Between the Lies

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"Somebody secret?" 

"Not so much," I sighed, getting sick of her personal questions. I felt like a code she was trying to get and even though she may not have thought so, she was getting closer to figuring it out with each question. "Stop asking me questions, Vanessa." 

She paused, her eyes dropping down to my hand. "Fine." She suddenly grabbed my hand, locking our fingers together, and pulled me towards the center of the room where couples were dancing. 

"What are you doing?" I asked through gritted teeth, pulling her to a halt. 

"Asking you to dance... without really asking," she smiled. 

"Vanessa." 

"What?" she huffed in frustration. "You told me to stop asking questions, so I did. Now, give me something to work with here. You can't be that bad at dancing." She tugged me forward and I glanced at her dress while slowly trailing behind her, her hand still in mine. 

We stopped between a few couples and she turned to face me. Nobody had noticed us yet amidst the crowd. 

She took a tiny step closer, waiting for me to bridge the rest of the gap. "You know," she cleared her throat, meeting my gaze and holding it, challenging me. "If you don't want to dance, just say the words. I'm sure somebody else here will be more than willing to be my dance partner. I'm just not sure Davidson would like that very much." She lifted a brow, waiting for me to answer. When I didn't, she sighed, "Fine. I'll ask Zach or—" 

I resisted an eye roll and grabbed her waist from either side, pulling her into me abruptly. 

She stumbled forward a little, her hands flying to my chest to steady herself. I heard her breath hitch in her throat while she blinked a few times, looking away from me and down at her dress. "A warning would have been nice," she mumbled mostly to herself. 

"Why? I thought you wanted to dance. You seem nervous all of a sudden, Vanessa." 

She rolled her eyes before meeting mine, lifting one hand to my shoulder while I removed one from her waist and held her free hand. "I'm not nervous," she said firmly. 

"Sure. Of course, you're not. Because it's just impossible for me to make Vanessa Juliette Griffin nervous. Right?" 

"At least you know it," she shrugged, "right." 

I bit back a smile and looked around the room once before facing her again. "Can I start moving now? Or will that startle you again?" 

She glared at me and I took it as my cue to start dancing with her. She matched my steps with every beat. 

I took a step back and she moved forward as we moved from one part of the room to the next, now right in the middle. I spun her around once and pulled her back into me, her body pressing against mine now. I pushed her out, her hand still in mine, and rolled her back in, her back against my front. I chose the wrong time to breathe because her perfume hit me. Or maybe it was the shampoo. 

Something flowery with vanilla. Something much sweeter than she ever was to me. Something that somehow still perfectly fits Vanessa. 

I rolled her out again and then back in, facing me this time. When she collided with me, our gazes met and I felt my heart beat a little harder. I spun her around, ignoring the confusion that fogged my thoughts.