I nodded, putting my hands on his hips and holding him, knowing this was something big.

“So I said yes, and I was nervous as shit, but excited too. We went out on the dance floor. It was a fast song, and surprisingly or unsurprisingly, I have no moves. I was awkward and embarrassed. Suddenly I noticed people were getting close to us, sort of circling around us. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but then I realized it was on purpose. Everyone started laughing and pointing. The guy I was dancing with was doing the same. Kira found me then. The guy had put a sign on my back, and they were all making fun of me. It’s stupid that I still think about it, but I can’t help it.”

“Shit, baby. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

He was looking down, but his eyes darted up and met mine, probably at the word baby. It was the second time I’d used it with him because, again, my heart was an asshole.

“I know,” Jameson replied. “But ever since then, dancing in public isn’t my thing.”

“Yeah, I can get that. Do you wanna sit down? Or we can head home?”

He still didn’t move. He shook his head, stepped back so my hands fell away, then grabbed one of them. “I want to dance with you.”

Whoa. I couldn’t breathe. My chest was swelling, or my lungs or something, as if they didn’t fit. Because this, what he was giving me, meant the world to me. He was telling me he felt safe with me. He was getting something back that had been stolen from him, and I got to be a part of that. I couldn’t seem to find my words, and he continued, “That’s what this summer fling is supposed to be about, right? Taking chances, doing new things, stepping out of my shell.”

Motherfucking stupid-ass word fling. If I heard it again, I was going to die. “Yeah, of course. Let’s go.”

It shouldn’t matter why he wanted to dance with me, that it was just because of that annoying F word, but it did. I’d thought it was something he wanted to share with me.

I was surprised that it was Jameson who led the way to our group of friends. Jameson who started to dance with me first.

Through one song…then another…and another.

And when he laughed? I was able to forget he was only doing this because of the F word. The joy was so damn clear on his face, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing too. Jameson liked to dance. He was having fun, and no matter the reason why he did it, he chose me to do it with, and that, that was pretty fucking awesome.

When he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close, our bodies grinding against each other, I couldn’t help kissing his smile, savoring it on my lips, and acknowledging that voice in my head that told me this was more than a crush, and no matter how awkward it was, maybe I was falling in love.

Or hell, I could have already been there.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Jameson

“I think this was the best night of my life,” I told Will as we tripped into my bedroom, all tangled up in each other. The crazy part was, it was true. I couldn’t believe how much fun I’d had. It felt like being a part of something in a way I’d never let myself do before. I didn’t feel awkward or out of place. I belonged with them. I belonged with Will. No, no, no. Don’t think that!

I couldn’t stop that thought, though. It was a piece of me, sewn into me now, in a way that Will always would be.

“The best night? So, better than the first time I sucked you off?” he teased. I loved his mischievous grin and the way he playfully waggled his eyebrows.

“Fine. Orgasms aside, this was the best night of my life. I had fun. Thank you for helping me break out of my shell.”

Will stepped closer, cupped my face. “I didn’t do anything, Professor. That was all you.”

I thought maybe it was both of us, together. It felt like something real. I felt real when I was with him, like I hadn’t been before. As if I’d been some sort of animated version of me.

And I wanted him. Wanted tonight to be the night, which I’d stupidly told Kira, which was why she’d kept pulling me away to talk to me.

But I was also sweaty, and I hated being sweaty. “Do you, um…wanna take a shower with me? And maybe, only if you want, you can spend the night?”

“I think those are questions you don’t have to be nervous to ask me because the answer will always be yes.”

Always? When he said it like that, I thought maybe that was my favorite word.

Tags: Riley Hart Stumbling into Love Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net