14 - Samantha
As we move back and forth in each other’s arms, I rest my head against his shoulder. He has one arm around me and I try not to touch his injured side. He cradles me in his arm and we move back and forth. My mind is completely quiet.
I don’t remember the last time I felt so peaceful. From the moment I started suspecting that Ronnie wasn’t faithful to the moment I dropped those papers in the mailbox, my mind has been a hurricane of thought and emotion. I’ve hardly been able to finish a thought before three other thoughts start knocking on my brain.
But now, as the sounds of the band surround us and we dance, my mind is quiet. I don’t think of anything except how good it feels to have his arm around me, and how his cologne reminds me of a forest after the rain. His hand moves gently back and forth over the small of my back, and he presses his fingers into me to pull me closer. My body feels like a puppet, and every little movement he makes I respond to right away.
For the first time in months, I just let myself go. I close my eyes and rest my head on his shoulder. My breath slows down and all I do is exist. For these few minutes with Dean, I’m perfectly content, perfectly at ease, perfectly safe.
All too soon, the band stops an we separate. I turn to the band and clap while Dean smacks is good hand against his thigh. I look at him and smile, and I see a spark in his eye when he smiles back. He motions back to our seats.
I settle in beside him and our thighs come to touch. He brings his uninjured hand down to rest on my knee and stares into my eyes.
“So have you decided how long you’re going to stay in New York?” His question comes out softly, almost hesitantly.
I turn to my glass of champagne and run my fingers up and down the stem. I take a deep breath and shrug before swinging my eyes back to him.
“I’m not sure,” I finally say. “I like it here. I was thinking I might stay.”
Did I just see his face brighten? It’s hard to tell in this light. His fingers press ever so slightly into my thigh and he nods.
“I think you should,” he says softly, barely above a whisper. His voice is like a growl that sends vibrations through my chest every time he speaks. I can feel myself blushing, and something sparks between my thighs. I swallow and turn back to my glass of champagne, trying to ignore the lump in my throat. Dean does the same, and the second his hand leaves my thigh I wish he’d put it back.
At that moment, a big group of people walk in through the door. There are at least ten of them, and they’re loud and drunk. Both Dean and I turn towards them and then exchange a glance. They take up so much space, and the peaceful spell that was over us starts to break.
“You want to get out of here?” Dean says as he turns his head back to me. I feel my lips curl into a smile and I nod.
“Definitely.”
We walk back up the stairs into the fresh night air. Dean’s Bentley is gleaming under the street lights. Instead of heading towards it, he motions down the street.
“There’s a nice park down here. You want to go for a walk?”
“Sure,” I say. We turn towards the park and our hands slip into each other. My heart jumps in my chest as our fingers intertwine and the heat of his body gets a bit closer. Everything feels so natural with him. I clear my throat.
“How’s your arm feeling?”
“It’s fine. Just a scratch,” he says with a grin. “Well, broken in two places but you know. I’m tough.”
“Rub some dirt in it,” I say with a grin.
“Exactly,” he laughs. “Can’t even feel it.”
We walk in silence for a few moments. It’s a peaceful silence. We’re both wrapped in our own thoughts but our hands are still together and our steps are synchronised. The peacefulness in my heart from before is still there, but there’s something else inside me too. A warmth, or a spark, or something travelling up my arm and straight to my core. I clear my throat.
“So why did your dinner get cut short? Did anything happen?”
I feel Dean’s body stiffen beside me and he takes a slow, deep breath. He lets out all the air before speaking.
“They’d invited someone I didn’t want to see,” he finally responds. I nod, sensing that he doesn’t want to be asked any more questions. I think about what he said earlier, that he’d been through something similar to me. Was it his ex-fiancee? Why would she be at his parent’s house? A tendril of jealousy starts curdling in my stomach as I think of another woman getting close to Dean. I shake my head, trying to talk some sense into myself.
I only met him today. We don’t know each other, and he definitely doesn’t owe me anything. He obviously has a history with this woman, and plus, I don’t even know if it was her that was there! I’m jumping to conclusions. I just met the guy and I just sent off my divorce papers. I need to relax.
As if he can sense the turbulent thoughts in my head, he squeezes my hand gently. We turn down a pathway into the park and Dean speaks in a low voice.
“I’m glad that the dinner got cut short,” he says, “because it meant I could come and see you.”
My heart starts jumping in my chest as we slow to a stop and Dean turns to face me. His sling is pinning his arm between us, and he runs his other hand across my cheek and along my jaw. I tilt my chin up towards him and part my lips as my heart bounces in my chest. The spark between my legs ignites as he dips his lips towards mine.
His kiss set my whole body on fire. The instant his lips crush against mine and his fingers tangle into my hair, I feel myself melting into him. I peel myself away from his broken arm and wrap my arms around his neck. He pulls me in closer and kisses me like I’ve never been kissed before. Our lips dance together and our bodies fuse together as we stand under the streetlights in the cool night air. He’s the only man beside Ronnie I’ve kissed in years, but I can tell that this kiss is different. It’s more intense and more passionate than any other. His hand grips the back of my head and I sink my fingers into his shoulders, his neck, his back. I run my hands through the hair at the nape of his neck and taste the sweetness of the champagne on his lips.
Finally, we pull apart and Dean nods to his cast.
“Stupid thing,” he growls with a chuckle. “If there was ever a moment that I wanted full use of both my hands it would be right now.”
I smile and trail my fingers down his arm and over his cast. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for this thing,” I say. Dean grunts in agreement and dips his head towards me for another kiss.