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Chapter Seven

It’s been four weeks since I had sex with Lito, but I honestly haven’t suffered as much as I thought I would. Even though we can’t romantically be together, I still get to be around him quite a bit and he texts me frequently.

With the fall showcase tonight, I find myself waiting in his office as he finalizes some things.

“Are you ready for tonight?” Lito asks.

He looks absolutely gorgeous in a white button-up with a vest over it. His jacket sits to the side, but the green tie is what really stands out.

“Ready… ish. Kaiya is pumped and I’m terrified. That’s pretty much how our relationship goes. She likes to go at it hard.”

“Oh?” he says with a sly grin. “Does she now?”

My face heats up as I shake my head. “Not hard like that… like dance hard… just… never mind!”

He starts laughing. “Do I need to be jealous?”

“No! Definitely no. Only… you,” I whisper.

Lito turns completely from his computer to watch me. “I only like you too.”

I bite my lip to keep from grinning like a fool, because it makes me really happy.

“Now let me finish up here, and I’ll walk with you to the Fine Arts building. And try not to get too nervous. It’s not a competition. It’s just a showcase. Is your father coming?”

“I don’t know. He acted like he’d just think about it, so I have my doubts. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re there to watch.”

“I’ll watch every moment of it. So you better not screw up or there will be punishment.”

I grin. “Thank you.”

When he’s ready, we start walking toward the Fine Arts building together. Since there are students walking near us, we can’t say much to each other, but just his presence is enough. I find myself anticipating a time when we can be open with our relationship. When we reach the door, he pulls it open for me.

“You’ll do excellent, alright?” Lito assures me.

“I’m going to mess up.”

“Then do it gracefully or make it funny.”

“Oh no, I never go for graceful or funny. I go for shame-my-family embarrassing.”

“You’ve never shamed me, so don’t worry about them. And with the way you talk about Parker, I doubt he’s ever been embarrassed by you.”

That makes me laugh because he’s well aware that my brother has spent the better part of his life harassing me. “Oh, I’m sure he has. This one time?—”

“Hunter!” Kaiya shouts. “Let’s get changed!”

Thankfully, she stopped me or I’m positive I would have spilled something embarrassing enough I could never look Lito in the eyes again.

I grudgingly leave him, wishing I was dancing with him tonight instead. But it makes me almost as happy knowing he’ll be there to watch. After getting changed, I anxiously wait for our turn, spending the entire time wishing Lito was back here with me. I try to distract myself by listening to Kaiya talk to her friends.

My phone buzzes, and I quickly pull it out.

Lito: You’ll do amazing.

Me: Thank you. I’m super nervous.

Lito: It’s okay to be nervous. Just pretend it’s only me out there.

When it’s our time, Kaiya and I go on, and I try to forget about the people and the lights, but there are so many. It makes my stomach tighten in anxiety as I let my self-doubt come creeping back in. That’s when I see Lito sitting toward the front of the crowd. He gives me a huge smile, and I soak it in and use it to give me strength. With a deep breath, I turn and step into position.

Thankfully, the hours of practicing with Lito makes the dance flawless, and every step goes almost perfectly. As I end the song with a dip, Kaiya has a grin on her face even though she’s supposed to look serious. When I pull her up and we bow, she squeezes my hand tightly. I really couldn’t have done it without the confidence Lito gave me as well as the patience Kaiya had with me as I ironed out my insecurities.

Together we walk off the stage, hand in hand. “That was awesome! You did an amazing job!” she says as she bumps her shoulder into mine.

I smile at her, glad we’ve become friends over the past weeks. “Thanks, you too. When I had to angle a bit because of the decorations on the stage, I never lost you.”

“Because you lost your noodle arm, as Lito likes to call it,” she teases.

Since we were toward the end of the showcase, we only have to wait another fifteen minutes before the show ends and we’re allowed to head out to greet the others.

Kaiya and I part ways, and instead of going to my family, I rush to find Lito. He’s still toward the front of the room, but when I find him, I realize he’s surrounded by students. I want to push them to the side so it’s only us, but when he looks up and smiles brightly at me, I know that it’s enough.

“Hunter!”

I turn to find Parker and Mom behind me, but when I see Dad standing next to them, I’m shocked. “Dad? You came.”

“I had some time,” he says. “You… you did great.”

I can’t stop smiling. I didn’t even realize that I cared that much. “I can’t believe you came.”

He nods. “I was… surprised. Last time I saw you, you just stumbled around.”

Of course that’s how he thinks I still dance. “I was a kid and it was my first ever performance.”

“Has it been that long?” he asks, like he could have forgotten that he’s never gone to anything else I’ve ever done pertaining to dance.

After Mom embraces me and gushes over my performance, Parker grabs me in a hug and squeezes me. “You did amazing! And you should definitely introduce me to your dance partner.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Of course that’s what you’re thinking about.”

He refuses to let me go as his eyes fixate on something past my shoulder. He leans in close so Mom and Dad can’t hear his teasing. “Oh man, your professor is heading over here, and he makes even my heart go pitter-patter.”

I start laughing. “Shush,” I say as I pull away and turn to see Lito.

He beams at me. “You did excellent, Hunter, as I assured you that you would.”

I’m trying not to look too excited as I face him. I’m convinced my smile is unnaturally large and try to tone it down before realizing that I’m overthinking it. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. I hope you have a wonderful evening.”

“Wait!” I say before he can move away. I know I can’t keep him beside me the entire night, but I can make him stay a few minutes longer. “Um… Lito, this is my brother, Parker, my mother, Marissa, and my father, Garrith.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lito says as he shakes their hands.

“I’ve heard about you. I’ve also been forced to watch videos of you dancing while Hunter goes ‘You see that step there? Can you believe he did that?’ and I have absolutely no idea what you did but I just nod and go ‘Wow’ and he’s thrilled,” Parker informs him.

I glare at him. “Ignore Parker. He thinks he got the funny genes in the family.”

“I don’t think. I know,” he says before smoothing his hair back in a ridiculous manner that makes Lito laugh. Parker looks quite smug about that.

“Well, I hope you guys have a great evening,” Lito says before moving on.

I want to go with him, but instead, I’m forced to go with my family. But when my father doesn’t chastise me about dancing or imply that I should invite Kaiya someplace, I realize that the night actually turned out alright.