Page 9 of Flirty Dancing

now.

Everything okay? Did you kill my plants

already? Tell me Spot is alright.

Lol, no! Everything’s great, including

Spot. Just need your advice about

something.

Okay. Have fun. I miss you.

Miss you too. Kick some ass, okay?

Xoxo

He slid his phone back into his pocket and went back into the room.

Caleb was stretched out on his bed again watching Beau and Ben unpack. “How long have you two been together?” he asked them.

“Three years,” they said at the same time, then smiled at each other.

Caleb whistled. “Three years, shit. No little breakups in there at all? Three years solid?”

Both men stiffened. One of them (Ben?) offered a forced smile. “There was a brief, er,pausea year or so ago, but”—he pressed his lips together—“only a pause.”

“We don’t count it as a breakup,” the other said firmly. He stopped what he was doing and went to kiss his boyfriend on the shoulder before resuming his unpacking.

“Hmm.” Caleb’s eyes twinkled as he gave Archer a knowing look. Archer tried to keep his face noncommittal. “Yeah, sounds like it doesn’t count.”

They continued to settle in while Caleb gossiped about the rest of the dancers. “River is nonbinary and is definitely trying to get with Gage, who is bi. I already tried to fuck Gage last summer, but he wasn’t interested. Seems like he’s into River, anyway. Speaking of fucking—”

“How many summers have you been here?” Archer interrupted, not at all interested in who Gage was or was not fucking.

“This is my fourth. Gage, Grace, Seta, and a couple of the others are on their second. Dominik and Harley have done three. They work here for the summer semester then go back to college.”

Does anyone dance on Broadway?Archer wanted to ask, but it felt like an idiotic question.

Mercifully, Betty rapped on their doorframe before the hookup report could continue. “Hey guys, you ready to go?”

Caleb swung his feet to the ground and stood. “Hell yeah. I’ll meet you there, though. Gotta go see a guy about a thing.” He winked and strolled out. Archer had an immediate sense of relief without Caleb’s presence in the room. The man was intense.

“Go where?” Archer asked, eyeing his bed. It had been an awfully long day.

Betty laughed. “You’re not actually thinking about going to bed right now, are you?”

“No?”

“Archer! Holy shit! The entire point of coming to work at Shady Queens for the summer is the partying! You two are up for it, right?” she asked Ben and Beau.

They looked at each other. “Sure,” they said together.

“Archie, darling, it’s time to get our drink on.”

Betty led them down a path that curled around the west side of the lake. The setting sun had turned the trees around the lake black, while the sky was soft and purple. Music and shrieking laughter reached them before the light flickering through the maples. “Is this not a guest cabin down here?” he asked, dodging under some low-hanging leaves.

“Nope. It’s sort of the employee lounge, and a few of the more senior staff have private rooms upstairs. Everyone calls it ‘the cabin.’ I think Mateo stays here,” Betty replied.

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