Page 12 of Flirty Dancing

12

Late

Archer woke up Wednesday morning wrapped around Caleb. The heat of his body and the sleepy scent of his sweat sent tendrils of warmth winding through his center. Memories of the night came back to him in snatches of curled toes and grasping hands, and the smoldering embers inside him sparked back to life. He glanced at the other beds to make sure there was still no sign of Beau and Ben. It seemed they had very kindly vacated the room for the night.

Archer smiled when he saw Caleb blinking at him with heavy eyes.

“Morning,” Caleb mumbled. He brushed his lips over Archer’s jaw.

“Morning.” Archer pulled the blanket up around them.

“How are you?” Caleb asked, tracing his fingers over Archer’s chest.

“Really good.”

“Oh, yeah? I can tell.” Caleb’s hand slid between Archer’s legs and took hold of him with a firm grasp.

Archer laughed. “Hold that thought.” He slipped out of bed, pulled on some random clothes, and hurried to the bathroom to relieve himself and brush his teeth, Caleb following. Then they raced back, giggling and tossing their clothes before they tumbled into the bed and began engaging in a repeat performance of the night before.

A while later, the day now fully underway and his stomach growling, Archer sat up and stretched. “Come on. We’re going to miss lunch, too.”

“Noooo…” Caleb pulled Archer back under the covers. “Stay with me.”

“I’m so hungry,” Archer moaned, his stomach rumbling in agreement.

“Shhh.” Caleb reached for the gift shop bag on the bedside table and dug into it. “Here you go!” He handed Archer a chocolate bar.

Archer furrowed his brow and frowned with mock seriousness. “I’m afraid that’s not going to cut it.”

“Okay, hear me out,” Caleb laughed. “Eat this now, cuddle with me for, like, ten, fifteen—twenty more minutes, then we’ll go grab a picnic and take it out in a boat. Yeah?”

“Hmm.” It was a romantic idea, Archer had to admit, and Caleb’s eyes were so big and beautiful when he was trying to be convincing. “Deal.”

“Yesss.” Caleb ripped open the chocolate bar and offered it to Archer, who took a big bite and then snuggled up with a contented sigh.

They cuddled and swapped chocolatey kisses until there was no more avoiding it. “Okay,” Archer groaned. “I’m still hungry, and it’s been thirty minutes.”

“Fine,” Caleb pouted. “Only because your stomach is growling so loud.”

They had quick showers, Archer threw a beach bag together, and they headed to the dining hall, where they packed up chicken sandwiches layered with extra avocado. They held hands on their way down to the main beach.

“We’re allowed to take boats out?” Archer asked, watching the guests enjoying themselves along the shore, a few kids splashing in the shallows as their parents looked on.

“Yeah, they usually don’t mind if staff have a boat or two out, as long as it’s not too busy.”

They clambered into a small rainbow-painted rowboat, laughing as they found their footing.

“When’s the last time you were in one of these?” Caleb asked as Archer frowned at the oar.

“Couldn’t even tell you,” Archer replied, giving it an experimental wiggle. “And I’ve never rowed one.”

“Never? Okay, the main thing is it’s important we stroke in sync.”

It took them a few lopsided circles, but it wasn’t long before the little boat was propelling straight through the glassy green water, the sun hot on their heads, and chickadees calling from the shore.

When they reached the middle of the lake, Archer paused to catch his breath. “Look,” he said, pointing up and shading his eyes. “A hawk.”

Caleb looked up, squinting. “An osprey, I think.”

“Beautiful.” They sat in silence for a moment, awed by the nature around them, then right as Archer opened his mouth to speak, Caleb snickered.

“Let me guess—you’re hungry?”

Archer chuckled. “You know me so well.”

They dug into their sandwiches, laughing and chatting, pointing out other birds they spotted, until they had polished off all the food. Archer packed up their garbage, then laid out the towels on top of the life jackets on the bottom of the boat. They curled up together, leaning back against one of the seats.

Archer’s eyes were just starting to close when his phone buzzed. A text from his dad. Hello? was all it said. He sighed.

“Who’s that?” Caleb mumbled.

“My dad, in all his passive-aggressive glory.”

Caleb took Archer’s phone from him and stuffed it into his bag, followed by his own phone. “Let’s relax for a bit.” His fingers drifted down to Archer’s waistband.

Archer let out a contented sigh and slid his hand under Caleb’s shirt. Great idea.

The time passed by quite pleasantly—Archer had had more action in the last twenty-four hours than he’d had the entire five months in New York—and, with Caleb’s head on his shoulder and a satisfaction deep in his bones, the gentle rocking lulled them both to sleep.

“Fuck!” Archer jolted awake in the boat and sat up in a panic, lurching Caleb off his shoulder. “Fuck! What time is it?” The sun flirted with the hilltops. He scrambled for his bag.

“Hmm?” Caleb rubbed his eyes.

“Shit, Caleb! It’s five thirty!”

