Page 23 of Flirty Dancing

Oh no, what happened?

The library is undergoing renovations! The section where we met was closed and I got flustered. Plus Sasha had a bad day at work and she was kind of in vent mode and it didn’t feel very proposal-y.

Aw, that’s okay! You can try for another

time when the mood is right.

Yeah, I will. Let me know if you have another idea! In other news…A picture of their living room came through showing three buckets now instead of one.Leak Perry brought his friends, Jason Trickley and Tori Spilling.

Archer groaned and cackled at the same time.At least you got to come up with more names.

Lol. A small consolation.

You going full lawyer on Fletcher’s ass?

I’m trying. He’s rather impervious. Unlike our ceiling.

If anyone can tear him a new one, it’s you.

On it. Gotta go, we’re grabbing dinner. Kisses!

Backatcha.

Archer put his phone down and folded his arms under his head. He really missed Lynn. Even though they’d only been living together for five months, it seemed like they’d been friends for years, and it felt shitty not to be there for her when she was ready to make such a big leap.

“Archer!” Caleb burst in, eyes lit up, teeth gleaming white in a broad smile. “Last night! Let’s go!”

Archer moaned. “I’m so tired, Caleb.”

“Oh, no, no, no.” Caleb took his arm and tried to heave him off his bed. “It’s the last night before the guests arrive. We all go skinny-dipping and drink our faces off.”

Archer let Caleb pull him to a seated position but retrieved his hand from Caleb’s grasp. “I’m so confused as to how that’s different from what we’ve been doing all the other nights.”

“Come on! We have to tone it down once the guests are here. It’s our last chance to go crazy.”

Archer sighed and scrubbed his face.

“You can sleep in plenty this summer,” Caleb continued when he saw the chink in the armor. “Once the shows arerunning and Stewart leaves, you can sleep in every morning.”

“Wait, Stewart is leaving?”

“Yeah, you know, like in an actual Broadway show. The director gets the show going then takes off to do other things.”

“Like… drink tea and pet their dog?”

Caleb laughed. “Exactly. He’ll show up a couple more times for a check-in, but mostly we’ll be on our own. Anyway”—he grabbed Archer’s hand again—“it’s thelast night. Let’s go, sexy.”

Well, then. Caleb’s hand was warm. Archer stood. It was the last night, after all.

It was close to midnight when they were stretched out on the dock with a few of the other dancers, legs dangling over the side, panting after the exertion and skin tingling from the cool water. Archer studied Caleb, his features aglow and more beautiful than ever in the lantern light. The water beaded on his smooth skin, running down the groove between his abs until it collected in the fuzzy pineapple-yellow beach towel that was slung low around his hip bones. And below those hip bones… Archer had a peek as they threw themselves off the dock into the dark water, and that part of Caleb was, well… it was rather beautiful, too.

As if he knew what he was thinking, Caleb whipped his head around and threw him a devilish grin. “Aren’t you glad you came along?”

“Yeah.” Archer brushed a hand over the goose bumps on Caleb’s arm. “You were right.”

“I usually am, Archer.” Caleb’s eyes dropped down to Archer’s hand for a second, then back up. “Last one insidedoes a shot!” he announced. In one fluid motion, Caleb was on his feet, chucking his towel in Archer’s face and running down the dock back to the cabin, whooping as he went. The rest of the crew followed, shrieking and laughing.

Archer shook his head, chuckling. Cute ass, too.

---