Page 290 of Blackwood

CADE

The Catacombs – Carrington Row

63 Days Since Henry’s Death

The dancing slows down as Knox cuts the music, breathless from laughing and yelling over the mic all night. “Alright, alright,” he pants into the mic. “Girls, go get changed for Fusion #1.”

Bella turns to me and Lex, cheeks flushed, hair a wild, sweaty mess, and grins. “Don’t miss me too much.”

Lex tugs her in, kissing her hard. “Go kill it, baby.”

She turns to me, softer. “You good?”

I nod, brushing hair from her face. “I love you, sweetheart.”

She kisses me quick and then disappears to the changing room with Ellie and Haley.

The floor’s still packed, but it’s different now. Softer. Lit with a blue glow and dripping with anticipation. Lex pulls me toward the center, music still thumping under the buzz of the crowd.

It’s just the two of us now, moving to the beat, swaying in sync. His hands slide to my hips. My fingers knot in his shirt. We dance together for awhile, his forehead presses against mine.

“I love you, babe,” he says, voice low, raw.

I smile. “Yeah, I know. I love you too.”

“This reminds me of the first time we danced together,” he says quietly.

“At Northvale?”

He shakes his head, faint grin tugging at his mouth. “Nah. Your artist showcase a few days after we met at The Pit Freshman year. You had charcoal on your hands, and pretending you weren’t nervous, but you were. They played some indie song about hurricanes and heartbreak.”

I laugh under my breath. “You remember the song?”

“I remember every second of that night,” he says, eyes dark and soft all at once. “You wouldn’t look at me at first. Then the lights hit and you finally did. You smiled—like I hadn’t already fallen for you three songs ago.”

“I thought you said you fell for me at The Pit.”

“Yeah, I did. Lost the fucking fight because of your sexy ass remember?” he shakes his head and smiles. “But that dance was when it sealed the deal for me, Cade. That dance was when I knew I wasn’t ever going to let you go.”

My throat tightens. “You said something that night.”

He nods slowly. “Yeah. I told you that you were gonna ruin me.” His grin fades, voice dropping lower. “Guess I was right.”

“Lex…”

He brushes his thumb over my jaw, a quiet sigh slipping out. “You’ve always been the calm after my fights, Cade. My first good thing.”

I press my forehead against his. “And you’re the chaos that makes me feel alive.”

He lets out a soft laugh, small and real. “Guess we’re still the same.”

“Guess we are.”

He kisses me, slow and steady, like he’s trying to memorize the taste of the past and the present at the same time. The noise around us fades until it’s just this. His heartbeat. Mine. The pulse of the bass keeping time with both.

Over the speakers, Knox’s voice crackles back to life.

“Alright Javi, it’s time, baby! The girls have cooked up a little something for you. Millennial fusion dances, their way of saying happy birthday to the best dance coach in the world.”