More Than Words

Nick and I were driving to New York, which was a relatively short drive, but long enough that I could use it as time to get to know him a little better.

“So, did you go out a lot in Texas?” I asked.

“Not really.” he said. “In high school, I went to all the school functions, but not really in university. I, um… It wasn’t really my scene.”

“I get that.” I said. “I didn’t go out too much either. Carly still has to practically drag me to the city on weekends.”

“Why did you ask me, then? If you don’t like it.” he asked.

“I don’t know.” I said. “I guess… Well, who would pass up a chance to dance with you?”

He laughed and smiled over at me, leaning over slightly and rested his hand on my knee, saying “You’re sweet,” then moving his hand back to his own knee and laughing at the blush that found its way onto my cheeks the moment his hand touched my knee.

“Shut up.” I said. “I blush easily.”

“Then it’s now my mission to make you blush as much as possible.” he said, leaning in to whisper in my ear. “It’s just too adorable for me to resist.”

“I hate you.” I said, but smiled. He thought I was adorable. As embarrassing as that is, it was nice to hear. Though later tonight, I was hoping his description would be more like “gorgeous” or “sexy”.

I’m a good dancer. Not like, with choreography, but just regular club dancing. It was the one time I really let go. I don’t drink or do drugs, so dancing was my release. It was comforting to know that I would never see the majority of the people near me again and most were too drunk to be able to recognize me if I ever ran into them at the supermarket or something.

We spend the rest of the car ride singing along to the CDs I had in my car. He could actually sing pretty well, even though we were just messing around. I asked him if he’d ever wanted to get into music and he got shy for the first time since I’ve met him.

“I do open mic nights, when I can. I just enjoy it, it’s not like I’m very good.”

“Well, you sound good to me.” I said.

We pulled up in front of Carly and Damien’s apartment and parked, finding them waiting for us on the steps in front of the apartment building.

“Ellory!” Carly cried, running up to me and hugging me tightly.

“Hey there.” I said, hugging back. “I missed you already.”

“Hey, Ellie.” Damien said from behind Carly.

I pulled out of our hug and went to hug him tightly as well. “Hey, man. How’s the job?”

“It’s amazing, you don’t even know.” he said, smiling widely.

“Guys, this is Nick.” I said, pulling him forward. “He’s the new guy working in the bookshop.”

“Nice to meet you.” Damien said.

“Pleasure.” Carly said, lifting her eyebrows at me suggestively.

Once Nick had his back turned and was talking to Damien, Carly came over and whispered, “He is gorgeous. Nice catch, Ellie.”

“Isn’t he?” I said, gushing. “But I haven’t ‘caught’ him yet, so don’t get too excited.”

“Oh, you will.” she said. “He very obviously likes you. Look how hard he’s trying to get on our good side.”

Nick did seem to be really interested in becoming friends with Carly and Damien, but that could just be because he didn’t want me to think he was an asshole and fire him or because he was eager to meet new friends since he hadn’t been around here very long.

“Are you ready to go, then?” Damien asked, reaching out a hand for Carly to take.

“Yeah, sure.” I said. “Same place as always?”

“Of course.” Carly said. “I don’t want to be listening to top 20 crap all night long.” Carly and I had found a club that played only rock alternative music and remixes, so we could actually stand the music that we were dancing to. It also had a pretty chill vibe when it comes to guy on guy action, so that was good.

The club was only a couple blocks away from their new apartment, so we didn’t need to take a taxi. We started walking towards the club, all of us in a lively conversation about Damien’s new job. He really seemed to love it and I was really happy for him, even if it did mean that my best friend had to move away.

We got into the club and I smiled, loving the feeling of the music so loud I could feel the bass in my chest.

“This is amazing.” Nick yelled into my ear over the music.

“Glad you like it.” I yelled back. “Wanna get a drink?”

“I don’t drink.” Okay, so that’s another one to check off on the What To Look For In A Guy list. Jesus Christ, Nick, be more perfect, why don’t you? I don’t think it’s quite enough that you’re handsome, funny and intelligent.

“I meant soda.” I said. “I don’t tend to drink either. Hate the taste.”

“Glad I’m not the only one.”

He leaned back and smiled at me, looking genuinely happy to be here. We got drinks and stood drinking them for a while and talking (or, rather, yelling over the music), but when our drinks were gone, I decided to do what I came here for: convincing Nick I can be sexy as well as adorable.

“Wanna dance?” I asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

He slipped his hand into mine and smiled before pulling me after him onto the dance floor.
I felt the music start to take over as I moved my hips from side to side. I just let go and let my body follow the music, allowing myself to stop thinking for a while. God knows my brain needs a break.

I turned to look at Nick and saw him staring, slack-jawed, and not even moving to the music.
I raised my eyebrows at him questioningly and he seemed to break out of his stupor. I smirked at him, knowing I’d succeeded in making him believe I could be more than just cute.

I took his hands in mine and put them on my hips, starting to move with the music again and guiding him with me.

He mirrored my devilish smirk and came in close, starting to dance with me in this amazingly sexy way. We weren’t doing anything too raunchy. We were barely even touching, but where we did touch, my hands on his neck and shoulders, his hands on my waist and sides… it felt like my skin burst into flames at all points of contact.

No one had ever made me feel this way just by dancing. Everything else seemed to fade away and I could barely even pay attention to the music. We were entirely focused on each other and I don’t know if I would’ve noticed a bomb going off, much less anything else.

I looked up and he caught my eye and I just… couldn’t look away. His eyes were pulling me in and the look they held was so intense that I think looking away would’ve caused me physical pain.

After a while, Nick took my hips in his hands and turned me around, now grinding his hips against me, chin resting in the crook of my neck so I could feel his hot breath against it and I swear to god I almost lost it right then and there on the dance floor.

All of a sudden, the spell seemed to break, the song we’d been dancing to, replaced by a slower song and the DJ instructing all of the couples to get on the dance floor.

Nick and I were both breathing hard, our chests rising and falling as I tried desperately to look anywhere but into those smoldering dark blue eyes of his.

“You’re, um a really good dancer.” he said, still breathing hard.

I looked up finally, seeing the softness return to his eyes, the lights of the club dancing in their reflections.

“You too.” I said, smiling. I pulled out my phone to check if Carly had texted at all while we were dancing and my jaw dropped upon seeing that we’d been at the club for almost three hours. “We’ve got to start heading back. It’s been three hours.”

“Really?” he said, his eyebrows shooting up. I nodded and he looked a little shy before opening his mouth to speak again. “Do we have time for one more dance?”

I looked at him like he was on crack. “It’s a slow song.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” he said, taking my hand. “Come on. Dance with me.”

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, his arms wrapping around my waist, classic high school dance way of slow dancing.

“Thanks for taking me here.” he said. “I really like it and I had a lot of fun.”

“You’re welcome.” I said. “I’m glad you came. I don’t think I’ve had that much fun dancing in a while. I still can’t believe it’s been three hours.”

“Well, time flies when you’re having fun.” he said.

Beth by Kiss was playing in the background and we swayed back and forth. I decided to lay my head on his shoulder, loving being close to him like we were. He was so warm, in a completely comforting way.

“Did you have fun?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did. Did you?”

“Definitely. Thanks for taking me here.”

I smiled and stayed quiet, but I’m sure he could feel me smiling against his shoulder.