“What sexy cowboy?” I shout in her ear because I’m not here to get social. I just want to let loose with my friends. To feel pretty and whole and untethered from my worries. At least for a few hours.
Maryanne takes my hand and spins me, whispering, “Four o’clock” in my ear, but she’s shorter than me and we erupt in a fit of giggles when her arms smack my neck. It’s only when I take a turn twirling her around that I get my glimpse.
The guy is standing in a group with three guys, dressed in faded black Wranglers that hug his strong thighs and a snap shirt with the cuffs rolled up, revealing muscular forearms. A partially grown-in beard covers his handsome jaw, and his hair is a half-wild tangle of dark brown curls, but it’s the color of his eyes when he looks my way that makes my breath catch. They’re a soft blue-gray, exactly like the sky before it rains.
A little thrill walks down my spine, but I spin back to Maryanne, who pumps her eyebrows at me.
I scoff, but do I feel the guy’s eyes drinking me in? I might be okay with that.
The song changes to a cover of “Made for You” and Pete leads Summer to the front, his hand on her lower back. I’m about to pull Maryanne after them but a tall guy with a full beard and a warm smile saunters over and asks Maryanne to dance.
Maryanne glances at me, a question in her eyes, but I shoot her a wink, then shuffle toward the edge of the dance floor.
Pinching the cute T-shirt Maryanne loaned me, I work some cooler air across my sweaty stomach. I should use the breather to grab us some waters, but I’m not leaving my wingman like that.
Pete is cradling Summer close as they rock, pausing now and then to kiss like they don’t care who sees.
It makes me miss Nathan a little bit, which brings up feelings I don’t want to revisit tonight. It took me too long to realize it, but Nate wasn’t good for me, and I would never want him back.
“I didn’t take you for a sidelines kind of gal.”
I glance to my left, where Sexy Cowboy has just slipped through the crowd. It’s quieter in this corner, so he doesn’t have to shout.
I force my gaze from his stormy eyes, but I’m too late, and my embarrassment prickles the back of my neck. “How would you know?”
He offers me a small bottle of water. “Thirsty?”
Even though I’m being borderline rude, he came with a gift? Why was I snarky to the hottest guy here? There’s something about him that’s unsettling, though it’s most likely a me problem.
“Thank you.” I don’t support the use of single-use plastics, but I take the bottle from him and crack the lid anyway, partly to make sure it wasn’t already open, and partly to keep me from picking a fight with this guy about the harmful effects of microplastics in our food chain.
While I sip, a detail scratches to the surface. When we locked eyes earlier, he was the only person in his group without a drink in his hands.
“Are you the DD tonight?” I ask.
With an easy smile, he surveys the dance floor and sips from his water, giving me a flash of the rose tattoo etched across the back of his left hand. I think there are words there too but I can’t read them.
“I’m the DD every night,” he replies.
“You don’t drink.”
He shakes his head and gives me a steady glance. “Does that bother you?”
My brother and my close friend Morgan are both recovering addicts, so anyone who prioritizes the welfare of their posse gets an automatic status upgrade in my book. “Nope.”
Out on the dance floor, the stranger spins Maryanne, making her laugh. The guy’s face lights up, and my heartstrings give a little tug. Maybe romance isn’t dead after all. Or at least it’s not dead for some of us.
I sip my chlorinated water, which just makes me miss the glacier-cold source at the Selkirk field station. “Why’d you say that?” I ask the guy to fill the uncomfortable silence. “About the sidelines.”
He gives me a casual shrug. “You seem confident.”
Maybe my acting isn’t so bad after all. “And that translates into a full dance card?”
“It should.”
An unwelcome flutter erupts in the pit of my stomach. “How do you know I’m not having an existential crisis?”
He laughs. “Are you?”