Page 16

Chapter Two

A week of dancing has gotten me nowhere. I actually think I’m just flustering Kaiya, but she’s too nice to say anything.

I kick her foot and she looks at me in disbelief. “What’s the next move?” she asks.

“A crossover break.”

“Correct, then why are you going that way?”

“I’m sorry,” I say as I try it again.

As I kick her foot for the fifth time today, I realize that not even looking at Lito’s gorgeous body in that tight gray t-shirt will make me feel any better. And that’s because my father’s right. I’m not good at this. Everyone here is leaps and bounds ahead of me, and I’m just holding Kaiya back. I thought seeing Lito would make my day, but all I can think about is the third call I received from my father where I had to listen as he chastised me.

Really, I should quit so at least Dad will be happy. I’m sure there’s a local ballroom company that I can continue to take lessons at, and I won’t even tell him. He’s going to be so thrilled when I tell him I’m quitting. Maybe even proud of me for once.

When class ends, I’ve never been happier. Since I see that there are a few people following Lito to his adjoining office, I decide to stop by the bathroom first before telling him that I’ve decided to quit.

When I return, the room has completely cleared out, so I head to his office. That’s when I hear Kaiya talking to him.

“I don’t think he’s taking this seriously, and this means a lot to me,” she says. “The showcase is… it’s a big deal, and he’s just taking the class for fun or extra credit or something. Can I have a different partner?”

“Everyone already has a partner,” Lito says.

“What if I get someone to switch with me?”

“Kaiya, it’s only the first week?—”

“Do you know how important this is?”

Lito sighs. “I’ll think about it.”

She comes zooming out of the room so fast that she slams into me since I’d been eavesdropping outside the door. Kaiya gives me a look of horror before rushing over to her bag and slipping out of the room before I can say anything to her. It’s not like I would. But now I’m too embarrassed to even go into the office and face Lito. How can I face my dream man who was just told that I am an embarrassment and should stop dancing?

How? By emailing him.

I quickly turn around just as the door behind me opens.

“Hunter?”

I freeze in my tracks before slowly looking at him. While a part of my brain is having a party because it got to hear Lito call out my name, the other part is telling my face that it should heat up until I look like an overripe tomato. And of course, that part wins out.

“Yes?” I squeak out.

“I’m guessing you heard that,” he says before sighing.

“It’s fine. Actually, I was waiting out here to tell you that I’m going to drop the class… so that works out perfectly. Thank you… have a good day.”

He raises a perfectly arched eyebrow. Who has eyebrows that perfect? They were clearly sculpted by a grand eyebrow sculpting master.

“Because of what Kaiya said?”

I shake my head. “Oh, no, I was here before that. I… just… I have a lot to do with my other classes, and I’m not actually any good at it, and my father wants me to quit. So I’m going to quit,” I say in a rush.

“Number one: everyone has a lot to do with their classes; it’s college. Number two: you’re not a bad dancer. Yes, you need some work, but what’s the sense of being perfect at something? And three: why does your father want you to quit?”

“He thinks it’s not manly enough.” I look at him in horror. “Not that you’re not manly enough. I mean, like, obviously you're manly. Your manly muscles are very manly.” Oh my god. Kill me now. Now I have to quit just because I brought up his muscles. WHY am I bringing up the professor’s muscles to his face?

Lito starts laughing and the traitorous part of my brain wants to smile while the logical part wants to find the nearest toilet to drown in. “Well… thank you… I guess.”

“So, have a good day!”

“Put your shoes back on. I have two hours before my next class, what about you?”

“S-Same, but I’m quitting.”

“Shoes on.”

When the god of “manly muscles” tells you to put your shoes back on, you put your goddamn shoes back on. Preferably on the right feet, which I do not do since I’m staring at him. I quickly switch the shoe, but he notices me pulling it off the wrong foot and raises an eyebrow.

“Maybe that’s your issue, you’ve been wearing your shoes on the wrong feet.”

My face decides that tomato red is not red enough and goes for vibrant red, judging by the heat radiating from it. “NO! I just… grabbed the wrong one.”

“Do you have your paper that you wrote your choreography on?”

“I do,” I say as I pull it out of my backpack and hand it to him. While I tie my shoes, he looks over it before setting it down.

