The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance(37)

“Yeah! It’s great! I’m so glad Rachel’s group had such a good turnout!”

“I’m just glad this didn’t turn out lame,” he replied with a grin. “You don’t really dance at these things, do you?” Micah looked worried.

“Honestly, I hardly go to these things. Any dancing I do is usually in the privacy of my own room. And even that’s hard to do with an older brother down the hall. But,” I added coyly, “I guess it depends on if you’re asking me to….”

I had been so apprehensive to go to this event with him, but now I just wanted to let loose and have fun with him. We were friends, hanging out at a social gathering—and that’s all it had to be.

“I’m not.” He shook his head. “Go on and find someone else.”

“Come on, spoil sport, I can guarantee I’m worse than you.” I yanked his wrist and pulled him to the area where everyone else was rocking out to the music. I usually avoided events like this at all costs, but this night was different. A new song began to play, “Cheap Thrills,” which had a Bollywood-like sound, with a steady, catchy rhythm.

“Do you think you can keep up?” Micah teased as he fell into step with the music. I responded with a giggle. My heart began to pound nervously in my chest; it almost felt like it was beating in time to the song. My hands felt clammy as I flexed my fingers at my sides and watched as Micah took a step closer to me. I was interested to see Micah’s moves. Even more, I was anxious to be so close to him.

“I can try!” I shouted over the loud music. But there would be no trying. I already knew I was the worst dancer in the entire room. Micah would be lucky to come out of the fire hall without bruises on his feet.

“We’ll have to get a bit closer,” Micah said, as his hands fell to my waist. He pulled me against his warm body. I looked up into his dark, brown eyes and did my best not to melt under them. I tried to mimic his movements, but my efforts were terrible. He seemed to move so quickly and fluidly; he didn’t miss a beat. I could see the smile growing on his face as he watched me struggle. He tightened his grip on my waist, guiding me to find the rhythm.

“You suck at this, Charlie,” he laughed.

“I know it!” I shouted back, laughing, too. “I have two left feet.”

“Clearly!” Micah pulled me closer against his hips. I had never been so close to a boy before in my life. I could feel my cheeks growing warm. Micah bit his lip, as if concentrating deeply on the music and the movement of his body.

His brown-eyed stare met mine, and there was a sudden, unspoken something between us. I didn’t know what it was, but I could feel it. It was the same electrifying connection we had in his car when we first hung out. But now, I didn’t have the urge to run and hide. I was too consumed in the music and in Micah. His dark eyes challenged me to stay and face the unknown with him.

My two left feet and I were relieved when the song faded. I started to pull away, but felt the tug of his hand on my arm as a soft, slower melody began to play in the background.

“Where are you going?” he asked with a small, breathless smile.

“I thought you hated to dance?” I asked, panting softly.

“It’s my job to keep you guessing, isn’t it?” He grinned. “You can’t go now, it’s a slow song. These will become valuable memories when you’re old.” His tone was teasing, and I rolled my eyes.

“You’ll be this elderly, wrinkly lady and you’ll have that weird smell from having too many cats. And one day, you’ll hear this song playing on some oldies station and you’ll remember this handsome boy and his poor feet you stepped on during a youth group dance.”

“I won’t be a stinky cat lady,” I informed him. “I don’t even like cats.”

“Of course not.” He tugged on my hand again. “Come on, you got me out here. Dance with me.”

I couldn’t resist. I had spent most of my previous dances wondering what it would be like to dance with a boy instead of sipping fruit punch with Jennifer. I wanted to get swept away in someone’s arms, moving to a beautiful song with all of my peers staring at us. Micah was right about one thing—songs could be kept like memories. I knew, no matter where I went in life, I could go back to this song and remember this moment. As if it were a special gift. As if he were saying, this is from me, to you.

I did a visual sweep of the room, watching as the others danced with their dates. Rachel was standing beside David, who I hadn’t seen at all when we first came in, and then turned my attention back to Micah. I had never slow-danced before.

“This would be even better if they were playing good music,” remarked Micah, glancing at the DJ’s booth.

“Define ‘good music’.” I lifted my hand to his shoulder.

“I was thinking Richard Marx or Journey, or something better than this garbage.”

I listened carefully, trying to figure out who the singer was, while we began to sway side to side. “Not a Taylor Swift fan?” I asked with a soft smile.

“No way.” Micah made a disgusted face.

My hands were starting to sweat. I let out a shaky laugh.

“You look like you’re about to be sick,” Micah laughed. “Are you all right?”

“Yes!”