Page 91 of Studious
“Um. I guess,” I say.
Shelby claps. “Yay! We get Alden! I’ll ask the others.” He scoots off.
“I may be able to meet up with you later,” Danny says.
My smile widens. “Yeah? I’d love to see you.” Although I blush, thinking of what happened the last time I was on a dance floor with Danny at One.
I can tell he’s thinking about it, too, if the gleam in his eye is anything to go on.
But I don’t want Danny to think I’m stuck to him like glue. I don’t want to smother him. We’ve been spending so much time together, I haven’t even been trying to talk to other people.
“Do you have any homework for me?” I ask.
“Homework?” He blinks, then recovers. “Oh. Yes.” Is it my imagination, or does he not seem as enthusiastic as when we first started this? He rubs the back of his neck. “Um, why don’t you see if you can dance with someone you don’t know. You up for that?”
A weird mix of feelings runs through me. I’ll admit I’m disappointed that Danny didn’t do some kind of caveman “Mine!” roar and instead gave me a real assignment per our arrangement.
But part of me is wondering if I can do it—go up to a random man and dance with him. Because I’m going to need that skill when Danny and I are done, whenever that is. Have I gone far enough in my studies to be able to dance with someone I don’t know?
I gulp and nod. “Okay. I can do that. If you want me to.”
“It’s not about what I want, Alden, it’s about what you want. This is what you asked me for, right? To help you?”
“Yeah.”
He nods. “All you have to do is get in a group of people dancing, then single someone out and dance with him for a little bit.” He smirks and lowers his voice. “You don’t have to do any more than that.”
“What’s that look for?” I ask, noticing his mirthful eyes.
“Did I ever tell you how I lost my virginity?”
“No!”
“It was with some guy I met at One.”
“On the dance floor?”
“No.” He chuckles. “In a limo, after. It was the night I got dumped. Prom. At any rate, don’t feel like you have to be me and pick someone up. But,” he adds quickly, “you could if you wanted to. You're fully capable.”
“If that’s what you want.”
He opens his mouth as if to say something more, but before he can, Charlie hurries into my office and grabs him by the forearm. “We gotta focus, dude.”
“I’ll catch you later if I can,” Danny says. “Trials are what they are.” When he leaves, I feel like we didn’t finish our conversation, but I’m not entirely sure what we were supposed to be talking about.
I do know, though, that despite being busier than God this week and me not sleeping over since he’s been up all hours and needs any rest he can get, Danny’s still stopped by and chatted with me every day. I love his attention. They say that someone who likes you makes the time to be with you, and he’s been doing exactly that.
Then again, I need to not read too much into this. He’s just nice. He’s helping me out. That’s all.
* * *
I drive to One by myself, since I’m not planning on drinking. At firm happy hours these days, I stick to sparkling water, and I don’t feel the slightest pressure to drink alcohol. I like being able to get to know my coworkers, though.
While it’s still relatively early, there are people dancing, and I join a group of about a dozen people from the firm upstairs, in a quieter part of the club.
This feels like more of a friends’ night out than an office party. I’ve never felt more accepted than I do at Weston& Ramirez. Since I’m the accounting department, basically everyone needs to talk to me at some point, so I’ve been getting to know all the attorneys and staff. I’d always thought that I was a shy introvert—and I still am—but I’m learning that I like to have fun, too.
A waitress comes by. “What’ll it be?”
