Page 16 of Wrong For Me

A slow grin spreads over my face. “Yeah?”

She nods. “Would you have said yes?”

“Well, I’m not actually much of a dancer.” I cast a quick glance around. The group on the dance floor has been swallowed up in the crowd and the darkness and Will appears engrossed in his phone call. No one watching us. I give into the urge that’s been plaguing me since I first saw her tonight, and run a single fingertip up the smooth, golden skin of her arm.

“But I would have said yes to you,” I continue in a lower voice. “I would have jumped at the chance to get close to you. To hold you.”

A whole-body shiver runs through her. “I would have liked that,” she breathed. “Much better than dragging you along to hang out with my crazy cousins.” She casts a glance at the dance floor and I can’t read her expression.

“Did you want to try dancing here?” I ask.

The expression shifts a little, frustration bleeding through. “If we tried to dance now, we’d either have Everly hanging all over us or my brother trying to get between us.”

I chuckle. “He’s a little overprotective, huh?”

She rolls her eyes. “All the guys in our family are.”

To distract myself from the memory of her famous father’s narrowed eyes, I glance back at Will, who could apparently care less that I’m leaning in so close to his cousin. “He doesn’t seem to mind.”

Her grin is quick and bright. “Will’s my best friend. He’s pretty much the only person in my life who doesn’t treat me like a child.”

“Are you the youngest or something?”

She snorts. “I’m theoldest. In my immediate family, and out of all my cousins. Well, except for Wyatt, Will’s half-brother, he lives in Seattle. But I’m older than Will and everyone else. Doesn’t stop them from babying the hell out of me.”

“Are there a lot of you?”

“Sixteen cousins all together.”

“Sixteen?” Jesus. I have three cousins and I’ve only met them a few times.

She smiles ruefully. “I told you they could be a little much.”

“You guys spend a lot of time together?” I ask, even though it’s obvious they do.

She meets my gaze, her eyes suddenly searching mine, like she’s waiting to see what my reaction will be. “We’re together all the time,” she finally says. “Our dads are…very close.”

I figure there’s no point in trying to pretend like I don’t know who her father is. “Guess you’d have to be close to be in a band together for so many years.”

She nods, expression wistful. “I figured you recognized my dad.”

There’s something in her eyes that I don’t like, something a little too forlorn for this bright, happy girl. So I reach over and take her hand. “I’m actually not a huge music fan.”

It’s not a lie—I’m usually way too busy to pay much attention to any kind of celebrity news— but that doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about her family. Ransom has been at the top of the rock industry for decades now. Her father is one of the most famous men in the country—hell, maybe even in the world.

But I don’t like the sad way Rose is staring down at the table. I squeeze her hand as I study her face, not wanting to push her too far too fast. “We could always get out of here,” I suggest cautiously. “Talk a walk, maybe?”

She looks up, clearly surprised. “Aren’t you hungry?”

I nod over at the approaching waiter. “We could grab a slice and take it with us.”

Something mischievous sparks in her eyes. “Before my brother and cousins get back.”

“Exactly.”

She slides down to the empty chair beside Will, whispering something. His head comes up from his phone, and he eyes me, appraising. Then he nods. “Better hurry,” he mutters. “You know River can smell food from a mile away.”

I’m already grabbing paper plates and napkins from the table. Rose slides a few slices of pizza—hopefully not Everly’s broccoli monstrosity—onto one of the plates. “We should definitely go,” she says, grabbing my free hand. “Now.”

“Are we making a run for it?”

She laughs, sounding much more free and happy than she had when we’d been discussing her family. “We are.”

In that moment, I can’t really think of anyone else I’d want to make an escape with. So I hold tight to our pizza and to Rose’s hand, and let her lead me off the patio and out into the darkness.