“First thing, let’s do a box. You really seem to like boxes.”

I wince. Of course he’d notice that. “Like… by myself?”

“No, with me.”

No. I can’t. I have to dance with the professor? Screwing up with Kaiya is nothing compared to how I’m going to screw up when the professor is watching. I nervously walk up to him.

“You’re the leader, Hunter.”

I hold my hand out to him and he sets his lithe fingers into it. His strong hand wraps around mine as I reach back for his shoulder blade. He has such a broad back and is a good six inches taller than me, so it feels strange and amazing, but mostly bad for my health.

“Does this feel good?” he asks.

It feels really good, but I’m sure that’s not what he’s asking.

I slowly look up into his honey-brown eyes and imagine myself pressing my lips against his before sinking into him. Ah yes, I’m sure that’s what he was hoping I was thinking about instead of staying focused.

“Yes?” I ask.

“Yes?” Lito repeats, looking amused. “Does it? We could fit five people between us. Why are you so far away from me? You’re literally stretching to be able to hang on to me.”

I look at the huge gap between us, which is clearly needed before I die of embarrassment.

With a strong tug, he pulls me forward and my knee knocks into him. “There we go. I’m glad you decided to join the party.”

I’m not sure my heart is going to make it through this party.

“Go ahead and do two boxes.”

I slide my foot forward, dying to look down to make sure I don’t scuff his foot and embarrass myself. He easily follows along with me as my heart races a hundred miles an hour, my lungs forget how to work, and my brain tells me I’m going to screw up.

“Start your routine,” he says.

And then I kick his foot.

“I’m so sorry.”

“You’re fine.”

The routine is currently only three steps, but I barely get through it before staring at him in defeat. “See? I can’t do it.”

“Where does this lack of confidence come from?” he asks.

“What? I’m not… it’s not a lack, it’s facts. I’m bad at it, so I should quit.”

Lito lets go of me and stares at me for a moment.

“Have you ever followed before? Or only led?”

“I’ve only led,” I answer, since our company had a surplus of followers and barely any leaders.

“I’m going to show you what you’re doing and maybe by feeling it, you’ll understand,” he says as he holds out his hand. I take it and start to put my other hand on his shoulder blade before moving it to his arm.

He steps into me, and I fumble backward before getting into the rhythm of it. Then he turns and I’m completely lost. I try to follow what I think he’s wanting, but he hasn’t verbally told me the moves, so I’m not sure what I should be doing. Instead, I end up trampling his feet and looking even worse than before.

Lito stops and gives me a “See?” look with a warm smile.

I sigh, unsure what he has to be happy about at this moment. “I really suck at this.”

“Would you believe me if I told you that your footwork is phenomenal? The only reason you’re scuffing feet is because you aren’t leading properly.”

“No, I’d call you a liar.”

He chuckles. “But I’m not.”

“I’ve stepped on Kaiya’s feet all day and now yours.”

“I think you lack confidence and that’s why you’re struggling. Let’s try this again,” he says as he shakes my hand that he’s holding. “Where’d this noodle arm come from? I don’t want to touch a noodle.”

Please don’t talk about touching noodles.

Lito presses against my hand. “I should be able to feel you here. When I push into you, your arm shouldn’t go back. Own that arm. You and your partner need to feel each other. Can you feel me now?”

“Yes.”

“That’s it.”

He steps into me without warning, and I immediately step back. And when he turns to the side, I follow him, like I know what he was planning. My body just moves into each movement like it’s been programmed to.

Then he stops and looks down at me. “I did the same steps both times, but you were able to follow me because I led you. I moved you with my body.”

“So… you’re saying that I should just follow?”

Lito grins and shakes his head. “No, I’m not. Unless you want to follow. Generally, the male leads and the female follows, but you can do anything you’d like.”

“If my father saw me following, he’d be horrified. He already thinks straight men can’t dance. Not that… you can’t be straight and dance. Um. I don’t know if you’re straight, but my dad said it. I didn’t say anything. I have no idea what I’m talking about, please stop me. I have to quit. I can never show my face here again,” I say as I try pulling away from him.

He’s laughing too hard to let me free. “Well… I’m pretty sure anyone can dance even if your father is… confused.”

