We were all sitting at a booth in the back. It was one of the few spaces large enough to hold all of us. We had a few drinks, and by "drinks," I meant Sprite mixed with cranberry juice, but it looked kind of fancy with the cherries and pineapple attached to the cocktail umbrellas.
The place was getting packed, and I could overhear everyone talking about our upcoming performance. The DJ, which was Mari's cousin's boyfriend's second cousin or something super long like that. Anyways his name was Kyle, and he came in every once in a while when he wasn't busy with his internship or online classes. I only met him briefly the other day, but he seemed like a cool dude with excellent music taste, I might add.
When Dua Lipa started to play, Mari grabbed Tatum and said that they were going to dance. Tatum, being Tatum, followed her lead. She dragged him to the middle of the dance floor, and at first, it seemed like he was just going to stand there and let her dance circles around him.
Mari whined her waist, then ran a finger down his chest with a smirk, teasing him, trying to get him to dance along.
A slow grin broke out on Tatum's face, and his hands fell to her hips, pulling her into him, and their hips started to sway to the beat.
"My man's got some moves," Dean said, watching tonight's episode of the Mari and Tatum show right along with us.
"No doubt," I replied.
They danced until the end of that song and then into the next. Tatum twirled Mari under his arm, doing one of those double spins that you'd see those ballroom dancers do, before pulling her back into him.
"Awe! I wish I had someone to dance with me." Freya sighed dreamingly.
Tobias gazed at her but turned away when she felt his eyes on her. Mia and I exchanged knowing glances.
Dean straightened up, slamming one of his hands on the table. "Wait, wait! Trouble at 12 o'clock. Some douchebag is trying to cut in." Dean pointed like an angry spectator.
We all whipped our heads around. Sure enough, a fairly tall redheaded guy waved to Mari, trying to get her attention from behind Tatum. When she finally noticed him, she rushed to greet him with a big hug.
Tatum's face crumbled, watching the interaction.
"She knows him?" Mia asked, tugging on my shirt sleeve.
"I wonder if that's the guy she's been going on dates with him?" I asked the guys.
"She never told us what he looked like," Tobias said, taking a sip of his drink.
"For obvious reasons," Dean scoffed.
Freya snorted. "Yeah, and what would those reasons be?" She crossed her arms. "You got something against redheads?"
Dean let out a hearty laugh. "Don't be ridiculous, babe." He took a single strand of her hair and twirled it around his pointer finger. "I love redheads, especially the feisty ones." He winked.
Freya rolled her eyes, slapping his hand away.
Meanwhile, Tobias' face had "unamused" written all over it.
Back on the dancefloor, there was what can only be assumed as a quick introduction followed by a polite dismissal as Mari decided to dance with the other guy instead.
Tatum stalked off to the edge of the dance floor, leaning against one of the support beams. His eyes traveled over to our booth, and we all quickly diverted our attention from the scene, acting as if we weren't watching the whole thing go down.
"Any more drinks, kids?" Santiago said, walking up to the table, collecting our glasses, and putting them on a serving tray.
"No, thank you. Maybe a little later," Mia spoke for us.
"Alright, I'm guessing you guys want the wings and fries later, too?" he asked, now holding up the full tray with one hand.
We all looked to each other for confirmation. "Yes, please," I spoke for the group.
"Alright then." He looked up from us and out to the dance floor. "Have you guys met Brandon yet?" He nodded in Mari's direction.
We all shook our heads.
"This is our first time seeing the guy," Dean said sourly. The guys had wanted to have a little meet-up with him, but Mari had warned them to steer clear because they were still in the early stages of dating, and she didn't want to scare him off.
I guess she wasn't afraid anymore since she invited him here tonight, and he's clearly met her parents already.
"Hmm." Tobias nodded in agreement.
"He seems like an okay guy. You know he's kind of charming, has great posture and a very manly walk. Unlike some people." Santiago coughed into his hand, saying Dean's name.
We all held back our laughter, except Tobias, who loved seeing Dean get ragged on.
Dean's eyes turned into slits. "Anyways, this isn't about me. It's about your daughter dating a guy that doesn't look like her type."
Santiago lowered the tray. "Does Mari have a type?" he countered.
