More cheers, as well as a few groans from embarrassed teenagers.
Nevertheless, they shuffled onto the floor along with everyone else, their faces bright with smiles as The Prophecy Kings launched into a slow cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.”
“What do you say? You up for a dance?” Nate held out his hand. “I hope this isn’t creepy, since it’s a father-daughter dance, but I don’t think couples are the theme of the night.”
Kris laughed. “We’ll make it work.”
They wrapped their arms around each other and swayed to the music. Kris spotted Skylar and Michael dancing a few feet away and smiled. She hoped things worked out with Nate and Skylar’s father. She really did.
“How are things with your dad?” Nate’s palm glided up and down her spine, and she snuggled closer to him, feeling warm and content.
“Same old, same old. We haven’t discussed our argument over Gloria, but it’ll blow over like every other argument we’ve had.” Kris didn’t want to talk about her fucked up household situation, but there was something she had to get off her chest. She lifted her head so she could look at Nate. “I’m sorry about how he treated you yesterday. He may not be around much, but he’s overprotective when it comes to my dating life.”
“That’s understandable.” Nate’s eyes were unreadable, though he continued to rub her back with long, soothing strokes. “Don’t worry about it. You are his only daughter, and even if he isn’t around much, I think he genuinely wants what’s best for you.”
“I guess,” she said, surprised by how reasonable Nate was being.
Not that hewasn’ta reasonable person by nature, but she’d just expected a little more…fire. Indignation. Instead, he was as cool and calm as if they were discussing the weather.
Wait, no, that wasn’t it. He wasn’t cool and calm. He was remote, distant in a way that he hadn’t been since…ever. Even when they’d bickered and snipped at each other in the past, he’d always been present and full of crackling passion.
That wasn’t the case now.
A thread of unease unraveled down Kris’s spine and wrapped around her stomach, squeezing until she was short of breath.
Before she could bring up Nate’s strange behavior, he spoke again. “Can I ask you something? Be honest. This isn’t a trick question.”
The unease intensified. “Okay.”
“Have your views changed on long-distance relationships?”
It was a good thing he was holding her; otherwise, Kris would’ve fallen over in surprise. Of all the things she’d expected him to ask, that had not been in her top ten or even top fifty.
But of course,she thought, a measure of relief easing her tension. Nate was thinking about their looming deadline and what would happen after Kris left L.A.
In truth, her views on long-distance relationships in general hadn’t changed. But a long-distance relationship with Nate? That was another matter. She didn’t want these next few weeks to be the last time they spoke to each other, and the thought of him moving on and dating someone else made her stomach clench in protest.
In just a few short months, she’d revealed more of herself to him than she had to anyone else in her life, and she felt connected to him in a way she didn’t think possible. Kris normally wasn’t a fairytale romance, head-in-the-clouds type of girl, but nothing about her relationship with Nate was normal—and she didn’t want it to be. It was uniquely theirs, and she didn’t want it to end.
Not at the end of the month, not ever.
The realization slammed into Kris with the force of a tidal wave. She should’ve seen it coming from a mile away—her ease in sharing her deepest thoughts and darkest secrets with him, her giddiness when his name popped up on her phone, her anticipation at seeing him again, all the dang butterflies and pounding hearts—but when it hit, it hit hard.
She was in love with Nate Reynolds.
The question was, was he in love with her?
“I…” Kris hesitated, debating how to answer. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears, and her palms were slick with sweat. “I think there are merits to such relationships that I may have been blind to before.”
“Hmm.” No change in Nate’s expression. “Like what?”
She thought carefully before answering. “Like developing greater trust in the other person and appreciating the moments you get to spend together. Like learning how to communicate better and figuring out whether it’s lust or—”Love.“Something more.”
“You’ve thought about this.” There was a shadow of a smile on his lips, but the tension and remoteness remained.
Kris shrugged, hoping she looked and sounded casual. “I’m good at thinking on the fly.”
Meanwhile, her mind blared with enough alarms to make a security breach at the Pentagon look like a chill day at the park.