Page 95 of Flirty Dancing

Mateo laughed. “Of course.”

They chatted a while longer, finishing their second cups, and then Archer left the dining hall smiling, face and heart warm. There was only one thing still weighing him down. He headed straight back to the dorm and found the right room. He knocked.

“Hey, Steve,” he said when the door opened. “Can I talk to Caleb?”

The hulking man peered down at him, frowning. Then his face relaxed into a smile. “That would be great, Archer, thanks. He’s been a mess. I’ll leave you to it.”

Archer poked his head into the dim, silent room. “Caleb?”

“Come in,” the heap under the blankets sniffled.

Archer padded in and perched on the edge of Caleb’s bed. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t be nice to me,” Caleb muttered. “That makes it so much worse.”

Archer tugged at his blanket. “Can you come out from under there?”

Caleb emerged, bleary-eyed.

“So. You and Ben, hey?”

Caleb nodded and wiped an eye. “Yeah. But I swear nothing happened until you broke up with me. I was so fucking miserable that night, and we ended up walking back to the dorm together. He helped me move my stuff and, well… He was just trying to console me…”

Archer considered the day Caleb and Ben had spent alone in the woods, and all the other times they somehow ended up next to each other. “It wasn’t out of nowhere though, was it?”

Caleb stiffened. “I didn’t cheat on you, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

“No. But Ben cheated on Beau.”

Caleb traced the pattern on his blanket with a finger. “Ben said it was basically over. He was going to break up with Beau at the end of the season. He was only waiting because he didn’t want to cause any more drama.”

“Ha!” A sharp bark of laughter escaped from Archer’s throat. “Didn’t want to cause any more drama.”

“Yeah.” Caleb let out a dark chuckle. “Oops.”

“You’ve liked Ben all summer, though, haven’t you?” Archer asked gently.

“Yeah.” Caleb met his eyes. “But I liked you too, I swear!”

“I know, Caleb.” Archer sighed. “I guess they’ve broken up now?”

“They did. Ben texted me. They were up half the night talking. It’s over. For real, for real.”

“God.” Archer rubbed his forehead. “What a mess. Are you and Ben still…?”

Caleb shook his head. “Not for now. It’s too complicated. Ben wants to be more respectful of Beau and what they had.”

Archer nodded. “Probably for the best.”

“I’m so sorry, Archer,” Caleb blurted. “For what I did to Mateo and you.”

Archer nodded. “Thank you. That was really shitty. Mostly for Mateo, though. And probably Abby. You can’t mess with people’s lives like that, Caleb.”

“I know.” A tear slipped down Caleb’s cheek.

“You owe Mateo an apology, too.”

Caleb nodded. “I will. I’ll talk to him before the show.”

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