"Yes!..." he paused. "NO!..." Dean went back and forth. "Point is, he doesn't look good for her."
Santiago regarded his words. "It's whatever makes her happy." He shrugged.
"Yeah, but what's he got on my boy Tatum?" Dean fired back.
"Nothing. Brandon might be taller, and he comes off as overly confident, which isn't a horrible thing but still. He has one of those hairlines that indicates he'll go bald at a young age, and it won't look good."
Needing to look for ourselves, we all peeked over at the guy.
Santiago was right.
He went on. "Tatum's better looking in the face. His thick hair will forever be luxurious, thanks to those blessed Latin roots. He also has a calm demeanor. He's not easily unsettled or dissuaded from his goals. I recognize a bit of me in him. Especially the part that could have been hardened and bitter from the shitty life the universe handed them. But instead chose to be the sun after a storm, chasing away every ounce of darkness where there was once no light."
Santiago sighed. "Then again, I'm biased where Tatum is concerned. He's practically like a son to me. But anyways, Mari and Tatum don't see each other like that. They're like brother and sister, those two."
Either he was blind, or he refused to see what was in front of his eyes.
"See, even right now, he's standing off to the side, being Mr. Protective. He won't let anyone harm her." He smiled, taking comfort from that thought.
"Right..." Dean had drawled out the word. That was the opposite of how we interrupted it but okay.
The second he walked off, Dean said, "That man is completely clueless." He shook his head. "Welp, nothing I can do about that." He pulled out his phone and checked the time. "We have about 15 minutes until we gotta get set up," he informed us.
"Awesome," Tobias said with a decent amount of enthusiasm. "Hey, Freya!" he called over to her. "Dance with me?" he put with a charming grin, holding out his hand to her.
I saw that one coming. They've been making googly eyes at each other since they met. The only question in my mind had been who would make the first move. I'm finding out that Tobias can be a little shy sometimes, and Freya is no better. So kudos to him for making the first move.
"I'd love to," she said, putting her hand in his.
"And then there were three," Dean said, chugging the last bit of his Sprite.
"Actually," I grabbed Mia's hand, sliding out of the booth with her. "Then there was one." I gave him a two-finger salute.
Dean frowned. "Yeah, whatever. Just leave me here all by my lonesome. I'll entertain myself." He looked a little peeved, but he'd have to deal with it.
"Okay, great!" I said, not feeling the least bit guilty for leaving him hanging to dance with my girl.
Mia and I have danced together before, but we weren't a couple then. So this made it our first official dance. I felt a grin break out on my face.
We were just a few feet away from Tobias and Freya, who looked like they were having fun. Freya couldn't dance to save her life, and Tobias, well, he's not fairing much better than she was. But they're laughing about it, so who cared how they looked to everyone else.
I pulled Mia close to me. I brought both of her hands to rest on my shoulders, then I placed my hands on her hips and started to slow dance.
"Umm... Grey?" Mia said, looking around at everyone. "This is far from a slow dance type of song."
"Is it? I didn't notice." I smirked. I also don't care.
"You're just afraid I'll show you up with my sick dance moves," she jested.
"Ha, haha. Funny." She knew I wasn't the greatest dancer. I haven't had much practice, but I was also not a terrible dancer either.
Mia sighed. "Of course, you wouldn't admit it. I mean, can you imagine? Dancing is one of the things that Greyson McNamara doesn't excel in," she teased.
I see what she's doing.
I chuckled half-heartedly under my breath. If Mia wanted me to dance, I'd dance.
I stepped away from her and did my famous shoulder wave, reaching out a hand to her.
There was enough space for her to do her fancy whimsical dance moves she learned from her years of ballet and contemporary dance. Cute.
I remember when Mia used to put on little dance shows for me every time she learned a new routine, and she wanted an audience to tell her how well she did it. I was biased then like I am now. And sometimes Mia needed a partner, so I may or may not have filled in for a time or two. But absolutely no one needed to know that.
The list of things I would do for this girl was endless.
Some of what we're doing goes to the beat of the song. Minutes rolled by, and I've gone from trying to prove a point to Mia to being turned on by the fact that her dance moves went from artsy to sensual and sexy.
