Page 75 of Flirty Dancing

“Mateo.” There was enough in Archer’s voice to get Mateo to pause with his hand on the door. “Have you not seen and heard the audience when you dance? Are you kidding me? They love you, Mateo. They fucking adore you. So you were partying too much five years ago. No one cares. Celebritiescan get high, crash a car, apologize, and book a new job the next day. You didn’t hurt anyone.”

“I hurt Abby,” he said softly, hand falling to his side. He turned to face Archer.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Archer asked.

Mateo’s eyes were wet. “I didn’t mean to,” he said in a rush. “There was one night I got drunk after the show, and Abby asked me if I was doing okay. We were friends and she was only worried about me, but I—I lashed out at her. Told her to mind her own business, that we weren’t friends at all, we just worked together, and then… I told her she only got the role because she was trans.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” He swiped an escaping tear. “Which is ridiculous. She’s so talented, and shewasmy friend, but I… Fuck, I was such an asshole, Archer. I think I wanted to hurt her because I was hurting. I was a mess. My parents had just died and… everything felt so wrong. The fame and attention felt wrong, I felt wrong, and… I ruined it all. She barely spoke to me after that, and I kept being a jerk. Then I got fired, and I haven’t said a word to her since.”

He slid down against the door and sat there, wiping his tears.

“Mateo.” Archer came over and sat next to him. “Being an asshole for a brief moment in your life doesn’t mean you ruined anything. It doesn’t mean you aren’t a good person, that you don’t deserve to be a star. You’re so fucking talented. I completely understand that was a hard time for you, but… you could have it again, if you wanted.”

Mateo sniffled. “I don’t think so.”

“I know so. I went to thirty-seven auditions over the last few months, and you are better than anyone I saw. You should at least try, if it’s something that you want.”

There was a beat of silence. “Thank you, Archer.”

“Of course.”

“You’ve been amazing all summer. I don’t know if I would have made it this far without you.”

“Oh.” Archer flushed, then was further distracted by Mateo putting his hand on his knee and squeezing before he stood. “I’m glad I could help.”

Archer stood too, and they faced each other in the shadows.

“Um,” Archer said at the same time Mateo pointed at the greenroom.

“I actually left my bag… but it would have slowed down my dramatic exit.”

Archer laughed. “I’ll wait if you want to grab it.”

Mateo collected his bag, then they headed out into the night together, but their paths split before long, one heading up the slope, one down.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mateo said when they paused at the fork. “Thanks again, Archer.”

“You’re welcome.”

Archer’s steps were light on his way up to his dorm. Things suddenly felt a little bit more right. He slept like a log that night.

17Shifting

Archer toweled his hair dry after his shower, relishing the quiet of his room. He had passed on going down to the cabin tonight—didn’t feel much like partying with the others after another Caleb-Mateo showdown at the theater. Caleb had thought it would be a good idea to break from the choreo during the Bollywood finale ofAround the Worldto go dance through the audience. The guests loved it. Mateo, not so much.

“What the fuck, Caleb?” he had growled as soon as they were in the greenroom.

Caleb rolled his eyes. “Here we go.”

“Here we go? Sorry for not being on board The Caleb Train, I guess!”

Caleb laughed. “Wow, you went ahead and said it right out loud. Can’t do anything that takes attention away from Mateo Dixon, Broadway star!” he said, punctuating his words with jazz hands.

“Give me a fucking break.” Mateo jabbed a finger at him. “This is not about me, this is about you continuing to dowhatever the fuck you want, including leaving your fellow dancers hanging out to dry while you strut around the theater like a goddamn folk hero.”

“The audience loved it, Mateo,” Grace chimed in. She shrugged and began to peel her sari off. “What’s the big deal?”

---