Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

41 The Third Dance

Iris~~

Three songs later, I'm resting against a column while Society members face each other lined up in rows. They're doing a jig I never learned. I think it's almost over.

"Just the girl I'm looking for."

I stiffen. "Beta, don't you have a girlfriend to be dancing with?"

"I have been for most of the evening. Now I'm going to dance with you."

"No."

"Yes. You and I need to talk." He grabs my hand and tugs me onto the dance floor as the jig is ending. Couples pair up and form rows facing each other again. Colton lets go of my hand to stand across from me.

The music begins, and I know the song. It sounds like a tango, but the dance is more of a group effort. The girl next to me and I walk around each other, our eyes on our partners'. I can't help making eye contact with Colton. This dance is very much a battle, and if I show any bit of timidness, I'll lose.

Colton and I step forward and circle each other, our eyes surveying each other.

"Do you like the dress?"

"What?"

We step back in line.

"I picked it out for you."

That chill returns. Everyone switches places diagonally. Colton bumps against my arm as we pass, a smirk on his lips.

"Your brother liked it."

We step toward each other.

"You could be wearing a sack and he'd still somehow be taken with you."

The music swells, and we take each other's hand while I place my other on his upper arm and his presses against my lower back. We spin this way and that and he dips me in a deep arc. When he pulls me back up, he leans toward my ear.

"I saw how you two looked at each other at the end of your dance. Everyone did."

The violins' pitch increases.

"I warned you."

We alternate between spinning together and him spinning me.

"Whatever game you and Erik are playing, leave Jonas out of it."

I break out of the spin, backing up as he follows. "How much longer do I have to tell you that I'm not playing a game for you to believe me?"

We stop, pressed against each other, his hand splayed against my back. By his expression, it's apparent neither of us are pleased with the proximity the dance requires of us. "Until you're gone." The music from the violins abruptly ceases, and he dips me until my back aches. He raises me up to the piano's crescendo. The violins drift back in, and he twirls me to a new partner, a young man.

We each connect one of our palms, circling the other. His eyes bore into me, while I keep mine cast downward. Looking down for a few seconds won't ruin the dance, and I'm not competing against him after all.

I return to Colton, placing my palm against his.

"What will it take for you to start taking my threats seriously?"

"I suppose I don't think much of men who threaten women."

We push off of our palms.

"Why don't you just talk to your brother?"