Page 22 of Dared

“I wasn’t taking the piss. The fact you took the time to do that. It’s sweet.” He squeezed my bicep, pressing his chest against my back for a second before stepping away. “Okay. Let me know what I need to do.” I watched in the mirror as he tugged his hoodie off, his T-shirt riding up as he did so. I caught a glimpse of defined abs before he yanked it back down. My heart rate was increasing for some reason, and we hadn’t even started dancing yet.

I cleared my throat, glancing back at my laptop. “It’s better if we go barefoot, I think. Shoes off, then come over here.” This was already weird. I’d been dancing for a while, but I’d never tried to teach anyone else what to do. Teaching involved a whole different skill set, and I just hoped I could get through this session without making a fool of myself. At least this was Finn. He’d understand if I messed up.

Finn came up next to me, and I hit Play on the video I’d bookmarked. It was a compilation of clips of dancers doing different routines to the same song. When we reached the clip I wanted to focus on, I paused the video.

“Watch this one. I thought we could learn this dance. The steps are fairly simple, so I don’t think you’ll have any trouble picking them up, and based on the research I did, it should work as a club dance, too.” Hitting Play again, we watched the clip,and then I went through it again at a slower speed, pointing out the footwork and arm placements. Finn sighed next to me, reaching up to rub at his face.

“This seems complicated. How do you remember all the steps, and how to hold yourself, and all that?”

“Lots of practice. Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to get it straight away.” His expression was still hesitant, so I added, “I’m not expecting it to be perfect, either. And, Finn? This is meant to be fun, but if you’re not into it or don’t want to do it, I’m not going to force you.”

He turned to me then. “I do want to do this. It’s just all a bit overwhelming.”

“I have faith in you,” I told him. It was weird for me to be the one reassuring him he could do something, but it was nice, and when he gave me a small smile, it made something inside me warm.

We went through a series of warm-ups, and then I got the music ready.

“Watch me go through it once, then I’ll break it down for you.” I could already feel my face heating because Finn was so close, watching me so intently. No one else had ever been this close and watched me like this other than JJ and Alyssa, who were dancers themselves, so it didn’t count.

Finn nodded, leaning back against the mirror with his hands shoved into the pockets of his black joggers. Swallowing my nerves, I started up the music track and then began to move. The steps were simple, and the entire short routine I’d planned to teach him was only around twelve seconds long—which, okay, to a non-dancer still might be a little daunting, but I was going to do my best to break it all down for him in the easiest possible way.

When I was done, I stopped the music and looked over at Finn.

“So?” I said eventually, after he just stared at me. It was a little unnerving.

“Did— You’re amazing,” he said, his voice a little hoarse. Clearing his throat, he lowered his gaze, scuffing his toe on the floor. “Yeah. Amazing.”

“Stop embarrassing me.” I covered my face with my hands, and I heard his soft chuckle. A warm huff of breath skated over my skin, and then his fingers were curling around mine, prying them away from my face.

“You’re ridiculous,” he said, wrapping his arms around me. My arms automatically went around his back, and I hooked my chin over his shoulder.

“You’re the ridiculous one. You’ve seen me dance before,” I mumbled, pressing my nose into the side of his face. Whatever his shampoo was, it smelled good. Like apples and a hint of spice. Apple pie, maybe.

I heard, or felt, his breath hitch. “A-are you sniffing me?” His voice had a bit of a crack to it.

“Sorry. Your shampoo? Whatever it is. It smells nice.”

He let out a shaky laugh, releasing me, and I might have been imagining it, but the atmosphere in the room had changed, grown heavier in a way I couldn’t even begin to describe.

Fucking hell, Leo. Why did you have to make it weird? Friends don’t sniff each other’s hair.

“Sorry,” I said again. “Clearly, I need more practice in how to be normal.”

“Leo. Don’t speak about yourself like that.” Gripping my chin, he nudged it upwards, so I had no choice but to look at him. His brows pulled together, and then he suddenly darted forwards, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

Akiss?

When he moved back, my face wasn’t the only one that was flushed.

“There. We’re even now,” he said.

“Did—did you just kiss my hair?”

“Uh, yeah.” He shifted on his feet, shoving his hands back into his pockets. “It tops you sniffing my hair in the weirdness department, right?”

I thought about it for a minute, a smile spreading across my face as I realised he’d done it to make me feel less awkward. My entire body relaxed, and I felt like I could breathe properly again.

“I dunno. Sniffing your friend’s hair is definitely weirder than kissing them. Friends kiss platonically.”

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