“I didn’t mean it like… that… I just…” I sigh, really wishing he’d let me go so I could run away and never be seen again.

“Well, now that we have that settled, here are my thoughts. You need to gain confidence in your leading. You’re kicking her feet because she doesn’t know which direction you’re going. You honestly have a good frame and amazing footwork.”

“I don’t know… but this class should be for people who want to do this professionally.”

“Says who? Who came up with that rule?”

He steps into me and I find myself easily following as I say, “Everyone here is.”

“So? Why do you think you need to be like everyone else? It’s already clear you’re not.”

“Because I suck.”

“You don’t suck.”

He lets go of me and I find the spot where he’d been touching growing cold. I want his hands back.

“Let’s meet after class again on Wednesday, deal?”

If I don’t quit… I get to dance with him again? I mean… I still have another full week before I’d have to withdraw from the class.

“Okay…”

“Good, I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

Lito heads into his office, leaving me to change my shoes. While I should go back to my dorm, I really want to go see the only person on campus that I know will listen to my dilemma.

My brother.

When I reach Parker’s dorm room, I hammer on the door. Since he’s decided to take over as a resident advisor in the freshman dorm, he has a room all to himself. I’m convinced that he didn’t do it out of the goodness of his heart to guide the freshmen but so that he had a private room he could bring girls back to.

The door swings open and he looks at me inquiringly. “Is the building on fire?”

“Not yet, but my sexy ballroom instructor would light it up with how hot he is. And I got to dance with him… even though I suck at it,” I declare.

Parker sighs but steps back so I can come in. He’s taller than me by a couple of inches, but besides that, we’re pretty close in appearance. I wear my dark brown hair a little longer than he does and at least care if it’s sticking up in the back.

His little room has one single bed, a desk, and a chair, which he sits at.

“Where am I supposed to sit?”

“On the bed.”

I look over at it and grimace. “I’m not sitting on your bed. I’d probably get a disease just from sitting on it.”

He raises an eyebrow. “It’s literally the first week of school. I’m still just scouting.”

“Scouting? Who says they’re ‘scouting for women’? Is that why they always leave looking so disappointed? Your face pulls them in but your personality drives them away.”

He chucks his water bottle at me, but after years of brotherly antics, I’ve honed my reaction skills and catch it. “Now what’d you come here for?”

“Well, I suck at dance, Dad’s an asshole, and I was planning on quitting until my dance instructor told me he’d give some private lessons.”

His face scrunches up. “Ew.”

“Not like that!”

“You wish it was like that.”

“I danced with him… privately. As in, I caressed his hand as I guided him with finesse across the dance floor as flowers bloomed around us.”

“It’s really no wonder you can’t get laid.”

“You would understand if you saw him. Let me see if I can find a video of him.”

I push Parker out of the way and commandeer his laptop so I can show him.

“Are you going to Pornhub?”

“I bet he’d make more on there than working here. But no. Different video.”

“What other kinds of videos would there be?”

“Is that why you wanted to be an RA? So you can just watch Pornhub videos all day?” I ask as I google Lito’s name. It doesn’t take long before I pull up a video of him dancing.

Parker leans in to get a good look at him. “Oh… I am secure enough in my masculinity to say that you don’t have a chance in hell of snagging a man like him. Baby brother, you really need to set your sights lower, like much lower. Look for the scraps that no one else wants so you can feel successful.”

I glare at him. “I hate you.”

His eyes get wide. “For being honest? I mean… you can’t look at that man and think you actually have a chance. He’s like a hundred and you’re a two at best.”

“Yeah, well… I already told him how muscular he is, so there.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “You did not.”

“It was an accident.”

Parker grins at me. “How are we related?”

“That’s not how you pick up girls?” I spin in the computer chair to face him. “Hey, babe,” I say in a deep voice. “I like your muscles.”

He starts laughing. “If I did that, the women would run.”

“Ah, must be my charmingly good personality that kept him from fleeing and even inviting me back for a second private session.”

“No, it’s because you’re paying money for that class.”

“I’m alright with that. I have no problem with paying him. Do you think if I offered him more he’d offer me more?”

“Get out of here. I have my two o’clock coming soon,” he jokes. “Go find some scraps no one else wants!”