39

Ryan

One Dance

Kassie was…everything.

She glided across the front entrance and offered a dazzling smile to anybody in her path. Investors, donors, and a couple of Houston politicians who support the Romans, all stopped to talk to the woman who laughed at any joke and squeezed my arm when the conversation would eventually turn back to us .

We found ourselves wandering through the tables after a city council member's speech. Our names were planted on cards at one of the biggest tables. It took me a moment to process the other ones.

I rubbed my jaw. "They've sat us with the big donors."

"Of course they did. We're the bee's knees, the cat's pajamas, talk of the town." Kassie tried to pull back her chair, but I beat her to it. She offered another dazzling smile. "Don't let this bring down your batting average."

I snorted. "That's baseball, art girl."

"Shit. Is it?"

"Yep."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. We've got passing stats, completion percentages, sack percentages. No batting averages."

Fuck, was she beautiful. Even when she was mixing up sports terminology.

I didn't have to lift a finger during the dinner. Kassie nodded and smiled to everyone, listening intently while I studied her hand close to me. Gently, I picked her hand up and wove my fingers through hers. She glanced back at me with a smile. I ran my thumb across her knuckles.

"We don't hold hands enough," I told her in a low voice while the conversation at the table moved on. "We're supposed to be in love and we only held hands four times last week. Those are rookie numbers. They need to go up."

"You counted how many times we held hands?"

"If we held hands more, I wouldn't need to count," I countered, drawing circles over her skin. Touching her. Holding her.

"So, Mr. Cross." One of the donors motioned towards me. "You know, you're always welcome to our home, and we'd love to see you make it one of your regular places, because I could've sworn your arms were bigger last year."

Kassie frowned. Her eyes narrowed. "I think he looks fine as is."

"Oh. I didn't mean—" The donor flushed. "See—"

I know where this is going .

Before Kassie could clench my hand any harder, I touched her knee, leaning in. "Art girl, she owns a line of gyms. It's just small talk before a sponsorship."

Immediately, my little protector relaxed her shoulders and a blush made its rounds. It was so goddamn sexy. A grin crossed my face watching her as she apologized to the table and they took it in stride.

"You should've known better." Another donor chortled. "That's the same girl who told reporters to—" He burst into laughter. "She told them to eat shit when they pushed if Ryan uses steroids!"

His wife admonished him but I just grinned harder.

"I…apologized for that." Kassie blushed.

And I was the one who walked her through the apology but that didn't change the fact that every time Kassie snapped at someone for me, it was an instant erection.

As the next tune played over the speakers, I could see Miles and Cleo across the room. Cleo tapped the wristwatch on her right hand. She was trying to get our attention. Next to her, Miles was motioning towards us, helping her out as much as he could.

I straightened my suit. "We've got to start the next quarter of the game, art girl."

"Quarter?"

Still holding her hand, I nodded back to the dance floor.

Kassie inched to the side. "Is this a joke?"

"No."

She laughed but not in a way that landed me the funniest remark. Her laugh was slow and dumbfounded.

"Ryan, let's talk this out."

"We're going to miss the song."

"I—I don't dance." She made a noise at the back of her throat that I didn't recognize. "That wasn't part of the soul contract."

"It's a series of movements, coordinated together. Not that hard."

Kassie's nervous .

That surprised me. I couldn't understand why she was nervous. It wasn't like we were blocking on the field with four seconds on the clock. New excuses were offered but I was firm. I was determined to dance with her.

With a sigh, Kassie stole another look at the dance floor. "I don't know. Shit…Cleo and Miles…"

"That's our cue."

" Shit ."

"I won't drop you," I promised. "I won't let you fall. I swear to…whatever you want me to swear to."

"On your car's radio?"

"On my car's radio."

With all the reluctance in the world, Kassie pushed from her chair. "Okay. One dance."

Sure. She could believe that.

A deeper blush crossed Kassie's features at the side of the dance floor and I could feel her drawing back. "How're we—um—supposed to…?" She took a long look at the rest of the other couples. "What's the—what's the plan here?"

"Your hand on my shoulder," I murmured. I placed my hand on the side of her waist. "My hand here."

"Like this?"

It'd be fine for cameras but I wasn't what I wanted. "Closer."

I brought her towards me until there wasn't much distance between us. Her breath caught in her throat. A nice touch. Kassie had me twisted around her finger and it felt good to have the upper hand for once.

The next song played, something much slower, and I led her into the crowd.

A camera flashed close, illuminating the two of us. I resisted the urge to pull her away from it. It was a hard instinct to shake off, to shelter Kassie away from the other eyes, but the whole point of being here was that one picture to upload.

I didn't get a full minute of dancing with Kassie before someone asked a question behind me. "Mind if I cut in?"

The grin dropped off my face. Who the hell wanted to dance with my girlfriend?

"No problem—" Kassie started to say, all sweet and smiles, but the moment I turned back, I put a stop to it.

The guy was clearly a college student and his eyes dawned with recognition the moment he saw me. The second he connected who I was, the color drained out of his face.

Good. He knew about the off-limits tag.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked, a warning in my words.

He stared. "Oh, Cross, I—I only saw from—from behind—"

"I'm sure you did." I nodded. "Do you want to ask her again?"

"W—what? No—"

"I thought not." Tightening my hold on Kassie's waist, we slipped back into the crowd.

Kassie's mouth fell open. "What was that? "

"We're dancing," I replied.

"But he—?"

I shrugged. "He can go fuck himself."

And it was so easy to say too. I could handle everything else that came with being a Division I athlete but the idea that any man thought he could dance with my girl wasn't just a shit decision, it was a risky fucking choice that wouldn't pay off.

"I thought we're supposed to mind our manners?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Someone should have told him that," I retorted. "I had to put him in his place."

"What happens if I dance with somebody else?"

"No one else is dancing with you. No one else is touching you."

Kassie tilted her head back, watching me. "The song's finished."

"You agreed to one dance. Not one song."

She flushed. "Damn you."

"Thank you," I murmured and took another look at the cameras on the sidelines, still taking pictures. A perfect excuse. I dipped down close to her and captured her lips. Her fingers curled around my shoulder and she kissed me back, leaning up to meet me halfway.

Oh, fuck. This is it.

The best alumni night I'd ever had.

"I…" She gazed up, all lit up and beautiful. "Ryan? Do you want to talk outside?"

"You're trying to get out of another dance?" I murmured.

Quickly, she shook her head. "No, I—do you want to talk outside? Just the two of us?"

Just the two of us .

"Alright." I nodded and finally pulled back from her. My fingers twitched to touch her again but curiosity overruled that. "Through those doors over there, there's a garden."

She smiled. "Okay."

"Do you want a drink?" I asked. "I can get drinks."

"I'd literally kill for one right now. I'll see you out there, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay." The grin hurt my face but I headed off towards the drinks table, feeling lighter than I had in a long, long time.