Page 24 of Flirting Lessons

Avery groaned but kept walking, and once they got close enough, she read the sign on the door.

“ ‘Queer Salsa Dancing,’ ” she read out loud. Oh no.

“Isn’t it a fun idea?” Taylor said. “I heard about it a while ago, but I’ve never been. There’s a class once a month.”

Avery opened the door for her.

“A really fun idea,” she said, because it was, in theory. Would it be fun for her? Absolutely not. She bit her lip and looked at Taylor. “The thing is…I don’t know how to salsa dance. Like, at all.”

Taylor grinned back at her.

“Neither do I. We’re both learning something new tonight.” She paused. “Well, you’re learning more than one thing tonight, but who’s counting?”

“You definitely seem to be,” Avery muttered.

“Some ground rules first,” Taylor said. Rules, okay, good. She liked rules. “You have to dance with strangers, so if there’s anyone here you know, you can’t dance with them, including me.” She grinned again, that slightly evil grin that Avery was starting to both anticipate and dread. “You also have to be the one to approach people to dance with,andit has to be someone you find attractive.”

Of course Taylor would raise the difficulty of their second lesson exponentially.

“How did you manage to make this sound even scarier than it already was?”

Taylor threw an arm around her.

“You’re going to be great at this. I have faith in you!”

“Has anyone ever told you that you should have been a cheerleader?”

Taylor let out a bark of laughter.

“Not even once. Come on.”

As they walked toward the registration table, Avery kept looking around. She nudged Taylor and inclined her head toward the center of the room, where two older women were practicing moves.

“Look at those two. They really know what they’re doing.”

Taylor stopped, and they watched them together for a while. Their brightly colored dresses flowed back and forth with them as they moved. Everyone had backed away to give them space.

“Fantastic,” Taylor said. “This is going to be fun.”

They walked up to the registration table, and Taylor gave the woman their names.

“You both are beginners, yes?”

“Yes, and some of us”—Taylor inclined her head toward Avery—“are a little nervous.” Of course Taylor would embarrass her like this. The woman at the desk gave them a warm smile and grabbed both of their hands. She looked straight into Taylor’s eyes, then Avery’s.

“Beauties like the two of you? Nervous? Impossible. I can already tell you’ll be the stars of the class today.” She probably said that to everyone, but in that moment, Avery believed her.

They both smiled back at her.

“Thank you,” Avery said. “We’ll do our best.”

The woman released their hands and beamed at them. “I knowyou will,” she said. “Class will begin in about fifteen minutes. We’re thrilled to have you.”

Taylor thanked her and put her arm through Avery’s.

“Let’s go over here. I have some friends here that I want to introduce you to.” She turned to Avery and anticipated the question Avery was about to ask. “And no, I didn’t know they were going to be here.”

They walked over to a cluster of people. When they spotted Taylor, they all hooted like she was a celebrity.

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