting my steps as I go to distract myself.

Of course, the only seat left on the entire bus would be next to Eric freaking Winston. Heat burns my cheeks as I scoot in, sitting as far over as possible. I hate the way my body reacts to him, and the way he makes me feel. Especially since he clearly doesn’t like me at all. If never speaking to me isn’t a good indicator of that, I don’t know what is.

“Hey.”

Unsure who he’s talking to, my eyes skirt toward him, the rest of me frozen in place.

To my surprise, he’s looking at me expectantly, his head tilted and eyebrows raised. My chest tightens from the sudden lack of air as I turn my head to him, my stomach flipping as my greedy eyes take him all in.

“Uh…hi.”

I’ve never been this close to him before. His amazing blue eyes are even more incredible up close. Gazing into them is like looking out at the clear Caribbean Sea, or so I imagine. There’s a burst of amber coloring around the pupil of his left eye I’ve never noticed before—an island lost in vast waters.

“It’s a birthmark.” His answer to my silent question points out the fact that I’ve been staring. “The coloring in my eye, that is,” he explains further when I don’t pull my eyes away from his.

“Oh…” I force my gaze to my lap and focus on my trembling hands. “Well, it’s beautiful.”

“Who the heck was that?” Lizzy questions, placing a tray of drinks on our table before taking a seat.

My thoughts are foggy with the memories flooding my mind, and the alcohol is making it even harder to grasp onto reality.

Shrugging, I shake my head and grab a glass from the tray. Waiting for answers, Lizzy glares at me as I down another shot. When I still don’t respond, she goes on.

“So, it’s your first night back in town and you already have two guys fighting over you?”

My life feels like a bad joke. The ridiculousness of my situation is so over the top, all you can do is laugh—which is exactly what I do. It’s the hysterical kind where you’re not sure if you’re laughing or crying.

I haven’t seen Eric in years. Not once did I run into him when I was home visiting, even when I still so desperately wanted to see him. Why did he have to be here tonight of all nights? As if I’m not already struggling to keep my shit together.

“No.” I try to catch my breath as I wipe the moisture from my eyes. “They were just some old friends.”

Lizzy wouldn’t recognize Eric. We lived in neighboring towns and went to different schools growing up. I think she only met him once in passing. She would remember the way he broke my heart, though. So, I’d rather not tell her that was him.

“Well, why don’t you ask them to sit with us?” she questions, looking across the bar at Eric and Levi.

“No, thanks.” My eyes slide over to the bar. “But I’m happy to invite Brenden over.” I lift my hand as if I’m going to wave him over.

“Oh my God!” she squeaks, grabbing it and bringing it back to the table. “Stop! That isn’t funny.”

“He’s staring at you right now, and it’s kind of intense,” I goad. Her face turns a deep red before she plants her head in her hands.

“This is all your fault!”

“My fault? What did I do?” I ask, feigning innocence as I turn my attention back to her.

She lifts her head and narrows her eyes at me, her mouth twisted.

“Oh, please. He told me how you posted on Facebook that we’d be here,” she sulks.

“He did?” Chuckling, I briefly eye Brenden again, who’s still staring unapologetically. “So, he admitted to stalking you here?”

Her lips curve into a smile—a real, genuine Lizzy smile—and my heart warms.

“He actually admitted this isn’t the first time and called himself my ‘official stalker’.”

We both begin to laugh—my own genuine and joyful this time—and the tension leaves my body.

“That’s the greatest thing I’ve heard in a very long time,” I hiccup.

My eyes subconsciously roam over to Eric’s side of the bar, and my stomach somersaults when I find him studying me, a soft smile playing on his lips. For a second, hope blooms in my chest, but as soon as he realizes he’s been caught, he scowls. His smile now replaced with a look of disdain, he diverts his eyes from me.

A pain rips through me as I blink away the tears threating to fall. I wish it didn’t hurt. I wish I didn’t care. But Eric treating me as if I’m nothing—as if we were nothing—hurts a hundred times more than finding Christopher in bed with another woman.

Clearing my throat, I pull my attention back to Lizzy and force a bright smile on my face. I’ve gotten good at pushing away and ignoring my own sorrow.

“So, what else did Brenden say?”

“He apologized to me…” she murmurs, keeping her eyes on her beer bottle as she picks at the label.

“Wait, he apologized to you? For what?”

From what Lizzy told me, she’d walked out on his birthday celebration without so much as a goodbye and has been ignoring him since. I’ve been on the receiving end of that kind of treatment, and it’s no fun.

“I don’t really know.” She shrugs, squirming in her chair. “Dancing with that woman, I guess. He thinks I’ve been mad at him all this time.”

“Interesting… And did you clear that up for him?”

“Kind of,” she sighs, meeting my eyes briefly. “I mean…I told him I wasn’t mad at him, but I didn’t tell him the truth. I kind of blamed my ignoring him on you.”