“What? Shit.”

Archer scanned the shoreline. They had drifted even farther away from the resort, the white buildings barely visible in the distance. “Oh my God, we’re going to be late for the show.”

Caleb grimaced. “We can make it. Let’s go.”

Archer grabbed an oar and rowed as hard as he could. By the time they were halfway, his muscles ached and his brow dripped with sweat. It looked like they were closer to the theater than they were to the marina, which were on opposite ends of the beach.

“Forget the marina,” Archer panted. “It’ll be faster if we row straight to the theater.”

They rammed the boat onto the little strip of sand, bemused patrons watching them from the deck, colorful summer cocktails in hand, as they scrambled out of the boat and around the back of the building.

It was 5:56 when they went tearing in the back door. Dominik started laughing when he saw them go flying by to the greenroom.

Mateo was pacing by Archer’s costume rack, phone pressed to his ear. His face went from concern to anger when he saw them. “Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been calling you.”

“I’m so sorry,” Archer gasped, wrenching his sweaty clothes off and pulling on his hip-hop costume—fortunately the track pants and hoodie were forgiving of the rough treatment. “My phone was in the bottom of my bag, I guess. We’ve been rowing…”

“Rowing?”

“We took a boat out and fell asleep.”

“You—”

“Relax, Dad,” Caleb interjected, patting Mateo’s cheek. “We’re here.”

Mateo pushed Caleb’s hand away and opened his mouth to reply when Francisco’s voice boomed from the front-of-house speakers. Mateo’s eyes were laser beams. “Places,” he hissed.

They ran from the greenroom right onto the stage, Archer’s heart pounding before he even began dancing.

It was not his best show. He knew it. But he made it through, hit all his cues, remembered all the steps, and he doubted the audience could even tell he was dragging a little.

Mateo noticed, of course. He glared at them after the first show. “Grab some food, catch your breath, and get your shit together by nine.”

“Hey…” Caleb hooked his fingers around Archer’s hip, pointedly ignoring Mateo. He pulled Archer closer and kissed him. “I thought you were hot out there. But save some sexy for me, yeah? I want some more of what I got last night… and this morning… and on the boat.”

Archer flushed while Mateo glowered.

“Glad to see you’re feeling bad about almost missing the fucking show,” Mateo snapped.

“We’re really sorry, Mateo—” Archer started.

“Look,” Caleb interrupted. “If we had missed it, sure, be pissed. But we didn’t. So calm the fuck down.”

Mateo clenched his jaw. His eyes shifted to Archer and, for one heart-stopping second, gave him a look so plaintive and searching that Archer almost stepped toward him. Then it was gone, replaced with stone. “Whatever,” he muttered. “Do whatever the fuck you want.” And he turned and marched off.

Caleb made a face at Mateo’s retreating back. “Ugh, I’m getting so sick of him.” He mopped at his brow with a towel and gave Archer a smile. “Let’s go grab some dinner.”

Archer sighed. “We have to return our boat.”

“Nah.” Caleb waved a hand. “It’s fine. The marina is closed now, anyway. We can bring it back in the morning.”

Archer paused. “I don’t feel right about letting it sit there. Plus, our stuff is still in it.”

“Okay, well, if you want to go now, I’ll meet you at the dining hall. I’m starving .” Caleb changed back into his clothes and gave Archer a kiss before he strolled out the door with Ben and Beau and the others.

Archer shivered as he shrugged back into his damp shorts and tank top, then headed out into the evening by himself. He slipped down the small, sandy embankment and back into the boat, arms screaming in protest as he rowed along the beach. The water was dark now, reflecting the last rays of light in rippled yellow stripes. The marina was indeed closed, so he tied their boat to the dock, neatly stacked the life jackets on the seat, and gathered up their belongings. It was a long walk back across the length of the beach and down the path to the employee dorms. He stopped by their room to change and drop off their stuff, then made the hike up to the dining hall. He wanted to jog to save some time, but there wasn’t enough gas left in the tank.

“There you are!” Caleb said when Archer sat next to him with a tuna melt. “You’d better hurry up. We need to head back in a minute.” Caleb was already finished and had his chin propped up on one hand, drinking a milkshake and deep in conversation with Ben.

“A romantic boating adventure, hey?” Dominik chuckled on Archer’s other side. “Hope it was worth it. I haven’t seen Mateo that pissed before.”

Archer sighed and stared at his sandwich, the knot of guilt in his stomach growing.

“He actually wasn’t mad till you got back,” Betty added. “He was just worried at first.”

“I do not need some washed-up old man overseeing my every move,” Caleb said loudly, joining the conversation. “I mean, Mateo isn’t my boss, or my father. He can fuck right off, actually.”

Stewart said Mateo was in charge , Archer thought, but he didn’t have the energy to argue about it right now. Instead, he stood. “We’d better get back.” He took his food with him and nibbled on the way.

