Dancing On The Edge Of A Knife

3. Disgusting

Ester felt her heartbeat speed up as she turned around and walked towards the center of the ballroom, with Devon's hand tight intertwined with hers. She was surprised he didn't pull away, but was threading the moment she had to turn around and face him.

But not a second later, he stopped them both, probably realizing she was just stalling, as he pulled on her hand. Ester turned around and came crashing against his chest. For a moment, she found it hard to breathe as his masculine and captivating scent reached her nose.

"Here is good." She pulled away when she realized what she was doing and took half a step away from Devon. Now what? Ester hesitated to place her hand on his shoulder, but figured someone had to take the first step.

Seeing Devon look anywhere except her, made her realize she was going to be that someone. So she placed her hand on his shoulder, admiring his broad shoulders for a second as she felt nothing but muscles under her touch.

With another grunt she felt herself being pulled closer towards him as he placed his own hand a little above her hip. She had yet to look at him, but realized he was a lot taller than she expected. He was at least a head taller and she found it actually convenient as she kept her gaze straight ahead, focusing on a button on his shirt.

Their hands were still entwined and Ester was surprised when she felt him lift their hands high for the typical ballroom pose. And so it started, with Ester avoiding eye contact and Devon making noises to show her just how much he didn't want to be where he was right now.

Ten minutes passed and they were still dancing slowly, not having exchanged one word yet. But that soon changed when Sierra made her way towards them.

"Great form, Ester. But eye contact is almost as important as knowing the steps by heart." She heard the instructor say and felt her cheeks warm up. Why did she have to call her out like that? Nevertheless, Ester lifted her gaze and sure enough met the angry eyes she was avoiding until then.

"And you, Devon. Stop glaring at her, she's not going anywhere until I tell her to." Sierra said, halfway serious but Ester hoped she heard a halfway amused tone in her voice. She really did hope next time she would be able to dance with somebody else, anybody really.

"I'm here, am I not?" He hissed at Sierra, still glaring at Ester. She didn't even take it personal, really. But his tight grip and menacing eyes made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. She wanted nothing more than to stop, turn around and run away from him as fast as possible.

"You're unbelievable." Sierra murmured and then left their sides. As soon as she did that, Ester felt herself let out a breath, she didn't even know she was holding and dropped her gaze again.

"Is it that hard to hold eye contact?" Came Devon's growl. She looked up in surprise and glared back at him when she realized he has not changed anything about his facial expression. How could he blame her?!

"Well, if I held up a mirror right now, you'd break eye contact too." She said, feeling attacked. Who cared if they were holding eye contact? He didn't look like it bothered him before. She thought she saw a muscle in his eyebrow twitch before he opened his mouth again.

"What's that supposed to mean? You're not the hottest girl in here either." His glare seemed even more intense now and Ester found herself blink at his rude reply. Did he really just say that?

"I- what-" She found it hard to find a good comeback and merely opened her mouth and close it a second later again. She knew he wasn't in the best mood, but to let it out on her was utterly unnecessary.

"Stop talking to me." She commanded after three minutes of silence between them. Ester took a deep, shaky breath and looked back at the button on his shirt. She couldn't let people like him get to her. She was having fun until she had to meet him.