My heart was hammering in my chest, and all I could think was... I lightly pulled Mia by her wrist and tugging her up against me. I cupped her face in my hands, then hungrily, I brought my lips to hers.
Mia moaned upon contact, melting into me, and that was all go-ahead needed to move forward.
I was never one for PDA.
Then again, I've never desperately wanted to be with someone like how I've wanted to be with Mia. So if I wanted to kiss her in the middle of a crowded room, I would. She had no idea how crazy she made me, but I was planning to return the favor.
Mia wrapped her arms around my back, hugging me to her as she fisted my shirt. I deepened the kiss, devouring her mouth, getting a taste of the lingering flavor of cranberries on her tongue.
My body was set ablaze, and everything around us faded away. I couldn't feel anything besides Mia's chest brushed against mine, and I couldn't hear anything but her labored breaths between my attacks on her lips.
When Mia's hands loosened their grips, it was as if someone had just thrown a bucket of water on us. Mia slowly began to retreat.
"Why are you holding back?" I whispered in between breaths, taking little nips at her bottom lip.
As much time as we've been spending together, it was almost like nothing had changed between us. Mia never really initiated anything besides a few quick kisses here and there. We played around sometimes, but she ran off or changed the subject when things started to heat up.
We said we'd be all in, but I know she was still keeping a little distance. And I wanted that space gone.
I meant it when I said I was all in for the summer. Or for forever if she'd let me have that. But maybe I had to step my game up.
If Mia needed more proof, I'd show her how serious I was, and I knew exactly how to do that.
"What do you mean?" Mia answered me but didn't answer me.
I shook my head and placed a light kiss on her forehead. This was safe enough not to freak her out. "Never mind. Don't worry about it." I told her, giving her a soft smile.
Her eyes didn't meet mine, which led me to believe that she's got a lot going on in that head of hers right about now.
The music died down, and we heard someone turn on the mic and double tap on it before speaking. "Hey everyone, welcome to Lila's."
Lila was more persistent than Santiago and wouldn't answer when I called her anything else but her first name. Lila stood in front of the mic, waving to the crowd.
"That's Mari's mom?" Mia asked, and I responded with a quick nod.
If you didn't hear her name and connect the dots, you would probably never guess that Lila and Mari were related. Lila's mom had jet black straight hair and silver eyes with an olive complexion. Almost the exact opposite of Mari minus the height factor. They were both petite women. In the looks department, Mari looked a lot like her Santiago.
"For all those who don't know, I'm one of the owners of this fine establishment." She gave a slight bow, and everyone cheered, and I could tell she felt flattered. "I know you all must be excited about Save the Knights' big comeback." The crowd cheered again, causing her to giggle. "Glad to hear it. Boys! Come and get set up!" she said, talking to us.
"I have to go now. Wish me luck?"
Mia tip-toed and kissed my cheek. "Luck," she whispered in my ear. "Give them a show." She winked.
We separated, and I headed around back to meet up with the guys.
"Okay, the gang's all here!" Dean shouted. "Alright..." he stuck his hand out. "Put them in." He wiggled his fingers, waiting for us to make a circle and do some pre-show ritual. "It's either this or we do a group hug," he suggested like it was worse than the first idea.
"I could use a hug," Tatum said with a half-dead shrug.
"If my girl got stolen by Ron Weasley, I'd want a hug too," Tobias said, throwing his arm around his shoulders.
Not the least bit bothered by this bromance, I joined in too, followed by Dean.
"If anybody asks what we do back here, it's definitely not a group hug," Dean muttered, making us all laugh. "Alright." We split apart. Dean's voice got louder as he added some extra bass. "We got this! This is the moment we've been practicing for! Save the knights, get your head in the game!" he shouted.
We all froze.
"Did he just..." Tatum didn't finish.
"I think he did..." I added in shock.
"Dude, that was so lame," Tobias muttered.
"In my defense, High school musical was really motivational back in the day," Dean told us.
"I think I speak for everyone when I say, agree to disagree," I told him. We shook our heads at him with matching looks of concern about his mental state.
"Fine, fine, fine. Let's just have a good show and all that jazz." Dean flitted his hands in the air.
I grinned. "Now, that I think we can do."