Page 47 of Candy Hearts
“I’ll listen,” Wren said. “I promise. Willie, get your ass over here. Be my partner.”
“Uh, I’d rather not.”
She scoffed, skipped over to him, and put her mouth to his ear to whisper, “If you dance with me, I won’t spill about that time you got drunk in college and accidentally sent a love letter to your professor. How did you start that email again? ‘My Dearest Dr. Glenski. Please can I have an extra week on my term paper? I am enamored by your—’”
He stood up like a puppet master was pulling his strings. Which, he supposed, one was. He glared at her. She’d been holding that dumb email over his head for fifteen years. It had been out of character for him, even then.
“Okay, William. You’ll have to take the stick out of your ass for this,” Avi said, his voice very matter-of-fact.
With the exception of Wren, William had been friends with Avi the longest. They’d been college roommates. He was used to Avi’s dryness and the bite in his tone. Underneath it was love.
“I’m standing here, aren’t I?”
Avi flashed William a rare smile. “Watch us.”
Avi and Manuel demonstrated the move. William had no idea what type of dance this was, but they made it look like sex. They had so much chemistry.
William and Wren tried to copy them. Avi corrected them again and again, until they had it. Or, at least, until they weren’t banging their knees together. William glanced up to see everyone staring at them.
“Voyeurs,” he called.
“Come on, Benji. Make a woman of me,” Robin said, grabbing Benji’s hand and pulling him into the living room.
He followed her gamely, hiking his sagging sweats back up his hips. Perry moved behind Sasha, wrapping his arms around her, and they swayed together as they watched.
It was sweet, this moment. Romantic, almost, though William wasn’t dancing with the person he wanted to be. Certainly more romantic than any other activities they’d done at this house party in the past.
Eventually, after about a million failed attempts and one “that’s adequate” from Avi, William asked, “What dance is this?”
Avi’s eyes flared dangerously, which had kind of been William’s goal. He liked riling Avi up.
“A rumba,” Avi said through gritted teeth.
“It’s cute.”
“Oh dear. Here we go,” Manuel said. He grabbed Avi’s shoulders as the man launched into a rant about passion and technique and sensuality.
William glanced at Benji. He was trying to accompany Robin through the sway step, his eyes glued to his feet and his forehead wrinkled in concentration. William’s heart launched to the rafters, right out of his chest, like a balloon on a string.
“We’ll show them exactly how cute it is. Come on, Manny,” Avi snarled. “Back up, everyone. Shoo.”
Wren and William laughed as they moved out of the way of the professionals. Sasha restarted the music for them. Then magic happened. Avi smiled so gently at his husband that William’s breath caught before Manuel guided Avi through what was frankly the sexiest routine William had ever seen them dance. And he’d seen Avi dance a lot. Partway through the song, Manuel changed something. William couldn’t pinpoint it, but suddenly their moves weren’t precise and practiced, and they were just dancing with each other, totally in their own world, totally in love. Avi seemed to trust Manuel implicitly to be there at the end of every movement.
William had never trusted anyone like that, and, to be honest, he’d never been able to be reliable in return. He’d never been willing to sacrifice precious time to love, but now he’d opened three clubs, including his baby—Mount. He could finally slow down a bit if he wanted.
William’s neck prickled. He met Benji’s eyes across the living room. They were full of heat. The song changed to a different beat, and it was an all-out dance party in William’s living room. He bowed out, making his way back to the kitchen counter and picking up the Valentine’s Day card he’d made. He needed to hide it.
He flipped it open, and the unicorn he’d created glimmered back.
Chapter Fourteen
Benji hadn’t been sure what to expect when he’d agreed to come this weekend, but it wasn’t a dance party. The sun had set, filling the room with shadows and cozy darkness. The music from Manuel’s phone was tinny with lots of reverb but also perfect.
Sweat dripped between Benji’s shoulder blades as he shimmied down with Manuel and Avi, a sandwich between them. Manuel had a hand on Benji’s abs, and Avi kept laughing huskily in his ear.
Benji closed his eyes and let the adrenaline and dopamine haze rush through him. This was way better than being groped and drunk and full of insecurity at Splat with his friends. He wanted Avi and Manuel to teach him to move his hips independent of the rest of his body, and he wanted to laugh and laugh until he couldn’t breathe.
Avi kissed Manuel over Benji’s shoulder before playfully shoving Benji out of the way. He landed in Wren’s path. Wren, Sasha, and Robin were giggling and vogueing.
