Page 29 of I Wanna Dance

I could ask them and Leah to help me find a new place.

Yeah, I was ready, thanks to Leah, to truly move forward without forgetting my first love.

CHAPTER 13

Leah

Not feeling well. Won’t make it today. Marco sent me the message two hours before the salsa class. I was pissed as hell. We had sex this past weekend, and he was already wimping out.Pendejo!

The studio felt emptier without him.

The music was the same—lively, pulsing, daring me to feel something other than the anger simmering just beneath my skin. Viviana was effervescent, twirling across the floor in a neon yellow dress that only she could pull off, calling out instructions to the room.

Even though I knew he wouldn’t be there, I’d scanned the room instinctively when I got there, searching for his broad shoulders. But all I found was Viviana approaching me, her tone overly chipper as she said, “Marco’s not coming tonight, Leah. He called to cancel.”

Yeah, I knew!

I plastered on a smile for Viviana and told her it was fine, but it wasn’t.

The hour passed in a haze of forced smiles and robotic movements. Viviana’s dance partner, Antonio, was kind enough to step into Marco’s stinking shoes, but every step made me angrier.

I couldn’t stop replaying the last few days in my head—our night together, the way he’d looked at me like I was the only woman in the world.

And now?Nothing.

By the time class ended, I was a cocktail of emotions—hurt and confused. Added to that, a simmering rage was quickly bubbling to the surface.

I didn’t even realize I’d made the decision to drive to Marco’s house until I was halfway there.

The streets blurred past me as I processed what the hell I was doing.

Maybe I was overreacting. Perhaps he had a good reason. Or maybe…no. I wasn’t going to let myself spiral into the pathetic, self-loathing place I used to live in when Kevin started disappearing on me.

If Marco wanted to ghost me, he’d have to do it to my face.

When I pulled into his driveway, the house was dark except for a single light glowing in the living room window. I parked, slammed the car door, and marched to the front door, my heart pounding in my chest.

I rang the doorbell…unnecessarily hard.

It took a moment, but then the door opened.

“Leah?” Marco said, his voice low.

“Don’t you Leah me,” I snapped, pushing past him into the house.

He shut the door, turning to face me. “What are you?—”

“What am I doing here?” I cut him off, spinning around to glare at him. “You canceled class. I know why you did it, and I’m here to tell you to go fuck yourself.”

Marco began to cough then, and I finally noticed that he wasn’t feeling well at all.

His deep and raspy cough made my chest ache just hearing it. He leaned against his closed front door, clutching a tissue in one hand, his face pale.

“Cariño, I—” he started, but his voice cracked, and he coughed again.

I blinked, my anger faltering as I took in the sight of him. His broad shoulders were slumped, and his normally vibrant face was drawn and tired. He was wearing sweats and a rumpled T-shirt, his hair sticking up like he’d been lying down.

“You’re sick,” I acknowledged, my voice softening despite myself.

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