Disclaimer: Original character belong to Kiera Cass. New characters belong to us, as does the story line.

Chapter 4

Quiet music plays in the background as my dance partner tries to find the beat, failing miserably. Here's a little hint, he's not gonna find it by stepping on my feet.

My shoulders sag in relief as the song ends and my partner takes a step back. I try my best to act polite as he says goodbye, especially since his cheeks are the same color as my dress at the moment.

Immediately the next selected comes up and awkwardly grabs my hips. What the frick man? Did any of these guys learn to dance from their mothers? Sigh.

His dancing is even worse than the last guy, if it were possible. I have to give him props for not stepping on my feet, seeing as he's directing all of his attention on his feet. Right when the song ends, his head comes up and crashes into my nose. I step back, my hand squeezing the bridge of my nose and hoping that it doesn't start bleeding. And of course it does, though not as severly as I might have expected.

Gerad parts the crowd and comes towards me, handkerchief outstretched. I take it gratefully, and turn to the culprit. Mason Young. His hand is covering his mouth and his eyes are as wide as saucers. "I am so sorry! Oh my God!" His voice is frantic and he moves his hands around, not knowing what to do with them.

I smile and wave my hand with nonchalance. "It's not a big deal, just a little blood."

He looks like he's going to barf as Gerad steps in, saving me from more awkward apoligizing.

"I think I should look at that away from all this commotion," he says, waving his hand vaguely around us.

He puts his hand on my back and gently guides me off the dance floor.

"So, I guess you're a registered nurse now?" I say, my voice coming out nasally because of the handkerchief held to my nose.

He barks out a laugh and keeps pushing me out of the door until we are out in the corridor and sitting on a settee against the wall. I settle down and lay back, and take the cloth off of my face, finding that my nose had stopped bleeding.

"You look really pretty tonight," he says, smiling. I push his shoulder and smile at him too. "You don't look too bad yourself kind sir."

He rolls his eyes lifts my chin a little, trying to get a better look at my nose.

"Well the bleeding has stopped, though you might want someone to look at your feet," he says as he lets my chin go, a smirk playing across his face.

"Tell me about it, they couldn't have had at least thirty minutes of a dance lesson before tonight?" I say.

He laughs before we hear footsteps approaching us and I look over with slumped posture, straightening out when I recognize Ryder.

"Hey, Beautiful. You mind if I steal her away, Officer..." He looks at Gerad's tag, saying, "Ledger?"

Gerad coughs, trying to cover a laugh as Ryder's hand stays outstretched in front of me. I smile the most plastic smile I can and reach for it, letting him tug me up until I'm standing. As he pulls me back into the ballroom is turn my head to get one last look at Gerad. He gives me a thumbs up with the cheesiest smile ever. I give him a quick scowl before I'm pulled out of his sight.

The crowd parts like the Red Sea as we make our way to the little dance floor in the middle of the room. He pulls me forward, making me stumble a bit and reach a hand out to his chest, saving myself. He smirks down at me and wraps a long arm behind my back, pulling me closer than I already was. My hand settles on his shoulder and I look anywhere but his face.

He takes our interlocked hands and lifts my chin up, causing me to turn firetruck red. He smirks and sets his burning gaze on my eyes. I decide to focus all of my attention on his nose. I'm not going to lie, it's pretty nicely shaped, kind of like the rest of his face...and body. I can feel the muscles of his back through the thin dress shirt.

"The color red never looked so lovely." I know for sure that he is not referring to my dress or my hair. I feel my face grow even redder and he smirks. Smug asshole.

"Well, overconfidence doesn't really look good on anyone, now does it?" I respond, my mouth curling into a smile.

He tries his best to hold onto his arrogant smirk, but it's easy for me to see it slipping at the edges.

"To me, overconfidence is a way to show interest in something you want," he whispers right next to my ear and puling my hips to his.

My body involuntarily melts into his and I sigh. I don't want to love it, but I do. I can tell that Ryder notices the change in my demenor because he stands just a little bit straighter afterwards.

I spend the rest of the dance trying to not encourage him anymore then I have been. But I feel the need to prove a point.

When the song ends and another guy cuts in, we both reluctantly part until another nameless person dances with me toanother song that feels endless. Gerad even dances with me for a couple of songs, surprisingly light on his feet. It's nice to have a conversation with a guy who isn't trying to marry me.

After what feels like the last song of the night, one more guy comes up and shyly asks me for one last dance. Grayson.

His posture is stiff and awkward, but in an endearing way. His thin fingers settle in the small of my back, carefully placed and not going anywhere.

His torso is the only part of him that moves until I force him to shuffle his feet and his face and neck flame up a little. "It's okay," I whisper, smiling at his little cringe.

"Sorry, I've never really danced before," he says, looking at our feet. I set my face on his shoulder, liking the comfortable pace and the fact that he isn't trying to impress me.

When the dance ends, without thinking, I go up on my toes and peck him on the cheek. He smiles widely and I bite my lip, stepping back and preparing myself to address all of the guys.

"Thank you everyone for coming! I really appreciate you all being here, and I have an idea of who you all are now." I smile at the right intervals, looking around the room at eager faces. "I will try to narrow all of you down tomorrow based on how we got along tonight. I'll see you bright and early." I glide as gracefully as I can out of the room and Gerad offers an arm to excort me back to my room.

We pause outside my door, and he smiles at me.

"It's been nice talking to you again," he says, still showing no sign of leaving.

"It really has, I hope we can spend some time catching up," I reply, swaying from side to side.

He nods, his hands shoved into his pockets. "Yeah, anytime you're free is good for me."

I try to think through my upcoming schedule. "I don't think I'll have any time tomorrow, maybe the next day? We could meet after breakfast, if you wanted to."

"That sounds great. Would it be okay if I invited a friend of mine? She's really cool."

I try to make sure my shoulders don't sag in relief. I like Gerard, but I still really don't know him as well as I used to. "Awesome, so I'll see you then, I guess?"

"Of course, have a good night," he says, turing away from me.

"Night." I lean on my door and turn the knob. The whole night rushing back at me.

I collapse onto bed and rip off my shoes with a sigh. I spend a lot of time thinking through everything, trying to decide who I want to get rid of and who I definitely want to stay. Despite some of my best judgements, I can't help but think that I want Ryder to stay for a while, at least long enough for me to get to know him better. Suddenly, I remember my dance with Grayson, and I can't help the smile that comes to my face.

My thoughts are still swirling as I drift off to sleep, and my dreams linger on Ryder's arms around me.