The second show was worse. His muscles were rubber, and lifting his arms over his head was painful. He knew his dancing was sloppy. He couldn’t even look at Mateo afterward and hurried out of there as fast as he could, without waiting for Caleb. All he wanted to do was curl up and sleep this day off.

He had a quick shower and was settled into bed almost asleep when Caleb came back from his shower.

“You want to head down to the cabin?” Caleb asked, smoothing on some aftershave in the mirror.

“Not tonight,” Archer mumbled.

“Oh.” Caleb turned to frown at him. “You want me to stay with you?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m exhausted. I’ll be asleep in a minute.”

“Okay…” Caleb patted his pockets and looked around the room. “Fuck, I think I left my phone at the theater. Did you see it anywhere?”

Archer shook his head. “Sorry, no.”

“Alright.” Caleb leaned over to leave a kiss on Archer’s forehead. “Get some sleep then, princess. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“’Kay. Have fun.”

Caleb shut the door quietly behind him and Archer was starting to drift when the thought of his dad’s text bubbled up to the surface of his brain.

“Fuck,” he muttered, sitting up and reaching for his duffel. His parents would already be cranky about him not calling back, and then if he ignored the text, too—better send a reply promising to talk in the morning. But when his hand closed over a phone in the bottom of his bag, it was Caleb’s, not his. He groaned. Guess it wasn’t bedtime quite yet. If he hurried, he could catch Caleb before he schlepped all the way to the theater looking for a phone that wasn’t there.

Archer pulled on some sweats and was halfway down the path when he came upon two people kissing under a maple tree. Two men. One of them looked a lot like Caleb.

One of them was Caleb.

Archer’s feet screeched to a halt at the same time his heart did. Pebbles clattered around his shoes.

Caleb looked around and saw him. Worry flashed over his face. “Archer!” He said something quick and low to the other man—a big, solid guy—who trundled off down the path. Archer thought he recognized him from maintenance. Caleb hurried up to him. “What are you doing here?”

“Your phone,” Archer said dumbly, holding it out.

“Oh, thanks.” Caleb took it, chewing on his lip.

“You… you’ve been seeing someone else?” Archer’s head was spinning.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you. But we never said we were exclusive or anything. We weren’t even sleeping together.”

“Yes, we are!”

“Well, yeah, now we are! Look, I was just telling Steve it was over, anyway. It’s been super casual. We only make out sometimes. I haven’t fucked him or anything.”

Archer opened and closed his mouth. True, they had never had a relationship talk or even used the word boyfriend yet…

“Archer, I really like you.” Caleb took his hand. “A lot. Yes, I should have told you. I just wasn’t sure you were that into me, to be honest. But after last night and our amazing day on the boat…” The boat. It was a distant memory now. “I want to be with you.”

A hundred thoughts swirled through Archer’s brain. “You were kissing him.”

Caleb squeezed Archer’s hands. “It was a goodbye kiss, I swear.”

Admittedly, from what he had seen, it was a very brief kiss. Archer sighed. “Okay.”

A tentative smile slid onto Caleb’s face. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

Caleb heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you for trusting me. I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that, right?” He wrapped his arms around Archer and pulled him in for a hug.

“I know.”

“Let’s head back to the dorm, okay?”

“No, it’s fine. You go ahead. I’m so tired, I just want to pass out.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Caleb kissed him. “Okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Archer trudged back up the path, trying to make sense of the situation. Yes, Caleb should have told him earlier, but he could also see Caleb’s point that it hadn’t been anything serious until last night, and Caleb told Steve it was over the first chance he got.

His brain was grinding to a halt and crying out for the sweet oblivion of sleep when he opened the door to his room. But instead of blissful silence, he heard angry voices suddenly hush.

Ben and Beau stared at him from where they stood in the middle of the room.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Archer said, swaying on his feet. “I really need to go to bed.”

“It’s fine,” Ben said wearily. “You’re not interrupting.”

Beau glared. “Yes, once again, my feelings are unimportant.”

“You know what?” Ben shrieked, going from zero to sixty, clearly a man at the end of his rope. “Maybe we should break up! Because you obviously don’t trust me!”

Archer eyed his bed as Beau’s face crumpled.

“I mean honestly, Beau! What more do you need me to say? I’m with you , I love you . I don’t want anyone else here, or anywhere!”

Beau nodded and wiped at a tear. “I’m sorry, my love. You’re right.”

Ben sagged. “Am I? Because I can’t keep having this same fight.”

Archer eased into the room, avoiding eye contact with them, and crawled under his covers, nearly weeping with relief as his body sank into the mattress.

“You are.” Beau’s words were muffled.

“Then please, trust me. There is no one else for me.”

Trust… The word throbbed through Archer’s head. Do I trust Caleb? He tried to give himself over to sleep, but sounds and images from the day played in his brain like a television recap—being late for the show, Mateo’s seething anger, Ben and Beau’s fight, Caleb with Steve… It took Archer a long time to fall asleep, despite his exhaustion.