Page 12 of Shared By the Pilots

“Just updating your file.”

“Myfile?”

“I don’t ghost people based on one negative characteristic. That’s incredibly shallow.” He paused, then said, “I ghost them based onthreenegative characteristics.”

“Shoot,” I said. “I guess I’d better play it safe the rest of the evening if I only have two strikes left.”

“You have one strike left,” Luke replied. “Your first strike was not wanting a house and a white picket fence and two-point-five kids. That’s very suspicious.”

I gave him a playful shove.

“What’s your number?” he asked. “I’ll text you the selfie so you can show Dexter.”

“Ohh, that’s a smooth way of getting my number.”

“I have to admit I was proud when I thought of it. But you don’t have to give me your number if you don’t want to. My feelings won’t be hurt, I promise.”

I gave him my number, and then we went inside.

7

Veronica

Luke acted relaxed and comfortable, but I could tell he wasn’t used to being in a place like this. Most of the other guys were Latino, and were gyrating and twisting expertly in time with the thumping music. We got some drinks at the bar and watched the crowd for a little bit.

“Come on,” I said when our drinks were finished. “Let’s dance.”

“Ehh,” he said.

“Come on, I’ll show you how.”

“All right.”

I led him by the hand through the crowd until we reached the dance floor. Unlike the rest of the club, it was brightly illuminated here, with lights that spun and instantly raised the temperature a few degrees.

“Follow my movements,” I said. “We’ll keep it simple.”

I showed him a few salsa steps. Nothing fancy; something most guys could follow. He watched and tried mimicking me.Triedbeing the key word. His movements were stiff and unnatural, like watching a robot AI try to learn to dance.

“You’ll get the hang of it,” I told him encouragingly. “Just keep trying.”

“You sound like a kindergarten teacher helping a kid learn how to finger paint,” he said over the music.

“Just focus on your footwork!” I said. “The rest of the body will follow.”

“I didn’t realize dancing involved the feet,” he said with a sarcastic grin. “Let me try that…”

Suddenly, his jerky movements synced up with the music. It was like I had blinked and Luke was replaced with another, more skillful dancer. I stopped dancing and watched him for a few seconds, confused by what I saw.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with a playful smile.

“You were hustling me!”

“Hustling involves money.” He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me back into motion. “I was playing off your assumption that I couldn’t dance.”

“You were resistant about coming here!”

“Because the club over on Brickell has a better vibe. But this place is fine.”

---