Page 29 of Last Call Lindy Hop
His eyes were wide, but he nodded.
“Next one inside then,” I suggested. “But this one… let’s dance right here.”
“Ok.”
I closed our positions, and he settled against me. Every bit of him radiated trust in a way I’d never experienced before.
And for just a moment, I wished that the music would never end.
Chapter 15 - Lance
Ismiled as I opened the text to see that Eli had sent some dancing meme. When in doubt, dance it out! read the caption.
It was silly, and him just reaching out, but I treasured it.
How’s Amber’s grandpa?I texted back, trying not to scare him off with how happy the meme had made me.
A moment of waiting, then,Better. Still not out of the woods, but they think he’ll make it. She’ll be back in a few days if all goes well.
Glad to hear he should pull through.
I received a smiling emoji as a response, and after a few minutes of silence I figured that his break was probably over and he’d had to get back to work.
That meant that it was time for me to get back to trying to be a functional human again myself. I found three freelance bookkeeping gigs and sent in my resume, then did a bit of light cleaning.
It wasn’t much, but I finally felt like I had started to move forward again.
∞∞∞
“Hello?” I asked, wondering why Eli was calling instead of texting.
“Hey,” he said. “I hope calling is ok.”
I swallowed, something in my middle fluttering at hearing his voice. “Ye-yeah… it’s fine.”
“Good!” He sounded chipper. “So Amber is coming back into town this afternoon, and I was thinking of taking her to dinner. Then I thought I’d invite you and Kenzie as well. You down?”
The flutters increased. Part of me was scared that dancing was the only thing that connected Eli and I, but there was also the possibility that we had more in common.
“Have you already called Kenzie?” I asked.
“Not yet. I wanted both of you to come, but didn’t want to push you if you weren’t up for it.”
I smiled at his consideration. “I think… I think I’ll be able to come.”
“Great! Do you want to invite Kenzie, or shall I?”
“I’ll do it.”
“Ok, I’ll text you the details.”
“Thanks. And…” I paused. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“No prob,” he laughed. “You and Kenzie helped out a lot.”
“Kenzie did more than me,” I demurred.
“Don’t discount yourself,” he said. “I could see how hard it was on you, but you toughed it out. And I noticed how relieved you looked when I pulled up outside your apartment building.”
