Page 15 of Flirty Dancing

“Uh, no,” Mateo said. “No, not really, I was walking by and I was just going to ask—or say—good job today.”

Right at that moment Caleb strolled in. “Hey, Matty,” he said casually to Mateo. “How are things?”

Archer bit his lip, not wanting to lose his shit in front of Mateo.

“Fine, Caleb. I, uh—I’ve got to go. I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning.”

“What the fuck, Caleb?” Archer snapped as soon as Mateo’s form retreated from the room.

Caleb fell back onto his bed. “Oh, just a bit of harmless fun, Archer. Relax. Welcome to the troupe.”

“Fun? Mateo Dixon basically saw me naked!”

Caleb laughed. “No one is going to be mad about seeing you naked, not even Mateo.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. This is my job. I’m here to work.”

He rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to take this quite so seriously, Archer.”

The words piled up in Archer’s mouth. Maybe this wasn’t serious for Caleb or Ben and Beau or anyone. Maybe they were only here for fun. He was here because no one else wanted him, and he had to do it well.

“Just…” Archer ran his hands through his hair. “Leave my stuff alone, okay?”

“Fine.” Caleb sniffed.

Archer spread his comforter out in the icy silence, which was interrupted by his phone buzzing. Lynn was calling him. He ducked into the hall, ignoring Caleb’s sulk on the way.

“Archer! I miss you!” Lynn cried as soon as he answered.

“I miss you too.” He walked down the hall and out the door onto the creaky porch. It was already dark, but the night was warm. Crickets chirped in the greenery.

“How’s it going? Have you kissed Mateo yet?”

Archer laughed ruefully. “No, but he just saw me practically naked.”

“Ooh, do tell!”

“Unfortunately, not like that!” He told her the story.

“Okay, dick move by Caleb,” Lynn weighed in, “but… like, your body is objectively amazing. I bet Mateo enjoyed the experience.”

Archer flushed. “Maybe. So what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Hmm, okay, I’ll allow you to change the subject, only because this is important. As you know, Sasha and I have been together for six months now—”

“Mm-hmm…”

“—and I’m thinking about asking her to marry me.”

“What! Lynn, that’s amazing!”

“Is it? You don’t think it’s too soon? We haven’t even lived together yet… although we basically have been since you left.”

Archer considered what he had observed the past five months, and they seemed like a perfect pair, but he didn’t want to influence such an important decision. “Only you can know what feels right.”

“It feels right, it does.”

“Then that’s great.” His heart swelled with happiness for his friend.

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