"I know," I tell him as my eyes focus on the drink in my hands.
                          
"You know what?" he questions.
                          
"That I look dumb," I shrug uneasily. "It's Franny's top and—"
                          
Brooklyn places his hand once again on my shoulder, a calming heat spreading throughout my body at his innocent touch.
                          
The small gesture cuts off my words instantly making my eyes lift to take in the wide boyish grin that tugs at his lips. "Mae," he says my name, forcing me to listen to his next words. "You look amazing," he states as if it's a fact, as if it's something I should know. "Better than half the girls here," he adds.
                          
"But—" I attempt to fight.
                          
"But nothing," he says once again, cutting off my words. "Amazing," he repeats soundlessly, his lips forming the words forcing me to watch them. Stare at them.
                          
My eyes glance up to his, a new wave of something similar to confidence filling me slowly. "Amazing?" I question.
                          
He nods with a small laugh, and I can't help but bite my lip at the melodious sound that escapes him and washes over me.
                          
"Do you want to dance?" Brooklyn asks me suddenly, and the nervousness that fills his emotive eyes almost puts me at ease knowing I'm not the only one to feel so unsure in this life.
                          
I almost say yes, I almost place my hand in his. But something stops me. Something holds me back. My eyes glance around the room waiting to see dark eyes, dark eyes that will tell me no. No, because I'm his and no one else's but his. But after finding no one, no one for my eyes to drink in, I realize how silly the hesitation within me is. I don't belong to Asher Lawton, far from actually. If anything he belongs to my best friend, though a part of me knows Asher will never truly belong to anyone but himself.
                          
So I nod. I reach down and wrap my hand around Brooklyn's larger one and say, "Let's dance."
                          
The middle of the living room is packed with dancing teenagers. Letting the alcohol fill their veins, and the music sway their hips. The bass is pulsing through the air, and the air is damp with sweaty bodies and greedy hands.
                          
A part of me is nervous, as I don't really dance. I am severely uncoordinated, and paired with my lanky limbs and tall physique I rarely make for the best dancing partner. But Brooklyn's hands immediately find a home resting on my hips, and my entire body relaxes knowing he won't judge me. Knowing he will lead me, and not laugh at me.
                          
The rhythmic bass sinks through us as we move slowly to the beat. My hands rest on his shoulders, and in my shoes given the slight heel we are exactly at the same height. His big brown eyes staring into my pale green ones. His soft pink lips pulling up into a small smirk, though it doesn't unsettle me like Asher's does, it doesn't promise devilish things. Instead it promises excitement, and happiness. It makes me smirk back, it makes my thumbs move slowly so they trace over the base of his throat.
                          
Brooklyn's eyes narrow ever so slightly and his fingers grip my waist. Just a little tighter, and he lets his thumbs mimic my motion. My body sways into him at the small action and our bodies move together like nothing I've ever experienced. It's fun, it's exhilarating, it's just a little dirty and everything I didn't know I could feel.
                          
His head dips just so his lips are at the crest of my ear. His hot breath fills me, making my nails dip into the dark skin of his neck.
                          
"Having fun yet?" he asks with a teasing edge to his tone. The teasing edged with a hint of darkness that I can't lie makes my stomach flip with a feeling I don't expect to fill my bones.
                          
He pulls back to look into my eyes and without me even answering he can read me. He knows I am, and I can't stop the smile that fills my entire face. I can't stop the feeling of happiness that whips through me. Everything Brooklyn is seeps into my bones as the songs fill the air around us slowly.