I looked down at Kiera, wondering if she’d care. With a smile, I shrugged. She seemed reassured by my gesture, so I figured she was okay with it and returned my eyes to the show. That was when everything changed for me. Kiera let out a long exhale, like she was finally breathing for the first time in weeks. I was just thinking how glad I was that I’d made her come out with us when I felt her body shifting. At first, I thought she was just done with having a strange man’s arms around her, so I let her go. But she didn’t step away from me. No, she turned into me.
Her arms slipped around my waist, holding me tight, and her head rested on my chest. Every muscle in my body instantly locked with tension. Her fingers against my side started stroking back and forth in a calming, rhythmic pattern, and she inhaled another deep, cleansing breath. Was she just getting more comfortable? She definitely couldn’t see more of the show this way, since my chest partially blocked her vision, so it had to be about comfort.
As I relaxed into her embrace, wrapping my arms tight around her, I immediately started feeling that comfort. It was a warmth brighter than the sun radiating in the sky. It was a buoyancy lighter than floating on the water.
I knew I was overstepping so many boundaries right now that it was ridiculous, but I couldn’t help myself. Holding her—just holding her—felt better than anything I’d felt in a while. If I was going to be honest with myself, I’d wanted to hold her like this for some time now, I just hadn’t had a good reason to. I knew this would hurt Denny if he could see it, and hurting him was the last thing I wanted to do, but goddamn…I needed this, and for the moment, I was going to be a selfish asshole.
Closing my eyes, I stroked my thumbs across her back and inhaled the heady scent of her. I’d never had anything like this feeling, and I desperately wanted to keep it going. I’m sorry, Denny, but I can’t let her go. I kind of never wanted to let her go.
I did though. We broke apart before the guys returned to us. I didn’t want any of them thinking things they shouldn’t—well, anything more than they already thought about us. Holding hands in a place like this was harmless enough, and they’d already seen us do it, so I continued keeping a firm grip on her. I was anxious though, wanting to get to the next musician, not so I could hear the music but so I could feel that connection with Kiera again. So I could touch her, wrap my arms around her, feel her arms wrapped around me. It was the most unbelievable thing I’d ever known, and I never wanted it to end.
At each act, Kiera and I paused farther and farther back. I’d watch for Evan, Matt, and Griffin to disappear in the mass of gyrating bodies, then I’d smile at Kiera and wrap my arms around her. I loved having her head right over my heart, her shoulder tucked under mine. My arm wrapped around her back and my fingers brushed against her rib cage. It took every shred of willpower I had to not lean down and kiss her head. I satisfied the instinct by resting my cheek against her hair. It was heaven. Pure, painful heaven, because as nice as it was, I knew it wasn’t right. Denny wouldn’t like this…
We stayed locked together in some way the entire day, and even though half of Seattle seemed to be packed into the Center, it felt like Kiera and I were alone. We talked about the bands we’d seen. I’d only been half listening to them, but Kiera had been paying attention. Her first remark about any band I asked her about was always “Well, they’re definitely not as good as you, but…” Her eyes shone when she said it too, like she really meant it. I was on cloud nine all day long.
Even the inquisitive glances Evan was giving us didn’t ruin my natural buzz. I continued to ignore the innuendo in his gaze, but thankfully, after Matt passed around his “adult juice” during lunch, his meaningful looks became less frequent. I knew Evan would question me about today though; it was just a matter of time.
I didn’t want to think about that, or anything, so I concentrated all of my focus on Kiera. She had my complete and total attention today. And once again, I couldn’t help but think that I’d started out the day wanting to help her, but it had turned out to be her who was helping me. I hoped one day I could be a little less selfish around her.
After lunch we all goofed around in the amusement park for a bit. Leaving the guys at the rides, Kiera and I did our own thing. It was fun. Kiera laughed a lot and smiled even more, which made me even happier. I even managed to win her a teddy bear—that only cost me about thirty bucks—but we promptly gave it to a little girl who was having a meltdown over a ruined ice cream cone. I will never forget the look on Kiera’s face when she watched me give that toy away. It was almost…adoring.