I blinked. “They’re vulture Shifters.”
Without looking, Ezra reached out a hand and grabbed Gideon’s slip. Tossed it.
“Squawk,” Jack teased quietly.
“Whatever. I learned my lesson.” I shuddered. Ugh. I still had nightmares.
We all paused, hearing a song start on the sound system. Music. They had finally gotten the DJ set up for dancing. Each of us glanced at the other, then hurried through the rest of the papers. It was time to boogie.
I ended up with five numbers and Ezra ended up with seven. Go figure. Even being picky he still ended up with more than me. Oh well. At least, I had some choices.
Brushing my hands down my bright red dress — it matched my hair — I made sure there were no lingering leaves or dirt on me from trekking there, and followed my friends out from behind the tree line.
We tried to stay inconspicuous, but we were who we were and some noticed. Mainly, the Kings, Antonio, and a few of the parents. The Kings’ expressions were cross, but also amused, at seeing us hiding from everyone. Most of the parents appeared curious.
Antonio just pointed at me, then his hair, a video camera in his free hand.
I quickly found a stick in my hair where he had pointed. Seriously? I was the shortest one of the bunch. How did I end up with a stick in my hair? I tossed it, sighing in defeat, and then was hauled by Nikki toward the makeshift dance floor. The organizers had put it there so the grass wouldn’t become mush.
We stuck close in a tight circle on the edge of the dance floor so no-one would try to barrel into our group, and I was quickly tossed in the air by Jack. I squealed, laughing as he caught me then twirled me with a dip. I had no clue how he and Nikki still stepped on each other’s feet because he was a fine dancer.
Shaking my body to the beat, I spun to Pearl, and we started bumping hips, generally making fools out of ourselves, incorporating fifties-style moves to the funky retro music. I twirled her, imitating what Jack had done, which was a little awkward since she was so tall, but when I dipped her, my strength held her easily. She laughed, her golden hair dangling to the flooring before I lifted her with one arm.
Ezra cocked an eyebrow at me as he twirled Nikki to Jack. Invitation clear. Shaking my hips like a belly dancer, with my hands in the air, in answer, he chuckled. Rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt, he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close. He and I moved like we always did, even as he spun me and placed his chest to my back. His warm, strong hands ran down my sides to my hips, gripping tight as we partied on the dance floor.
Reaching up behind me, I brought his head down to my level, so I could whisper near his ear, “Should we mess up? Nikki’s looking at us again.” She seemed envious.
His eyes rose in her direction before lowering. “No. Jack needs to quit being safe with her. Be a little daring. If she gets upset, maybe he will.”
My lips curved against his cheek. “Nice thinking.”
He shrugged and lifted his hand from my hip. His fingers hovered an inch from my cle**age, his palm so hot I could feel it against my bare skin without him even touching. My attention snapped down to where his gaze and fingers were, and he tucked two of said fingers into the top of my bodice…and pulled out a slip of paper that had been barely showing there.
Stunned, I gaped at it.
“Someone was creative,” he murmured, wrapping his other arm around my stomach while opening the piece of paper in front of our faces. “Jett?”
Quietly, I chuckled. “Cheetah. And fast.” Fast enough to stuff his number down my dress without me noticing.
Ezra snorted, tossing the paper. “No woman wants it over too fast.”
I laughed hard because, well, that was true.
“Kings and,” Jack groaned, “parentals headed this way.” He shuddered. “God, I think they’re actually going to dance.”
Ezra and I stilled, and then spun away from each other. It was most definitely too late, King Kincaid and King Venclaire saw everything, but we had to make an attempt at not being glued to one another. It was dancing, yes, but King Kincaid and King Venclaire were relentless when it came to the two of us.
Jack snickered, but widened his and Nikki’s dance area, letting me in with them. That didn’t really help much because, twenty seconds later, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and by Jack’s expression, and the scent, I knew who it was. Can’t a woman have a little fun?
I sighed, and plastered on a smile, turning.
King Kincaid immediately wrapped me in his arms and twirled us. “Have you met any Shifters today?”
I nodded. “I have five numbers that are keepers.”
He smiled, a small appearance of relief. “Good.” He cleared his throat, and whispered on a mere breath, only for my ears, “I’m just worried about you, Lily. That’s all.”
I knew that. I nodded and jumped, kissing his cheek. It made him — wow — blush, but he seemed pleased. “You’re awesome. You know that, right?”
He grinned outright. “An actual compliment. I could get used to that from you.”
I snickered, shaking my head. “You’ve been great to me.” I paused, inhaling deeply and holding his gaze. “Seriously. You’ve been wonderful.”
His smile turned soft, and he hugged me while twirling us. “Even though I lost him, I gained you in return.”
I sniffled, my throat clogging. I couldn’t say anything or else risk bawling. He really was great. Besides Antonio, he was like a father to me. King, yes, and always first, but still a father figure and, with me being unable to tell my biological father who I was yet, our relationship was special to me. He was special to me. Always would be. That was, until he twirled me away when Fi walked over, and I landed smack-dab in Cahal’s arms.
I blinked, barely holding back a groan. Ezra’s dad was kind of terrifying and most definitely intimidating. I wasn’t sure if it was the way he stared at people or the whole leakage of power bit, but add in his huge frame, and he was a smidge too much for me to handle one on one.
He didn’t seem to understand that or, if he did, he didn’t care, because he lowered one of his hands to my waist and took hold of my hand with his other, then began classically dancing with me. Bizarrely, it worked with the slow rock song that was playing.
Again, he stared.
“How’s it going?” I asked, just to fill the void of silence.
“Do you want to know something interesting, Ms. Ruckler?” he inquired, ignoring my question.