7 | the dancing misfits

The grip he had on my wrist tightened before he began sliding his hands underneath them to trace the curves of my waist. Not expecting the sudden change in his demeanor, I wait anxiously before he leans down to whisper in my ear.

"Didn't you want to dance?" He huskily asks before letting go of one of my arms to turn me around and face him.

Licking my lips and smirking when the movement took his attention, I playfully pushed my body closer and wrapped my arms around his neck, my nails lightly grazing the nape. There's more to you than what meets the eye, isn't there? His eyes only darkened at my action and his arms surround me, meeting the bare skin of my backless dress.

Shuddering as his hands slowly tantalizingly trace the curve of my back, ending just before my hips before moving them back up again. One of his hands gripped the back of my neck, forcing me to look up and make contact with those steel-blue eyes.

This, you don't blush? Sharpening my eyes at him trying to figure him out, my fingers tugged on the ends of his hair and leaned in, and just as our lips were about to touch, I felt his breath hitch before he pulled just a fraction away. Giving me access to his neck.

Something I didn't take lightly. Blowing a puff of air onto his neck, I chuckle when I felt him stiffen and notice the familiar red reaching from his neck to his ears. Cute. Hearing me giggle, he gave me a sharp twist and pulled me against his back again.

"Stop teasing." He gruffly asks of me. I could imagine his expression, all red and flustered, a clenched jaw and... Taking a risk, I looked up anyway.

But he only covered my eyes with his strong hands and kept our bodies moving to the rhythm of the song.

Smiling in defeat, I took his hand away and tangle it with mine loving the lapse of pleasure coursing through me. As the song rolls to an end, I felt John move away from me, the warmth of his body leaves me only for a moment before he took his coat off and over me.

I'm not cold, but okay. Pulling his coat closer to me, I took his hand and lead our way back to our table.

»»---------------------►

We actually had to move further from the stage to the bar since our table was taken. The host announces that it's 15 minutes before midnight and the dance floor will soon have to be cleared out so that band could perform.

John and I have been quiet since the dance. I couldn't really figure him out, there was a sense of vulnerability around him almost as if he wasn't used to being around women (or anyone when it seemed like he hated being in the crowds) and yet he didn't hesitate in pulling me closer to him. Almost like he knew what he was doing, and the effect he could have on others.

I heard a familiar laughter burst in some distance away from me and I noticed Rebecca leaning against Sebastian. "Is she drunk already?" I heard John asks behind me.

"No silly. Just tipsy. Babe honey, can you get me ice water?" Rebecca waved John's question away before leaning in and asks the bartender for her order.

Sebastian only pulled her closer to him. "Hey. Don't call any other guy nicknames meant only for me." Rebecca rolled her eyes at him before giving his cheeks a pinch.

"Yes sir." She giggled playfully before making herself comfortable in the high stool next to me and winking at me when she saw John's coat on me.

»»---------------------►

John couldn't stop wracking his brain as to why he did what he did when the two of them were on the dance floor. He also couldn't stop himself from watching her, so much that even Sebastian took notice.

John only gave him a flip of the finger when Sebastian walked closer to him and sang whispered: "J and A sitting on a tree..."

The dance floor had cleared off now and there were employees setting up the stage. Four members took a quick bow before taking their respective places. There were three guys and a girl, the one he recognized from earlier who he had bumped into.

The vocalist and the leader, John presumed, gave a brief introduction of the members and him, and yelled at their band name, just as a banner flies down above them with the band name.

LOVER.

The crowd went wild and the performance begins. John couldn't believe how good the band actually was. He had expected another one of those acoustic performances of sad songs or popular hits.

Leaning into Aria he commented on how good he thought the band was. Aria flinched and nodded politely at him before looking down on the floor, instead of the stage.

Frowning, he wondered if everything was fine with her. He leaned in again and asked if she was alright.

Giving a tight-lipped smile, Aria nodded to show she was fine. "Yeah. I think I'm really hungry. Do you mind if we leave after this?"

John nodded before letting both Sebastian and Rebecca know the two of them were planning to take off for food. Rebecca nodded excitedly exclaiming she was too just as starving and craving for a shrimp taco.

As the performance rolls to an end, John and everyone else stood up and gave the whole band a round of applause. Aria was still quiet.

»»---------------------►

John took a moment before finishing off the rest of his drink before standing up and getting ready to leave. He helped Aria to her feet and nodded at Sebastian as a gesture that they were about to head out.

Rebecca seemed fine after the cold drinks as she seemed like herself again, linking her arms with her fiance and walking ahead of them. John hesitated and wondered if he should escort Aria out.

But she had already linked her arms around him before he could make up his mind.

Deciding to go with it, he smiled at Aria before walking out together. Just as they were about to leave the bar, he felt Aria clenched his arm.

Looking down, he found Aria watching something, someone, behind her. His eyes followed in the same line of direction and realized she and the band's vocalist were staring at each other.