around Charlie’s neck and jumped to the beat of the song. I didn’t know it, but I liked how fun it was. Every time I moved, my breasts rubbed against Charlie’s chest, and between the alcohol and the devil-may-care attitude I’d adopted, I quickly decided I really liked it. I leaned in closer and my lips brushed his ear while I tried to whisper to him.
“You’re a really great dancer!”
Charlie, who’d thrown back a Lunar Eclipse after I’d started talking about his dimples, grinned at me. Those same dimples showed themselves and I realized that I wanted to stick my tongue in them. “I’m a shit dancer. You’re just too drunk to notice.”
I pressed my body fully against his and held his gaze. “I like the way you dance.”
He gripped my waist and eased my hips away from his. “Your brother is pretty distracted but I don’t think he’d respond well to me dancing that close to you.”
At that moment, I saw Theo walking towards us and tapped Charlie on the tip of his nose. “Fine. You go worry about my brother. I’ll dance with Theo.”
Before he could object, I spun into Theo’s chest. Theo’s arm wrapped around my waist instantly and he dropped his mouth to my ear. “You’re going to start a fight if you don’t ease up, Reagan. Is that what you want?”
I twisted around and ground my ass against him, letting the bulge in his pants direct my aim. Leaning my head back on his chest, I lifted my arms and tangled my hands behind me in his hair. “I don’t want to start a fight. I just want to have fun.”
His body moved with mine, swaying in a way that filled my head with thoughts of stretching out under him and begging for more. “And are you? Having fun?”
I saw August watching us and a soft moan escaped my lips. I knew Theo heard it by the way his arm tightened around my stomach and his breath stuttered against my neck. I forced myself to pull away from Theo and face him, with more space between us. I wanted to let go and have fun, and no matter what my drunk brain said, sleeping with Theo was too much letting go.
I smiled up at him, dancing with an innocent amount of space between our bodies. “I am having fun. The only thing that would make it better is if there were ice cream and the DJ played ‘The Cupid Shuffle.’”
He laughed and caught my hand, easily spinning me out and then back into his chest. “Do you still like cookies and cream with gummy bears added in?”
I licked my lips and nodded. “I’m a chef now and I’m supposed to have a refined palette, but oh, my god, yes.”
“What if I told you that Bertha’s Creamery is open until eleven?”
“Are you serious?” I stopped dancing and planted my hands on his chest. I was too weak to not notice the muscles under my palms, but I did my best to pretend I wasn’t drooling over them. “If you’re messing with me, I’ll take you down, right here.”
August stepped up to us and stared down at me with a curious look on his face. “Can I cut in?”
“I was just telling Reagan about Bertha’s being open. She threatened to take me out if I wasn’t being honest. I suggest you watch your step with her.” Theo spun me into August’s arms and stepped in close behind me before moving away. Having their body heat on both my front and back short-circuited my brain momentarily. “We’ll get ice cream later tonight if you still want.”
August smiled. “If you’re still standing.”
“I’ll be standing and wanting.” I didn’t stop to think about how it sounded. I didn’t care. “We should invite Charlie, too. Ice cream is meant to be shared.”
“We’ll invite Charlie, too.” August nodded to Theo, whose body heat faded away. “Should we invite Russ and Lisa?”
I giggled as he dipped me and then pulled me tighter into his chest. My heart raced and I stared into his deep green eyes, getting lost in them. I sank my teeth into my lip as I thought about what he was asking. It was rude to not invite them. I knew that I just didn’t want to, though. I selfishly wanted the guys to myself for a bit. “Um… I think they’re going home to do stuff.”
August’s normally stern face stretched into a broad grin as he laughed. A lock of his hair fell into his eyes and he absently pushed it back before resting that hand on my hip. “Of course. Stuff.”
The music changed to ‘The Cupid Shuffle’ suddenly and I screamed like the drunk woman I was. I caught August’s hand as he tried to leave the dance floor and pulled him with me to the front, where people were already lining up to dance.
“I don’t dance, Reagan.”
I held his hand tight and wiggled my hips at him. “You were just dancing. I’m not letting you escape this.”
He groaned and narrowed his eyes as he watched me. “That was swaying. This is synchronized. I don’t do synchronized unless it involves guns.”
I moved in front of him and gripped both of his arms. Forcing him to do the moves with me, I led him through the steps, laughing all the while. Our bodies bumped together; I stepped on his feet; we even headbutted once. But by the time the song was over, we were both laughing and I was having a blast.
August pulled me into his side with his arm over my shoulders, a big grin on his face. “You’re a dictator. I think I saw Theo filming that and I’ve gotta tell you, Reagan, it wasn’t graceful, what we just did.”
I stretched up on my tip toes and kissed his cheek. “We can do plenty of other things gracefully. That was a beauty of its own style.”
Charlie joined us on the side of the dance floor and looked like he was struggling to hold back his laughter. “Russ and Lisa are about to leave. They’re asking for you.”
I shrugged, already having decided that I was getting ice cream. Halfway across the gym, I stumbled over a fallen streamer and was saved by August. When someone bumped into him, he lost his balance, too, and we both went down. Unconcerned, I laughed heartily while Theo appeared and pulled me to my feet.
“Jesus, little sis. You just took down a Navy SEAL. That’s a record, I’m sure.” Russ and Lisa appeared in front of us, Russ just as drunk as any of the rest of us.
Lisa clapped her hands over my cheeks and grinned. “You have two dance styles, I’ve decided. Stripper and wacky, wavey, inflatable tube man.”
“Hey! I’ve never been a stripper. There was that one time I considered selling feet pics for money to pay for school, but I talked myself out of that.” When the group remained silent, I rolled my eyes. “What? I could’ve been selling pics of my butthole. I knew a girl who did that. She made so much money that she retired within a year. With that kind of temptation, it’s a miracle that I’m still schlumping it in the working world. Although, I’m not sure what quality of butthole is a top earning kind, you know? Bleached? Hairy? Hairless? There are just too many ways a butthole could be wrong.”
Russ covered his face. “Please, for the love of God, stop talking. You are my sister and I love you, but I want nothing more than to staple your lips closed right now.”
Lisa stared at my feet. “I bet you could’ve made good money selling feet pics. I think I could’ve sold pics of my ankles. I have great ankles.”
I looked down at them and nodded. “They didn’t even swell when you were pregnant!”
Russ glared at me. “Are you coming home with us?”
I shook my head. “We’re going to get ice cream!”
“Oh, I want ice cream!”
Russ shook his head at Lisa. “You’ve got ice cream at home. With whip cream. Remember?”
She blushed and giggled. “Oh, yeah. We have to go! Bye!”
Russ tried to ruffle my hair but I batted his hand away. “Be careful. Don’t stay out too late.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Aren’t you going to tell me to eat my vegetables?”
He flipped me the bird before disappearing with Lisa.
I turned around to find that I was standing in the middle of the three men that I had no business being alone with. Instead of feeling worried about my behavior, I leaned into whatever bad decisions drunk Reagan might want to make. Just because I’d made a few little mistakes before didn’t mean I would make them again. “Ice cream?”
