Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(28)

We walked into the gym and found Sienna standing in a corner by the entrance. My sweet, uncomfortable friend was my solace. I scooted over to her side and put my head on her shoulder. She turned and teased me with a whistle and pawed at me like a cat. I giggled, a little flattered by her compliment.

The dance floor was empty as the mostly freshmen gathered at the dance early sat at the tables picking at cookies and downing paper cups of punch. We picked a table near the dance floor and piled our purses in the middle of the table. Then our fearless leader Sarah led Sienna and me to the middle of the floor, directly under the disco ball that was in full spin. The DJ was playing a hip-hop song that I sort of knew, and Sarah was moving to the music like a girl in the singer’s music video. Sienna and I swayed next to her, always the awkward ones.

Giggling and tossing her long hair over one shoulder, Sarah grabbed both of us by the hands. “Girls, we’ve gotta work on your moves. Here, follow me,” she said, showing us some simple moves that helped us look a little less like wallflowers. By the second song, we had it down, and Sienna and I were laughing, our arms over our heads while we moved to the heavy base thumping from the nearby speaker.

I jumped a little when I felt a pair of hands slide over my hips, but relaxed when I smelled Sean’s familiar cologne as his chin grazed over my bare shoulders and his lips found my neck.

“You, are downright hot,” he said, turning me to face him and pulling me in with both hands on my face.

I blushed when I pulled away to look him in the eyes, his smirk slightly sinister. Truth be told, I was enjoying the attention my new look was getting.

“You like?” I said, twirling a little and showing of my bare back and legs. I could get used to this confidence thing.

“Oh, I like…” Sean said, pulling me closer just as a slow song was starting. I nestled my face into his shoulder and neck and took in a deep breath. There was something comforting in his smell, like my grandfather’s wood shop up north. His hair was still a little wet from his shower. He was wearing a black V-neck sweater that accentuated his muscles and showed off his wide upper body. His worn jeans bunched at his feet, his brown leather shoes barely showing. I closed my eyes for a few seconds while we rocked back and forth, willing myself to fall in love. But when I opened my eyes and looked at the couple talking to the faculty chaperones at the door, I knew that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to talk my heart into leaping from my chest the way it did when I saw Reed.

He didn’t see me at first. His hand was gently placed on Tatum’s lower back. She had a short, deep blue, silk dress on that swayed on her lower back, showing off her bare shoulder blades – always finding a way to one-up me, I thought.

Reed was joking with one of the football coaches that was helping host the dance. He shook coach’s hand and turned to enter the gym with Tatum leading the way. Reed dragged behind a bit, looking down and rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, almost as if he was willing himself to endure this dance. Sarah and Calley had stopped Tatum to admire her dress and Reed kept walking, saying something to her over his shoulder as he held her purse and looked for our table that Sarah had pointed out. He turned and started walking towards it when he froze and locked his eyes on me.

My throat closed. I turned my head in a little to face Sean, but kept my eyes locked on Reed, pretty sure he couldn’t tell I was staring at him. He walked slowly to the table, his focus shifting back and forth from his destination to me. Deep down, I knew this was what I had hoped was the result of Sarah’s great work. And I was pretty sure this was her goal, too.

Sean and I circled around, and whenever Sean’s hands rubbed my back or played with my hair, Reed winced a little. His facial expression was caught somewhere between curiosity and sadness. Even as Tatum and the other girls joined him at the table, he continued to steal glances at me.

The song finished and I told Sean I was thirsty, so we walked back to our table. Determined to find those butterflies that I felt months ago, I searched my brain for a way to make Reed react. When Sean left our group for drinks, I let my guard go and reached for Reed’s shoulder, using him to balance myself so I could adjust the strap on my shoe. I felt the heat from his stare as I finished and tossed the ringlets of hair Sarah strategically let fall on my shoulders out of my eyes and gave Reed a “hello” smile.

“Hey…” he said, softly, looking down and swallowing.

“Hey, was wondering when you guys would get here,” I said, forcing my most confident self to push forward with an air of disinterest.

“Oh, uh… yeah. Tatum’s… well, she’s slow. She takes forever to get ready,” he said, looking back at her on the dance floor then back to me, now with shock and surprise in his eyes. Sitting down, he looked at the floor again and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Then he stood up, unable to settle. He was nervous, and it was the most pleasant surprise of my life.

“So, uh… whataya say?” he said, tilting his head to the dance floor.

I looked back to Sean, who was deep in conversation with some of the guys from the team. Strong self, you can do this, Nolan. “Sure!” I said, taking his hand and leading him out to the dance floor.

Reed stood there stiffly at first while I danced in front of him, holding my arms over my head while my hips swayed and my hair flirted with my chin and shoulders. He started to relax and I even saw a smirk start to form in the side of his mouth as he watched me, looking at me like he did in my dreams.