Concealed (Unbound, Book 4)

Chapter Seventeen

I looked up and accepted the bottle of water from him. "Terms?" I asked and my brow creased. "What are you talking about?"

"Any minute now, a slow song is going to play, and I'd like to dance. You said it would cost me."

"Oh." I laughed. "It's... nothing. Of course, I'll dance with you."

"Really?"

I nodded, slowly unscrewing the cap of the bottle so that I could take a sip, keeping my eyes on Calin the whole time. Once I lowered it, I broke eye contact to screw the lid back on. "Yes, really. What? Do you think I'd emotionally blackmail you or something?"

"Well..."

"Hey!" I reached out and tried to slap him, but he moved away, and my palm grazed his stomach. I pulled my hand back quickly. "I'm not Duvessa, Calin."

"That's not what I meant."

"Mm-hmm."

I took another sip of the water and looked away, gazing around the room.

Everyone appeared to be having fun. Maible was with her committee friends making sure everything ran smoothly. The song switched to another pop hit and the people on the dance floor cheered as they amended their stomps to the new beat. I looked back at Calin and raised my eyebrow.

"Seems like the slow music hasn't caught on yet."

"You want to dance to this?"

"Uh, no. Thank you." I shook my head and smirked. "You probably want to keep your toes."

"I'm going to run to the washroom," he said, standing. "You okay here for a couple of minutes?"

I nodded. "Go. I'm fine."

I went back to people-watching and laughing as students tried out new moves on the dance floor. The most interesting were the ones who didn't try or couldn't keep the beat. I giggled aloud as a boy who appeared to be a freshman attempted to break out some 80's moves and his sprinkler hand whacked a girl upside the back of her head. She turned to glare at him, but he must have said sorry and broke into his rendition of the robot. She started laughing and they began trading off moves, neither of them coordinated enough to pull them off.

Bringing my water bottle to my lips, I took a deep swallow, pausing as I lowered it as I felt rather than saw someone stand in front of me. Slowly, I lowered the bottle and lifted my head to gaze at the person who I hadn't met before.

"Care to dance?" the dark-haired guy asked.

"No, thank you," I said, lowering my gaze to screw the lid back onto my bottle.

"Oh, come on. You look bored and way to good to be sitting alone."

"I'm not alone."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really."

I looked up as the boy turned to face Calin. He was a couple inches shorter than Calin but wider, though I could tell Calin was more toned. Calin lifted his eyebrow as if daring the boy to challenge him.

"Seriously?" the boy asked, looking back to me, and I nodded.

"Is there a problem?" Calin asked.

"No," I said and stood, leaving my nearly finished water bottle on the table. "He asked if I wanted to dance, and I politely declined. Nothing is wrong."

The music changed and a slower song came on. I stepped over to Calin and grabbed his hand, smiling sweetly at the boy Calin was still glaring at.

"Thank you for the offer, but I promised Calin here that he would get my first dance," I said and started pulling Calin onto the dance floor before either of them could respond.

After a few steps, Calin relented.

He turned and wrapped his arm around my waist to guide us to the center of the floor and a smile curved his lips upward. We stopped and his other hand came to my waist as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You."

"Me?" I blinked.

Calin laughed. "Yep. You thought I was going to start a fight or something, didn't you? That's why we're dancing."

"I—no."

He laughed harder. "Trust me, Nora, I wasn't going to fight him."

"It didn't seem that way."

"I wouldn't."

"Well, it's not like you haven't hit someone on my behalf before, and I didn't feel like going through a repeat," I said.

"I wouldn't have hit him. I just didn't like him hitting on you."

"What? You're jealous?"

Calin didn't reply. Instead, he pulled me closer. I rested my cheek on his shoulder, closing my eyes, and a feeling of happiness washed through me. He was jealous.

That made me more content than if he had kissed me and said that he wanted us to be together, finally putting into words everything that I'd been questioning. It was like floating on air. My body had no weight. As the song continued like a distant noise, my mind cleared. The only thing I could sense was Calin.

"Uh, Nora?" Calin suddenly asked, and the world came tumbling back in.

"Hmm?" Keeping my cheek on his shoulder, I didn't open my eyes.

"I think... We should stop dancing."

"What?" I lifted my head and opened my eyes.

Looking down, I gasped as I realized that we were no longer on the dance floor.

At least, not touching it.

Our feet hovered slightly above the floor as we swayed. It was like a bucket of cold water thrown on me. All the happiness was swallowed by fear. We dropped the couple of inches to the floor. Thankfully, it didn't appear like anyone saw and we didn't fall, causing a spectacle.

"Nora, what—?"

I blinked at Calin like a deer caught in headlights. "I'm so sorry! I, uh, have to go to the bathroom!"

Before Calin could respond, I darted off the dance floor and out of the gym.

Pausing in the hallway, I took a deep breath and exhaled, chastising myself for allowing my emotions to get the better of me in front of so many people. Hovering on a dance floor? I was pretty sure my mother would have had a conniption if she'd seen.

Apparently, the next time I felt as though I was dancing in clouds, it was the last thing I should visualize.

Taking another deep breath and exhaling, I lifted my head and started towards the girls' washroom door. If I freshened up, I could maybe talk myself into heading back out there and trying to explain things to Calin. Perhaps he would forget or think someone was playing a trick on us. Otherwise, what did I say? I could manipulate air? I sighed and placed my palm on the bathroom door, starting to push.

"Noreena."

I paused, slowly blinking and then opening my eyes wide. Dropping my hand to my side, I turned and sighed again. Given that I had sensed him glaring at me from the moment he'd caught sight of me, I knew this was coming. It was better here than at the Manor.

I forced a smile. "Yes, Devland?"