Free Little White Lies by Aimee Laine

cry. She kept her voice low to prevent Stuart from overhearing. “It has to be wrong! Lil, it has to be!”
    Lily shook her head. “It’s not, honey.” She took Charley’s hands in hers, squeezed. “Go break in, dance with him until the last tick-tock. I’ll be outside with James.”
    “How will I know the time?” She hadn’t thought that far ahead.
    “You’ll know.” Lily rose. One tear slid down her cheek. She wiped it away with a finger.
    “Stuart?” Lily tapped him on the shoulder. “Gotta pee.”
    He saluted.
    Lily disappeared into the corridor. Charley knew it would be the last time he and the girl he knew as Leena would see each other.
    • • •
    Charley’s hands shook. Her body radiated a pain she considered worse than any shift she’d gone through before, and still she sat and watched Wyatt dance with Julie.
    “Get out there!” Stuart’s yell barely reached above the music. “Don’t let Julie spoil it!”
    She’d done so for far too long. Charley rose, wobbled on heels she’d grown fond of, kept her chin up, eyes on her prize, and mind tuned to the countdown, which would last for an additional eight minutes.
    Julie turned Wyatt to face away and offered Charley one long glare as she approached.
    Doesn’t she know she can have him? In less than eight minutes, no less? With greater determination, Charley marched toward them.
    She’d play it Julie’s way.
    Rather than a simple, polite tap on the shoulder, Charley ran her fingers up the back of Wyatt’s neck.
    His arms dropped from Julie with a thud against his pants, and he spun to Charley, grabbed her and crushed his lips to hers.
    With a huff of breath, Julie slunk away, a proverbial tail between her legs.
    “I thought you’d never break in.” Wyatt nipped at her lips. “That dance was awful.”
    “Here now.” They fit their bodies together once again, the music lulling them into an easy sway.
    Charley’s arms found his shoulders. Wyatt’s found her lower back. Yet, they moved only their lips, shifting and adjusting to take each other farther into passion.
    “I’ll never forget this,” she said.
    “What?”
    She hadn’t meant to speak out loud. She crushed her lips against his again. She’d wanted to curtail her thoughts, to secret them away.
    “Okay, folks! We have five minutes! Five minutes left. Let’s wind this party down with two favorites. First, a classic.” Barry White’s wholesome and deep voice took over.
    “So.” Wyatt pulled her tight. “Stuart and I have a little extra planned for tonight.”
    “You—you do?” Charley faked a cough to cover the hitch in her breath.
    “Oh, yeah.” He smiled against her lips.
    As Barry spun a tale of love that resonated as deep as his voice, Wyatt’s fingers roamed Charley’s sides, teased small strokes that tickled and aroused. As his hands moved up, he extended hers above her head and into the air—a position she’d only ever seen prone. He walked the length of her arm with his fingers as lips and tongue slid from side to side, sending shivers to her toes.
    Their hip’s sway matched the melody. She let her arms float down until her fingers tangled in the silk of his hair again. More sensual than sex itself, they moved together.
    “Wyatt?” She mouthed against him.
    “Hmm?” His lips found new spots to lay their mark. He kissed her cheek and the length of her neck which stretched and arched in instinctive desire.
    I can’t do this! I can’t let him go again!
    “Last dance! This is the last dance!” the DJ announced. “Good night, Barry; hello, Ricky!” “Private Emotion” hit the queue.
    Ricky Martin’s voice rang through the room as dancers swayed in time with its rhythm.
    Charley pulled Wyatt’s face to hers. Tears burned in her eyes, but she held them in check.
    As the words to the song echoed, she considered the impossible. Can I just tell him? What if he understands? She shook her head at herself, forced herself to stop before he registered the