A body peeled away from the fire and moved toward us. Sweat glistened off Delano’s bare shoulders as he bowed at the waist. Pale hair tumbled across his forehead as he extended an arm. “Would you like to dance?”

I started to take his hand, but uncertainty filled me. Was it appropriate for me to do so?

Casteel dipped his cheek to mine. “You can dance with him.” His arm loosened around my waist. “You can do whatever you want.”

Do whatever you want.

Four words I hadn’t heard for most of my life. “I…I don’t really know how to dance.”

“No one does,” Delano said, grinning. “Until they do.” He wiggled his fingers. “What do you say, Penellaphe?”

Excitement bubbled up in me as my gaze darted over his shoulder to the figures moving around the bonfire. Do whatever you want. The breath that left me was heady. Twisting, I curled my fingers around Casteel’s chin and pulled his mouth to mine. I kissed him quickly. “I love you, Cas.”

His arm tightened briefly around me. “Have fun.”

Turning back to Delano, I placed my hand in his. “Poppy,” I told him. “Call me Poppy.”

Smiling, Delano pulled me to my feet. “Then let’s dance, Poppy.”

Stomach skipping, I followed him toward the rippling flames. Delano turned to me as the warmth of the fire pressed against my skin.

“I really don’t know how to dance,” I told him apologetically.

“Look around us.” Keeping his fingers wrapped around mine, he picked up my hand and placed it on his hip before resting his on my waist. “Do they look like they know how to dance? Or do they look like they’re having fun?”

Glancing around, I saw nothing like what I saw when I’d snuck through the back halls to spy on the balls held in the Great Hall of Castle Teerman. There were no rigid movements, nor was everyone paired with someone. A girl with long, blonde hair danced alone, her arms stretched above her head as her hips moved with the tempo. A brown-skinned man also danced alone, his body moving with fluid grace. Couples spun around each other, and others danced so close to one another it was difficult to tell where one body ended and the other began. I spied Kieran with the dark-haired female. With her golden-brown arms twined around his neck, they were one of the couples who danced so close that tongues would’ve been wagging in Masadonia. Kieran lifted the female, spinning her as she threw her head back and laughed.

“What do you see?” Delano prodded.

Dragging my gaze from them, I looked up at him. “They’re having fun.”

He smiled. “You can do that, right?”

I peeked over to where Casteel sat on the plush blanket, one arm resting on a bent knee as he watched us. A tiny part of me wasn’t sure I knew how to have fun, but I…I’d had fun today. I’d had fun when Tawny and I had snuck out together to visit the lake. I hadn’t been thinking about having fun those times. I was just…living. And that was the key, wasn’t it? To not overthink and to just live.