The Senior Trip

Chapter 36

Asher

Her giggle makes my heart soar. It also makes me almost spit out my drink. This trip can't get any crazier. I want to feel this feeling forever, but I know I need to get us back to our school group so we can get home on the plane with everyone. The need to protect her but also prolong my time with her conflicts inside me.

"Oh my God! I love this song!" Harper is on her feet in no time. I watch as she dances her way back to the edge of the dance floor. Maybe the beer is kicking in, or the afternoon heat. Maybe it doesn't have to be any of that since I've learned she tends to be a free spirit anyway. I can't help but laugh as I take another sip of my drink and watch her twist and throw her arms in the air, belting out the English lyrics to the music being sung in a foreign tongue.

Then it's happening. I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't witnessing it myself. I even have to check over my shoulders to make sure I'm not the only one seeing such a crazy sight. Harper is circling her arms above her head, her eyes locked on mine as she feigns a rope.

"No, please, no." I mouth half-heartedly. But the rules are the rules, right? I set my bottle down and wait for the moment she releases the imaginary lasso in my direction. Oh shit, she's managed to get me. She traps her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from laughing as I do my best to keep my arms pinned to my sides, a look of mock surprise on my face.

"This is ridiculous!" I shout over the music.

Hand over hand, she begins to reel me in. I scoot forward, helplessly guided her way. Laughing, I squirm for good measure. I'm addicted to making her smile. Watching her head tip back as she can't control the rolling giggles makes me turn up the cheese even more. And maybe it's the sun or the beer I'll blame later, but right now, I just want her to pull me in faster so I can be close to her again.

"Get over here," she says. Never giving up the dance, she pulls and pulls, yanking that imaginary rope until I'm right in front of her. She spins around, backing up to me and we find the beat immediately, my hands on her hips and my lips at her ears so I can tell her she's crazy.

"We can never go home if anyone filmed that," I tell her.

"What are you talking about?" she scoffs. "That was internet gold. I'll be disappointed if it doesn't go viral."

My arm snakes around her waist, pulling her back so there's no space between us. Dancing with her is so smooth and fun I forget that anyone's watching. It's just us and the band, the beat and the hot air around us as we dip and move together.

The band plays on. One song after another and each time I tell myself we should leave because we really need to go, but then her face lights up and I can't bring myself to take her off this dance floor. Sweat is dripping off of both of us and the pink color that has painted her cheeks for the last five songs at least might be my new favorite color.

Finally, when I think I'm going to collapse from exhaustion, the band slows down. We've done every dance I've ever been taught. We've laughed, we've teased, and we've spoken cheek to cheek above the noise around us. Harper pulls her hair up off her neck, smiling as she moves to leave the dance floor, but I can't let that happen.

"Not so fast," I say. She's familiar now, the way my foot slips between hers and my hip fits opposite her delicate waist. She's hot and plaint, her skin slick with sweat and her muscles loosened from all the dancing. It's easy to wrap my arm around her—to pull her to me. She comes so willingly, her body resting against mine like we're magnets under this charged evening heat.

"Maybe one more," she replies. Her hands releasing her hair in a swoosh, then finding my shoulder and then the palm of my free hand. We sway for the first few notes, her soft sigh resonating in my chest. The sky around us begins to fade to black—or maybe it had been doing that for some time now but I haven't taken my eyes off her long enough to notice. It is only when she rests her pretty little head on my shoulder that I finally see the stars come out.

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