Finally the glorious thing made a bell noise and light flashed from the screen! Success! I let out an embarrassingly girly scream, but I couldn’t help it.
I hadn’t heard music in eight and a half months. The last time had been because Reagan and I had found a settlement that had working generators. I’d been able to discretely charge it there. I hadn’t listened to it until we left, too afraid to reveal my treasure to other prying eyes. For the entire next day, Reagan and I had anticipated listening to beautiful sound and then that night, shut away in a walk in freezer in the back of an old Applebee’s, we’d shared ear buds and danced around each other in the dark.
It was fantastic.
And now, I would get to do that again!
As soon as the iPod app popped up I was all over it, swiping my finger with expert skill and blasting my music through the fuzzy speakers. As soon as the sound was there I turned around, dancing and generally acting like a crazy person.
But this was bliss to me- pure, dazzling, uninhibited utopia. My heartbeat instantly kicked up a notch and my blood tingled with delight. My ears felt soothed after so many months of silence and my mind felt relaxed and at ease. Finally.
The song was upbeat and light-hearted. I took a deep breath, fully relaxing into the moment and then I started dancing- there was nothing left to do at this point. I put my arms up in the air and wiggled my hips, letting the music take me away.
A chuckle from the doorway pulled my attention and I whirled around to find Nelson watching me while he leaned against the door jamb. His deep blue eyes flashed with amusement and his lips curled up into a breathtaking smile.
I was too absorbed in the music to feel embarrassed, so instead I shimmied over to him and grabbed his hands. I pulled him gently back to the middle of the room and held on to him while he shook his head at me.
“I’m not dancing with you,” he laughed gently while his eyes appraised my wiggling body.
“You are dancing with me,” I argued. “See?” I took his hands and held them in the air while I moved my hips back and forth with the music. Nelson stood still but allowed me to maneuver his arms however I wanted.
“You like to dance?” he asked in a rumbling voice I felt in my core.
“I love to dance,” I smiled at him, hiding my reaction to the crazy sex appeal he was throwing off. There was just something about how he enjoyed watching me dance, but was too nervous to join in that I found irresistible. I kind of liked this shy version of Nelson.
Ok, more than kind of liked.
“I haven’t done this in a while,” he admitted. He took a tentative step into me and I took that as a good sign. I placed his hands on my hips and then ran my fingers up his biceps. He shivered underneath my touch and that only fueled my courage.
“Like how long?” I asked, twirling around in front of him. When I faced him again we were inches closer and I could smell the soap he used during yesterday’s personal hygiene stop in a small creek bed. “What was pre-Zombie Nelson like?”
The music continued to sing out of my iPhone speakers, changing to a different but equally as upbeat song. I messed around with some goofy moves, making Nelson laugh. I loved the sound of his laughter; it rumbled his chest and sounded like its own kind of music.
“Probably a little bit before the outbreak,” he finally answered. His fingers trailed over my hips and up to the slender part of my waist. He took another step into me, now we were only two inches apart. “I was a sophomore at Northwestern before the infection; we used to go out all the time.”
“Chicago?” He nodded. “You were how old?” I asked, thinking he was only twenty-one now.
“Nineteen,” he smirked at me. “Haley, it was college. There used to be these things called fake ID’s and minors would use them to get into places like bars or clubs and-“
“Hush now, smartass,” I placed my fingers over his lips, silencing him. For a moment I stopped moving completely at the feel of his mouth under the pads of my fingers. My skin felt ice cold against the warmth of his lips. My gaze dropped down to the full mouth partially hidden beneath my hand and I suddenly was struggling to swallow. “I think I get your point.”
“Mmm-hmmm.” Suddenly he pulled his head back and then chomped down on my middle finger.
“Ow!” I squealed, outraged. He didn’t bite hard enough for it to hurt, but still! “You can’t bite people in this day and age! I might just shoot you!”
He pulled his teeth back, grazing my skin in a surprisingly tantalizing way and then pressed a very gentle kiss to the pad of the same finger. I watched, mesmerized by his seduction technique.