Page 54 of Easy Out

“This should be interesting,” Manny mumbles from his seat with a devilish grin on his face.

Lauren meets me halfway. Everyone in the room has stopped what they’re doing to watch me potentially make a fool of myself.

“Can you do a baseball slide on this floor without hurting yourself?”

I see where she’s going with this. In baseball, we have been trained to slide and pop-up onto the bag quickly. If Cash can master the technique, it would cut his timing in half.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Perfect. Slide to me.” Lauren walks away and takes her spot. “Cash, count it out. Watch his footwork. Hart, you go on the count of two.” Cash counts and I take off running. Then slide on one knee, skimming Lauren’s body as I rise into a standing position.

“Just like that,” she says, her voice soft and breathy. Our eyes hold each other’s gaze until Carlos clears his throat bursting our bubble. Lauren steps back adding unwanted space between us. “Except add the body roll and the lift.”

“Thanks, Hart.” Lauren caresses my hand dismissing me.

"Not bad muchacho," Manny says when I take my seat. I shake my head. That wasn’t anything special. An elementary baseball skill. It’s nothing compared to what they can do.

Cash and Rocky talk for a minute then separate to give themselves enough room to work on their solos. They both put their earbuds on and immediately get lost in the music.

“Alright, are you two ready?” Lauren asks Trix and Vivi.

“I guess. What do you got for us, Lo?” Trix looks down at Lauren with his arms crossed over his chest.

“This is going to be a challenge, but I know you can do it. You have to tell the story. It’s not just about the movement. It’s the emotion behind it too. You need to be in love.”

“That’s going to be difficult,” Vivi says.

“Oh, come on, Vivi, baby. You know you can’t wait to get your hands all over this.” Manny chuckles when Vivi slugs him in the arm.

“In your dreams, Trix.”

“Let’s get serious, you two. We’re wasting time. Vivi, have you been practicing the spins I taught you?”

“A little. I haven’t had much time.”

“That’s fine. Show me what you got. If you mess up, just keep going. Trix, watch her a few times then copy her.”

Vivi starts spinning and gets around a few times before she messes up. Lauren encourages her to keep going and points out small corrections to improve her technique.

Trix gives it a try. It becomes painfully obvious this style of dance is not his strong suit. I start to question if he has any dance skills at all.

“Having fun yet, Trix?” Lauren asks in a tone so sweet I know mi brujita is up to no good.

“So much,” he grits out. Lauren holds his leg up higher, and he grimaces in pain as she stretches his muscles in a direction they aren’t used to going.

“I’m glad. Next time you decide to talk to a girl like you did, Vivi, remember this moment.” Lauren drops his leg, and it thuds on the linoleum floor. “Give me some knee spins, Trix.” That puts a smile on his face.

Trix twists his legs like a pretzel and drops to the floor spinning ridiculously fast on his knees. His knees change positions, but he keeps spinning. It’s like he transformed into a human dreidel.

Lauren instructs them to time their spins. She wants them to start and stop at the same time. She asks Vivi to get her leg high enough that it goes above Trix’s head.

It takes them a few tries to get their timing and positioning right, but when they do, it looks incredible. Lauren moves on, and they work on a few more combinations.

Every now and then, I catch her looking over at me. I don’t know if she is checking on me or checking me out. Or maybe she feels my eyes on her because every time she glances in my direction, I’m watching her shamelessly.

It doesn’t take long before everyone is overheating. All the guys have taken their shirts off. Lauren is dripping sweat and keeps lifting her shirt to wipe her brow. It’s part of mi brujita’s spell. It’s enchanting, and it’s making my dick hard. I have to keep reminding myself I’m sitting next to Manny.

My dick needs to calm the fuck down.

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