"Why won't this fucking stay!?" Shane grunted to himself in frustration as he scooped his hand back into the sticky tub of hair gel in an attempt to smooth down the unruly mess that sat atop his head. Just as he had managed to sculpt his hair into a somewhat acceptable style, Marnie's voice rang from down the hall, "You almost ready Shane? You're gonna be late!"
He gave himself a final once over in the bathroom mirror. Sure the dark circles were still there, and his stubble poked out of his jawline despite the fact that he had just shaved, but even Shane could admit that he looked pretty decent. Almost handsome, even. Emily, the bartender, had quite the knack for sewing. She had perfectly tailored Shane's suit to highlight the more favorable parts of his body, and hide the ones he wasn't so proud of. He straightened out his bowtie one last time, put on a spritz of cologne, and strode toward his daughter's room, feeling kind of good about himself for once.
After his blackout incident earlier in the week, he had been doing everything in his power to make it up to Jas. He didn't really remember much of the details from that day, but Marnie had filled in the gaps. Shane made a point to spend more time with his daughter, and he had followed through. They made sandcastles at the beach, played some of Shane's more kid-friendly video games, baked a cake, you name it. Slowly but surely, Shane was regaining Jas' trust.
"Miss Jazzy," Shane chided in his best regal voice, picking up her hand and kissing it. "You may not be old enough yet to be the flower queen, but you'll always be my flower princess."
"And you're the flower frog!" Jas giggled.
"Princess and the frog, it is," Shane conceded. "Let's get to the dance before all the food is gone. I bet your friend Vincent's already there."
Truthfully, Shane hated the flower dance. He had been once last year, and it turned out to be everything he despised. It was a creepy, traditionalist debutante kind of thing that the town held each spring. Mayor Lewis made all of the young singles line up in the middle of the grassy field it was held in, then pair up and do some stupid twirly dance for everyone to see. Last year he had reluctantly danced with Emily, knowing she only did it because she pitied him. If she had her way, she'd be dancing with a girl, but the mayor would never allow that. Shane only went because it made his daughter happy, and it made him feel less guilty about being an absent parent to see Jas so excited about something.
Shane didn't have to walk far, as the dance was held in a small clearing between the trees of the Cindersap Forest. He strode through the forest with Jas on his shoulders, and his Aunt Marnie left behind at the ranch. Marnie had said she was staying home to take care of the animals, but Shane knew that it was actually because she had a secret relationship with Mayor Lewis and he refused to talk to her in public.
Shane carefully squatted down to ground level, allowing Jas to hop off his shoulders. Jas quickly spotted her friend Vincent across the way tantalizing an ant pile. Shane let Jas run off to play with him, only after warning her not to get her nice dress dirty. With Jas under the supervision of Vincent's mom, Shane was left to his own devices. He was standing by the punch bowl, trying to muster up the courage to go ask Emily to dance with him. He ladeled a generous serving of the hibiscus party punch into an ornate crystal glass. Turning his back toward the group, he sneakily pulled out a flask and dumped the contents into his cup. Though he usually favored whiskey, Shane had brought gin that day under the assumption that the refreshments would consist of some fruity, floral bullshit. He wanted to be good for the festival, stay sober enough to not make a fool out of himself, but without the help of at least one drink, Shane knew he would never make it out on that dance floor.
He spotted Emily scrolling on her phone, leaning against a nearby tree. She had gone all out with her dress, draped in a cobalt blue tulle that perfectly matched the shade of her hair, with little iridescent butterflies sewn on throughout. The things I'd do to get a piece of her… too bad she's gay.
Shane broke off his lustful admiration of her, realizing that he had to make his move. He shuffled his way up to Emily after a few deep breaths, feeling slightly more confident now that a nice buzz had settled in.
"Hey, Emily," he began, trying to play it cool and casual. "I'm sure you remember how great of a dance partner I was last year. I mean, I only stepped on your foot like ten times."
Emily looked up from her phone, giggling. "My toe was bruised for a week! I swear to Yoba you must have two left feet or something."
"What do you say you give me a second chance? I'll try and redeem myself, but if I fuck up your foot again I'll buy you a pedicure."
"Sounds enticing," Emily began, but her face shifted to an uncomfortable frown. "But I kinda already agreed to dance with Sebastian."
"O-oh. No worries." Shane spun around, his face turning red. Of course she doesn't wanna dance with you. You embarrassed her enough last year for one lifetime.
He hung his head and walked away before Emily could get another word out. He reached down into his pocket to pull out his flask, but was disappointed to see that he had already drained the entirety of it. He saw a shadow on the ground creeping toward him and shoved the flask away, hoping whoever it was didn't see. When he looked up, it was Audrey who stood in front of him, a mischievous smirk plastered on her face.
"Got a dance partner yet?"
Her question threw Shane off guard. He couldn't tell if she was genuinely curious, or if she knew the answer and was trying to tease him for being unable to secure a date. Shane assumed it was the latter, and scoffed at her. "Do you see any girls lining up to ask me to dance? This whole thing is stupid anyway. I'd be happy to sit out, but I wouldn't want to risk giving Lewis a heart attack. The guy's getting pretty old, I don't know if he could handle it."
