Page 63 of Fostering Chemistry
Once we did that, he held up his phone. “I found some good music. May I have this dance?” He held his hand out to me in a gentlemanly fashion that somehow made my pulse quicken.
But not enough to make me okay with making a fool out of myself. “I sure hope you’re talking to Diego, not me.”
“Be serious,” Diego grumbled. “Do you want me to help you two or not?”
“Well—” I said, wavering.
“Yes, we do,” Aaron said firmly.
A minute later, Aaron and I stood in the middle of the living room while Diego eyed us as if he was already disappointed by our lack of grace.
Classical waltz music floated from Aaron’s phone on the windowsill, filling the room with dramatic violins.
“You two need to stand closer.” Diego folded his arms across his chest.
Aaron moved a half inch closer to me. “Like this?”
Our instructor rolled his eyes. I had a feeling he’d be doing a lot of that. “Traditionally speaking, ballroom dancing works best if you actually touch each other. You two look like you’re on opposing teams across a soccer field.”
Diego pushed Aaron toward me. “Put your hand lightly on her back. A little higher, don’t grab her ass.”
“I wasn’t,” Aaron protested, and I almost laughed. Who knew Diego would be such a grumpy dance coach?
“Okay, Mia, put your left hand on his shoulder. Lightly. And now your other hand goes in his.” Diego was positioning our arms like we were mannequins. “Relax your muscles, you’re not going to arm wrestle.”
He stepped back and assessed us. His frown wasn’t encouraging. “All right, ready to lead?” he asked Aaron.
“Lead how?” Aaron sounded slightly terrified.
“Lead where?” I asked.
Diego shook his head. “I need some aspirin.”
He restarted the music on Aaron’s phone and began shouting instructions neither of us could follow. “It’s your basic box step. One, two, three. One, two, three. Aaron, step forward with your left foot. Mia, step back with your right.”
We tried. We really did.
But on the second count, Aaron stepped on my foot, we bumped knees, and I let out an undignified, “Ow.”
“Sorry,” we said at the same time.
As Diego’s instructions grew more exasperated, we tried again. No injuries this time, but no success, either.
“You two look like you’re afraid of each other,” Diego observed.
“We look like we don’t know what we’re doing,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. “Because we don’t.”
“Let’s try something different,” he said, walking directly to me. “You dance with me. Aaron, just watch for now.”
For some reason, I took a step back as Diego approached. Attempting to dance with Aaron wasn’t scary because we didn’t know what the hell we were doing. Diego did.
He raised an eyebrow and waited until I put my left hand on his shoulder and my right hand in his.
Right away, it felt different. He held me more confidently. He was still barking instructions, but now, he was guiding me with his arms. His legs. His hips.
It was a very different experience.
Soon, we were twirling around the room, and I’d only stepped on Diego’s foot twice. Oh, and I accidentally kicked him once. Butafter that, I kind of felt more confident. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad on Saturday if I could dance like this in his arms. In fact, when he held me, it felt like?—
