Page 31 of Starfall

“It is. You are striking.”

“Well, that is normally my move.” She smiled shyly and shrugged. “Striking, I mean.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Merwin nodded.

More people were arriving, and a few of them looked familiar. Rowen’s family loosely formed a pod around Emery and Rowen, and he returned to her side and put his hand back on her waist.

She was tired. It had been a long day with only minimal sleep. A familiar face in the distance made her smile. “Nori’s here.”

Rowen chuckled. “Good. She’s interesting.”

“She didn’t bring the cat.” She smirked.

“Probably a good thing.” He grinned.

Music started up in a corner, and Emery felt Rowen’s fingers grip tighter. She looked up at him. “Eager to get the dance off the agenda?”

“Eager to start. I plan on dancing with you until dawn.”

“Oh, I am going to fall asleep far before that.”

“Just nap near me so that I can keep an eye on you.” He murmured, “Or better yet, let me know, and I will just hold you while you sleep.”

“That sounds astonishingly intimate.”

Rowen pulled her into his arms and put her left hand in his right, swaying with her to the music. “You know I am going to court you persistently, right?”

Emery looked up at him. “I would be disappointed if you didn’t at this point. You already know all of my secrets.”

He smiled and continued swaying with her as they got closer to Orla and Hunter. Couples were joining them on the dance floor, and Emery felt delightfully lost in the crowd.

Rowen was warm. Everything about him was warm. He moved lightly on his feet and kept a careful hand on the middle of her back. “You dance well.”

“Seven years of ballet.”

“In which form?”

“This one. When I needed to take on the other form, I was urged to stop. I do miss it, though, even if I had to solo.”

“Why?”

“Because teenage boys are smaller than teenage girls. Making them lift me would just have been mean.” She looked up at him.

He grinned. “I can say you definitely were out of my height class.”

“Well, you were sitting down a lot. I am surprised you didn’t develop a breast fetish.”

He looked down at her cleavage in the corset. “Who says I didn’t? The angle just changed.”

Emery snorted as they continued to sway until the dance changed to something more energetic.

Rowen paused. “Are you up for this?”

“I am not nearly drunk enough.”

He laughed, and they left the dance floor, walking out into the strangely warm night. He held her hand as they walked around to watch the log crackle and slowly char.

“So, you do this every year?” she asked to break the silence.