“Liz—”

Levi steps up to our table again, interrupting me. “Dance with me.” My breath catches as I look for Eric, unsure whether I feel relieved or disappointed when I realize he’s not with him.

Levi extends his hand out to me, and my face heats as I shake my head in protest. “Levi…I don’t—”

“It’s Lee,” he corrects. “Just dance with me.”

My brow furrows as I study his warm smile and soft eyes, wondering what he’s doing. I’m sure his brother warned him away from me, yet here he is again.

When I don’t respond, he takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. My eyes go wide as I look to Lizzy for help, but the traitor merely shrugs, amusement lighting her face. Some friend she is.

“What are you doing?” I hiss as he leads me onto the dance floor.

My eyes frantically scan the bar, feeling flustered by all the people looking at us.

“Dancing with the most beautiful woman in the room.” We come to a stop on the dance floor, and his hands settle on my waist.

“Why?” Hating the way his compliment made my blood heat, I wrap my arms around his neck as I look up at him.

“Well,” he smirks, pulling me closer as we begin to sway to the music, “besides the obvious…let’s just say I’m doing someone a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Tell me, Julianna, are you a married woman?” he asks, ignoring my question.

Rolling my eyes, I bite down on the corner of my bottom lip. I don’t feel like having this conversation with anyone, and I know anything I say will be relayed right back to Eric. He wasn’t exactly happy with my decision to marry Christopher. Not that anyone was. They’d all been so sure it would end badly, and they were right. He doesn’t deserve the satisfaction of knowing that.

Levi tilts his head, raising an eyebrow as he waits for my answer.

“Yes,” I relent, sighing.

The air seems to grow thicker as my thoughts darken. The road that lies ahead of me isn’t going to be an easy one. I’m about to be a twenty-eight-year-old divorcee with little real work experience and no college degree. When I married Chris, I dropped out of college. It was always my intention to finish getting my degree, but my time was spent helping him start his practice.

“Oh…” His features appear to draw in with concern and disappointment.

“I’m getting divorced.” I’m not sure why I felt the need to clarify that. It’s none of his business and I don’t want Eric to know my life is in ruins right now.

“Oh!” He grins wide, his tone excited and upbeat this time.

I’m not sure what he’s so happy about. There isn’t going to be anything happening between us—married or not. Not tonight or ever. He’s at least six years younger than me, and more importantly, he’s Eric’s little brother. There’s no way in hell I’d ever consider dating him. Just dancing with him is making me feel uncomfortable.

“May I cut in?” We freeze as Eric’s hard voice cuts through the loud music and noise of the bar. When I look directly into his angry glare, my heart beats against my ribcage.

Laughing, Levi releases me and steps back. “Absolutely, big brother. What the hell took you so long?”

Eric takes Levi’s place, leaving me paralyzed, his hands heating my skin as they land on my waist. My entire body trembles as I lift my arms to hook them around his neck, his eyes holding mine captive. As we begin to dance, my thoughts are a jumbled mess, every part of me feeling almost numb from the sensory overload.

“Why are you here, Jules?” His question comes out low, his voice meek compared to a moment ago. If I didn’t know better, I’d think there was even a hint of sorrow behind his words.

“Yes, it’s nice to see you. I’ve missed you too,” I clip. His glare remains impassive, but I feel his hands twitch at my words. “I do have friends and family here, you know? It’s not as if I haven’t been back since I left. You simply never knew I was here, and that was your choice, not mine.”

As my heartache begins to seep into my tone and my eyes start to water, I clamp my mouth shut and drop my head, finally breaking his hold on me.

“Yeah right,” he spits. “Like any of that was ever my fucking choice.”

My head snaps back up, my eyes narrowing as I take in his snarled lip. A rage begins to bubble up inside me. It certainly wasn’t my choice for him to cut me out of his life like I never mattered.

“No? I guess it was someone else ignoring my calls—all my pleas.” I could go on, and would, if not for my damn throat closing up on me.

His mask of indifference slips for a moment, and I swear there’s regret in eyes, but it’s quickly pulled back in place before I can be certain.

“Where’s your husband?” The disdain in his tone as he says “husband” is thick, as if he’s offering Christopher up as his explanation, but that reasoning makes no sense. I hadn’t been the only one who took nuptials.

Letting out an exasperated groan, I shake my head and roll my eyes.

“I don’t know, Eric. Where’s your wife?” I retort.

Fury lights his eyes as his nostrils flare, his body going rigid as he stops moving to the music. If I didn’t know for certain Eric would never hurt me, I might be frightened.

Without responding, he pulls back and turns on his heel before storming away. Shocked, I remain rooted on the dance floor where he left me, watching him as he passes his brother and makes his way out of the bar.

When my gaze moves back to Levi, he’s staring at me, his eyebrows drawn and mouth twisted. My stomach knots as if I’d been the one to do something wrong, and I wonder what exactly Eric told him about me. When I move toward him, he shakes his head before heading out the door toward his brother.

What the hell just happened?