Page 21 of Dared

A huff of breath hit the side of my throat. “Okay, if you say so.”

“I do.”

I tugged at his hair lightly, and he spoke up again. “I had an idea. You know how I dared you to learn and perform a dance routine?”

“I was hoping you’d forgotten about that,” I muttered, and he laughed.

“What if we do it for the club? It’ll help me to focus on something, and it means you get to show off your new moves for Daisy.”

For Daisy.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Good. Let’s make it official. I dare you, Finn Carsley, to learn a dance routine and perform it at Sanctuary on Saturday night.”

With Leo’s smile pressed against my neck and the happiness in his voice, how could I say anything but yes?

9

“Let me get this straight. You’re going to teach the football player how to dance?” JJ’s eyes sparkled with amusement.

I stared down at the studio floor, suddenly uncertain. Had this been a stupid idea?

“Hey. Leo. I didn’t mean it like that. You’re capable of doing it, you know that, right? It was just an image I had of Finn trying to dance.” He waved his hand in the air. “It’s not important.”

“Do you really think I can do it?” Raising my head, I met his gaze. His eyes were warm, and he was smiling at me.

“Of course I do. Finn, I’m not so sure about. I only have his moves on the pitch to go by, so maybe he’s got skills I don’t know about. But if anyone can teach him, you can. You two have a special connection. He can get you to do things you wouldn’tordinarily do, so I’m sure it applies the other way around.” He gave a decisive nod. “Yeah, if anyone can teach him, it’s you.”

“Thanks.” I glanced up at the wall clock that hung above the studio door. “I’m glad you think so because he’ll be here in about five minutes.”

“It’s gonna be fine.” JJ pulled me into a quick hug. “Promise.”

“So this is what you get up to when I’m not around.”

With a screech, I tore myself away from JJ to see Dr. Wilder standing in the doorway, two cups of coffee clasped in his hands. His mouth was curved into a smirk.

“Kill, stop scaring my friends, or I’ll have to punish you,” JJ announced, waltzing over to his boyfriend and swiping one of the cups from his grip. “Is this for me?”

“I’ll be the one doing the punishing, my sunshine,” he murmured, low and husky, and I saw JJ shiver. This wassoawkward. I shuffled over to the far side of the studio, trying to act as if I was invisible, and exhaled with relief when JJ called out a goodbye and they left me alone.

“I found it! Your secret lair, where you hang out when you’re not playing with computers.”

My head shot up to see Finn grinning at me from the doorway, and I beckoned him inside.

“Excuse me, I do not play with computers. I do very important things with them.”

“Course you do.” He stepped into the studio and then stopped, seeming to take me in for the first time. He ducked his head, biting down on his lip, and my gaze shot to the mirror, examining myself. Did I have something on me?

Nope. Everything looked normal, as far as I could see. Messy red hair in serious need of a trim, black dance tights, loose sleeveless teal workout top…

Same old me.

I pointed towards my laptop, which was balancing on a small table in the corner of the studio. “This is a double dare today. I’m teaching you to dance, and you’re teaching me confidence for the club. I spent a while researching the kind of dances people do at clubs because, um, I haven’t exactly been to one before—” I grimaced. This was a stupid idea, wasn’t it?

“You researched club dancing?” Stepping up behind me, so close I could feel his body heat, Finn smiled at my reflection in the mirror. “So sweet.”

“Hey!”

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