Chapter 38

He cleared his throat. "I don't know how to dance. I've never done it before in my life."

"I'll teach you."

Closing his eyes a beat, he sighed and looked at her again. First at the dress, then he met her gaze. "I don't need a...prom. Or whatever this is you're doing."

"Sure you do. Everyone should have a night to dress up and act like a frivolous teen." He'd had so many opportunities stolen from him. She could do this one thing for him, even if it was just the two of them in her living room.

"I'm not dressed up." He glanced at himself. "I'm barely clothed, in fact."

"And thank you for that."

He smiled as if unable to help himself and ran a hand down his face. Shook his head. Looked at her gown again. A furrow grew between his brows. "So, that's the dress your date tried to...?" He growled.

Lord. She held up her hands. "Do remember I kneed him in the balls and Nakos broke his nose." She waved at herself. "Note I'm standing before you in one piece, unharmed."

His eyes narrowed.

"Dance with me. At the very least, you can give me a better memory than when I last wore this."

A glance heavenward, and he walked over to stand in front of her. "You don't play fair, baby. Fine. What now?"

Taking his hands, she placed them around her waist. "High school dances are elementary. We really just have to sway back and forth." She wove her arms around his neck and brought them flush together. Grinning, she looked up at him. "See?"

He grunted. "I see you have no shoes on and I'll probably break your toes."

"Your optimism is staggering." He was adorable all pouty-like. She took a small step to the right, and when he followed suit, she did the same to her left. After a few beats, he relaxed. "Not so bad?"

"If you were my date back then, I might not have minded doing this. The monkey suit, though? No thanks." His hands skimmed up her back and he drew her closer as the song ended. It started again since she'd put it on repeat. He glanced down his nose at her. "Any particular reason you chose this song?"

"Caught on to that, did you?" The lyrics were about starting over after finding a special person who gave proper motivation to want to be better. "I dub this our song."

"Our song?" Up went his brows. He glanced away as if listening, then huffed a laugh. "Okay, baby." His throat worked a swallow. "Does this make you my girlfriend or something?"

She rose on her toes and whispered, "I think I have been for a while." At his blank stare, she grew confused. "What term would you use for what we are together?"

He shook his head. "This is your world, Olivia. Your home, your family, your friends. I don't have the foggiest idea what the hell is going on. I just follow you. You're the only person in my world."

Shocked, she paused. If that wasn't the sweetest, most misguided thing she'd ever heard, she'd climb the Laramie naked. "First, just because this started as my world, doesn't mean you're not a part of it. These people? They like you. A lot. Family doesn't always mean blood and they are your friends, too, not just mine."

She took his face in her hands, his stubble rough on her palms. "And that thing they say about one special person in your life? It's a myth. Family, friends, romantic love...it's all precious. Humans, as a species, weren't meant to have just one person. And if they're lucky, if the gods are smiling, they don't."

Studying him, her heart grew heavy. Lord, she wished he'd met Justin sooner. "Luck may not have been on your side, but it is now. You're here, in a new world. Shed the old one and let go. There are people everywhere around you who care."

His fingers twitched on her back. The longer he stared, the more shallow his breathing became until she swore he quit altogether. For a moment, she got a picture of the scared little boy he used to be, hidden beneath the man who still held onto those fears as if they were all he deserved. Clear as day, he was trying, wanting to grab hold of what she offered with both hands. Yet the censure in his soulful eyes said he couldn't quite bring himself to believe.

And she fell in love with him right there in her living room in her bare feet and an old prom dress. She'd laugh if she didn't feel like crying.

Love. She'd been surrounded by it in one form or another her whole life. But not like this. Not in a tragically consuming, she-couldn't-catch-her-breath kind of way. Yet, she loved him. The desperate, lonely boy. The rogue turned soldier. The man whose heart still beat despite life's attempts to crush it. A hero. His defiance, his charm, his utter selflessness in the face of tragedy...

He wasn't just it for her. He was everything she dared not wish for herself.

Truthfully, she'd been no wiser than him. In the wake of her parents' deaths, she'd clung to those she had left and built her world around them. He'd been right before when he'd claimed she didn't seek anything for herself. And perhaps that had been a good thing, else she might not have recognized the real deal when he rode in on a Harley with a cargo of baggage and a If You're Reading This letter.

This wrecked, beautifully built man had awoken her, and she hadn't even known she'd been asleep.

Carefully, he gripped her wrists and moved her hands from his face to the back of his neck once more. Then, with a swallow working his throat, he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. His quiet sigh went right through her, but his tender gaze wrapped her inside him.

One corner of his mouth curled like he wanted to smile, but couldn't commit. "So, was that a yes to the girlfriend question?"

Damn him. She dropped her forehead to his chest and breathed a laugh. Just...damn him. "Yes, Nate." She lifted her face and smiled. "That was a yes."

He grunted and shoved his hand in her hair, holding the back of her head and encouraging her to rest her cheek on his pec. The other arm banded around her back as he started to sway again. She reveled in his warm embrace and the safety there, breathing in his scent.

After a moment, he dropped his chin on top of her head. "Aren't couples supposed to go out? Not that I have a shred of experience in this area, but shouldn't I be taking you on a date or something?"

Pressing her lips together, she smiled against his skin. Lord, he was adorable. "If you want. Why don't we do something you're comfortable with?"

His hand skimmed up and down her spine. "How about a ride on the Hog tomorrow if the weather holds?"

She grinned up at him. "Heck yeah. I've never been on a motorcycle."

"Well, what do you know?" He dipped her and held her suspended over his arm. Pinning her with an amused glare, he smirked. "Something I can teach you for a change."

She grabbed his shoulders and laughed. "I thought you couldn't dance."

"I'm faking it." A grin split his face and, had he not been holding her, she would've melted into a puddle. "Tell no one."

"Your secret is safe with me."

He brought her upright again and she wrapped her arms around his waist to grab his shoulders from behind. She buried her face in his neck and contentedly hummed when he held her close.

"Question." He smoothed her hair. "Why do you do that? Press your face against me?"

"Because you're warm and you smell good and I like being close to you." She blinked, concerned. "Does it bother you?"

"No. I like it." He dipped his head and brushed his nose against her cheek. "Just curious. You do it a lot."

"It also gets me in target range to do this." She licked his pulse, teasing him with the tip of her tongue, knowing it drove him mad every time.

He inhaled, fingers clenching her strands. "Pretty sure you're not supposed to get this feisty at prom."

"Good thing no one else is here." Nuzzling his neck, she lightly scratched her way down his sculpted chest, past the rivets of rock-hard abs, and cupped his length through his jeans. He made a choking sound and she grinned. "Since I'm never going to wear this dress again, how about you tear it off me and take me to bed?"

Without hesitation, he did exactly that.