Audrey laughed, "yeah he gave me a lot of shit about missing the egg festival. Apparently you townies take these things pretty seriously. I'm yet to find a partner either, in case you were wondering."
"I wasn't," Shane murmured.
Audrey brushed off Shane's dismissal and continued. "Got anyone you're thinking about asking?"
"Nope."
"Oh come on, Shane. Do I have to spell it out for you? Ask me, you idiot. I wanna dance with you."
"Huh?" Shane was utterly baffled. Audrey could probably have any guy here, yet she was going for him? That couldn't be right. "Look around, Audrey. There's so many better options here. Just dance with Sam or something."
Audrey looked at the ground sheepishly. "I can't" was all she said in response.
"Why the hell not?" Shane questioned.
"They either already have a partner or… or I've slept with them and kicked them to the curb"
Shane blinked at her a few times. He didn't even realize that his mouth was hanging open until he felt his tongue dry out. What the fuck does that mean? Is she a part time hooker or something because farming doesn't pay that well?
"Look, Shane," Audrey went on. "We both have to participate in this stupid dance, and neither of us have a partner. And I hate to hold this over your head, but I cleaned up your fucking vomit this week. It was disgusting. I don't regret helping you and I'm glad I was there, but don't you think this is the least you can do for me?"
Shane swallowed hard. He faintly recalled Audrey helping to pick up the pieces after his breakdown. The details may have been fuzzy, but he knew that it would've been a shit ton worse without her help. Sighing, he agreed. "Okay. Let's dance."
As if right on cue, Lewis rang a bell from the center of the field to garner everyone's attention. "Places, everyone!" his cheery voice rang out. "The Flower Dance is about to commence."
The bachelors and bachelorettes made their way to the makeshift dance floor, men lining up on one side, their female counterparts directly across. The string quartet situated off to the side began to play a slow, melodic ballad, and Shane's body went into autopilot. He stepped toward Audrey, as on pace as he could manage, and they met in the middle. He draped one hand around her neck, using the other to support the small of her back and guide her through the steps.
Audrey gazed up into Shane's eyes as they danced, though she was closer to being level with him than usual due to the high heels. "You're actually kinda good at this," she whispered just loud enough to hear over the music.
"I'm good at mirroring," Shane corrected. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm just following Haley and Alex."
"Can't you ever just take a compliment?" Audrey commented after Shane pulled her back up from a dip.
"Apparently not," Shane said, grabbing Audrey's hand and twirling her. With his adrenaline pumping, perhaps from being watched by the whole town, but most likely from being so close to Audrey, an idea popped into Shane's head, and he ran with it. "I'm going off script here, just follow my lead."
Audrey gave him a suspicious look, but ultimately nodded in agreement. Shane waited for the music to reach a crescendo, then moved both his hands to either side of Audrey's waist. He bent his legs ever so slightly to gain stability, before throwing Audrey into the air with gusto. From Shane's perspective, it looked as if she had soared at least 10 feet into the air. She quickly came back down, and Shane guided her body back to the ground, finishing with a dramatic dip. He looked up, panting from the exertion, to see that the crowd had erupted into applause. The music quickly faded out, and Audrey gave a ladylike curtsy. Shane followed suit, taking Audrey's hand and bowing to the audience.
"That was fucking incredible," Audrey choked out, still catching her breath. "Where'd you learn to dance like that?"
"I didn't," Shane admitted. "I usually can't dance to save my life. I guess we just work well together."
Audrey squeezed his hand. Shane actually hadn't realized that they were still holding hands, so it made him jump a little. "Thank you," she said earnestly. "For dancing with me."
"It was fun. I uh, I have to get back to Jas. See you around?"
"Of course. Tell her I said hi."
With one last smile, the two parted ways. Shane picked up a very sleepy Jas from the sidelines, and headed home, feeling warm and full, despite being fully sober by then. His mind wandered back to what Audrey had said at the dance about sleeping with a good amount of the bachelors. She's only been here for one season… How has she already been around the whole block? Was she planning on sleeping with me that night at the dock? No. No way. I'm too fucking repulsive. She was just drunk.
Once Shane had arrived back at the ranch and tucked Jas into bed, he continued his contemplation of the day's events. The saloon was closed for the holiday, but Shane always had a pretty significant stash at home. He opened his minifridge to pick his poison, but hesitated. The urge to drink was always prominent in both his mind and his body, but sometimes he was able to push it to the back of his head, hide it with other distractions. He closed the fridge without grabbing so much as a beer, and laid down in bed. He thought of Audrey, their dance, the way she looked. Images of her petite frame clad in a pink fit and flare dress that hugged all the right places replayed in his head. Shane stroked himself, imagining Audrey moaning his name. He came rather quickly, not usually able to even get it up due to the alcohol. For the first time in months, he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep quite easily.