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stranger, a painstakingly attractive stranger, was not my forte. I was lost for words.
    “So… about the water…” He gestured his water to me again.
    Flexing my fingers behind my back, I tried to get a bit of feeling to return before I reached for the water. I couldn’t allow him to see my hands tremble.
     ”Oh, uh, sure,” I took the water, making sure our hands didn’t touch.
    As if he knew I purposely avoided contact, he stuck his hand out to me. “By the way, I’m Jaxon, your blind date for the night.”
    His gaze held my eyes with dominance. His lingering smile made me wonder if he could sense how uncomfortable he was making me.
    Reaching out to shake his hand, I welcomed the warmth that pulsed into mine. He held onto my hand a little longer than deemed necessary before he let go.
    “Well, now that we’ve got the introductions out of the way, would you like to dance?”
    “Sure,” I squeaked.
    “Do you want to finish your water first?”
    I had forgotten the water in my hand. I wasn’t even thirsty anymore, but, after remembering where it came from, I suddenly had a dire need to put my lips where his had previously been.
    Tipping the bottle up, I turned my back to him so he couldn’t watch me. The water was cool and refreshing to my parched throat.
    “Here, I’ll take that for you,” Jaxon said.
    He took the empty bottle, tossing it into a growing pile of trash. Walking back over to where I was standing, he stopped before reaching me and motioned with his hand to the doorway, prompting me to lead the way back inside.
    As I walked past him, I felt his fingers lightly touch the small of my back. Chill bumps rose on my skin, and I don’t think it was from the cold air. He was following behind me close enough that I felt his chest brush occasionally against my shoulder. I was enjoying this too much, and I needed to get control of myself. I didn’t want a boyfriend, I didn’t need a boyfriend, and I didn’t come here for any hook-ups either. I didn’t know what he was told or what he may have been thinking, but I needed to let him know very soon this date was going to be strictly platonic.
    We reached the make-shift dance floor, waiting for the next song to start before we joined. My heart was hammering in my chest with the words I needed to say. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I stood on my tiptoes to get closer to his ear. “I don’t know what Reed or Kendra told you, but I recently ended a long, torturous relationship, so I don’t want you to think I’m looking for a boyfriend because I’m not. I’m perfectly content on us being friends,” I said loudly.
    “No worries, Sweet Cheeks. I don’t do the boyfriend/girlfriend thing anyway. I’m a one-night stand kind of guy,” he said, giving me a wink. “But, if you want to be friends, we can be friends. I’m open to the whole friends-with-benefits thing, too, though,” he grinned with deepened dimples.
    Sweet Cheeks? Friends with benefits? What the fudge have I gotten myself in to?

    The first few beats of ‘Wobble’ started to circulate the room. Kendra and I titled this our gay-humping song. We liked to throw in our own bit of mix in the line dance and do a little grinding against each other. The first time Phillip witnessed our exhibition, he nearly dragged me off the dance floor by my hair. The whistles and cat calls didn’t help matters either. His reaction had blind-sided me. Most guys I knew we’re ready to engage in a little girl-on-girl action. That was the first encounter of abuse I received from Phillip and one of the worst fights we ever had. A year into our dating, I learned the extremes of how jealous of a guy he could be… er, still was. That should have been my first sign to cut ties and run, but I waved it off instead, feeling ashamed when he accused me of acting like a slut.
    Jerked from my thoughts, I felt Kendra tugging on my hand pulling me onto the dance floor.
    “C’mon, we haven’t got to perform our dance