That Girl is Mine - Part One Read Online Free PDF Page A

continues anyway. “Just remember who she belongs to.”
    “I’m not stupid, Roxy. I know. OK? She just…took me by surprise,” I say, not really sure how to explain what it is about her.
    “Prettier than you expected?”
    I shake my head. “It’s not that. It’s just she isn’t what I expected.”
    “What did you expect?”
    I watch as Avery looks up at Josh and laughs about something he says. He reaches a hand up and gently moves her long auburn hair behind her shoulder then lowers his head to press a kiss to the soft skin of her shoulder. She smiles and looks at him with adoration in her eyes. They look so damn in love that it causes my heart to ache.
    “I don’t really know. I guess…I just didn’t expect them to be like this. They’re so fucking perfect together.”
    Roxy shrugs. “They’re in love,” she says, as if that simple remark should explain everything. But it doesn’t. I’ve seen people in love before, and normally I don’t give a shit. What is it about these two being in love that has me tied up in knots?
     

Avery
    As we enter the club, a strobe light goes off and makes everything appear to be moving in slow motion. Then Lana Del Rey’s voice starts singing Summertime Sadness within a dance remix. I look at Josh and smile. I normally dislike club music, but if they’re mixing things like this, I can definitely get a little more excited about tonight.
    He grins and nods, allowing me to drag him straight to the dance floor. We push through the crowd, and settling in to a gap, we begin to move with all the other bouncing bodies, pressed up against each other, the base vibrating within our chests, and the scent of artificial smoke and warm bodies filling our noses. The colored lights flash, and Josh places his hands on my hips as he lets me do my thing. I’m a dancer at heart – it’s what I was studying at Duke. My preference is contemporary, but I’m trained in other styles as well. So as long as the music is good, I’ll find a way to move to it. And the music here is good – it’s really good.
    “I think I love it here,” I yell into Josh’s ear.
    “The club or California?”
    “Both. I’m just happy with you.”
    He grins and slides his hands into my hair, bringing me to him for a kiss. It’s deep and passionate, and it has my heart beating so fast that even the bass isn’t registering in my body anymore.
    “I’m happy with you too. I’m glad you came with me,” he says when he pulls away.
    “Me too.” Reaching up, I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder, moving again to the beat of the music as his hands slide down my back and grip my ass. He gives it a squeeze and presses my body close to his. I lift my head and laugh at his playfulness, but suddenly I stop when my eyes somehow find Dylan watching us from the bar area. My stomach flips (am I embarrassed?) I look away quickly, and when I chance a look back, he’s not there anymore, and I wonder if perhaps I imagined it.
    For some reason, I now have a nervous feeling rolling around in my stomach, and I slide my fingers into the base of Josh’s hair, holding him closer in comfort. He shifts, moving me so I’m looking at him. ‘I love you’, he mouths in the noise of the club, and I smile, my nervous feeling melting away as this beautiful man shows me his heart and kisses me while we dance, in the middle of a sea of people.
    ***
    After a good hour of dancing, Josh and I decide that it’s time for a drink. Pushing our way to the bar, we see Roxy and her husband George sitting at a table with two other people I don’t know. They wave us over, and I tell Josh to go and say hi while I get the drinks – it’s too hard to hold a conversation in here, and he’s a better listener than I am anyway.
    “Having fun?” a male voice says in my ear, as I wait in line at the bar. My first reaction is to stiffen, but then I realize I know the voice and turn around to find a very intense looking