Always Cas | ✔

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR; part two

     Cas waits for me by the backdoor while I finish up closing. I set the alarm and lock the door behind us before we walk over to my truck. "Where is this place?" I ask him.

     "Over on the avenue. It's called Birch."

     "Oh, I know Birch."

     Cas goes, "You're not going to be able to drink if you drive us there, though."

     "That's okay, you can still drink."

     He nods. "That's true. That's what really matters."

     I laugh quietly, pulling out of my spot and taking us there. I get a park down the block on a side street. When we walk up, there's a line but Cas knows the bouncer. That's unexpected. "Josh, sup, you got me?" he says.

     Josh dabs Cas and says, "Yo, my man. Go ahead."

     "He's with me," Cas says as he walks inside. I nod at Josh, even though I have no idea who the hell he is or how he knows Cas, which bothers me. Cas is a few feet ahead and stops, glancing back at me.

     "So I can't say what or how or why because confidentiality, but I can say people are wild and kinky and Josh owes me a very large debt," Cas says as he grins. He grabs my hand and tugs me through the crowd in the direction of the bar. He orders himself a whiskey sour and I get a beer, passing my card to the bartender before Cas notices.

     Cas gets his drink and then turns to look at me. "Are you going to dance?" he asks.

     I smile, remembering how Cas can't dance. I take his free hand, tugging him in the direction of the dance floor. He tries to stop me but doesn't have the strength, or maybe he isn't trying all that hard. "I asked because I was just going to stand off to the side and watch."

     I shake my head. "You dragged me here, now you have to dance with me."

     "So many rules," he mutters as he pushes the straw in his drink out of the way with his pointer finger and then downs the glass. They're playing some synthy techno music. There's no uniform dance going on, some people are jumping and gyrating, others are shaking and grinding. Cas finds the beat better than I expect him to, shaking his shoulders side to side.

     We dance through the song and on the next one, Cas slips a finger through my belt loop, pulling me closer till our hips meet. He looks at me innocently, which usually means his motives are far from it. If we were out at the club Jack and I had gone to, this would be fine. He could slip his leg between mine, run his hands wherever wants, but in a small bar in Aurora, there's certain decorum we should maintain.

     I step back and he pouts. I give him a warning look. "Don't be inappropriate," I say after I've leaned down towards his ear.

     "I would never," he says dramatically.

     "Mmhmm," I say.

   The bass drops and Cas throws his arms in the air, dancing wildly. I take the empty glass out of his hand before he drops it. He hardly notices, his eyes closed as he tips his head back and rolls it in a circle like he's stretching. His shoulders are low and he shuffles them as he bounces. He's hands down the worst dancer I've ever seen but I'm also mesmerized by it, can't stop watching him. Can't stop thinking this is the sort of thing I never want to forget. It's wild to me how something that looks so terrible can look so perfect when there's feelings involved. Based on the way the crowd around him as made space for Cas, I know his dancing isn't impressing them so much as warning them to maintain a distance for safety.

     I slide behind him, tipping my head back, too, enjoying the heat radiating off of his body onto mine. I circle my arm across his chest, just because I need the touch, something connecting us. I follow his movements, however offbeat they've become.