Page 3 of How to Dance

He was here to show off his singing skills. He was here to charm the regulars and maybe take a pretty woman home. He was here because he liked it here, goddamn it, and that certainly wasn’t going to be ruined by some random, exuberant woman in a gray tank top and cutoff jean shorts just because she didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Especially when she was the reason he felt miserable in the first place.

Except none of those thoughts made it into words. He sat in silence, locked on to her chocolate-brown eyes.

“Nick!” He heard his name called from the crowd by the bar. “You’ve got to help us.”

Nick flashed a wide, automatic smile at the couple walking up to the booth. “Rory!” he exclaimed. “Max! You know I live to serve.”

“Okay.” Rory, who had gotten his attention, obviously had a story she very much wanted to tell—until she got a proper look at who was sitting across from Nick. “You were incredible,” she told the dancer. “Who are you?”

The dancer laughed. “I’m Hayley.”

Rory introduced herself and her boyfriend. “Do you do that for a living?” she asked. “Can we come see you somewhere?”

“I’m kind of in between jobs,” Hayley told her. “But you might want to check out Vivez Dance soon.”

“Oh, we will.” Rory glanced at Nick. “Can we borrow him?”

Hayley waved a hand. “Of course.”

“So, Nick.” Rory had fully locked on to him now. “Max and I were flipping channels the other night—”

“It was Sunday,” Max explained. “Free preview weekend.”

“And we caught the end of this movie. Near the end, anyway, because there was this big kiss scene on a roof.”

“It was Liv Tyler and this guy.”

“We weren’t really watching because Bowie was in a bad mood.”

“He shoved his favorite toy under the fridge, and I wasn’t going to go get it.”

Nick was trying to look back and forth between Max and Rory in a way that conveyed his deep and undivided interest as their tag-team story unfolded. This would normally be second nature, but he could feel Hayley watching him, and it was throwing him off his stride.

“But just as they kissed,” Rory was saying, “this song came on.”

“Kind of sounded familiar, but not.” Max’s contribution was earnest and pointless. “But really good,” he added. “Older, I think.”

“And we thought if anybody knew the name of the song, it’d be you.” Rory waited. “Do you?”

“Hmm,” said Nick. He pretended to think as he reviewed questions of his own. Cable TV had a channel guide that would have told them the name of the movie, didn’t it? If not that, couldn’t they have waited and seen what songs were listed in the closing credits? Even Google would have been a better optionthan some guy at the bar … but finding the song wasn’t the point, he realized. Rory and Max wanted to see if he knew the song. Nick would have been flattered if he weren’t busy wishing Hayley would leave.

“The movie isEmpire Records,” he said finally. “The song is ‘Til I Hear It From You,’ by the Gin Blossoms.”

“Wow,” Max said. “That’s amazing.”

Nick tipped an imaginary cap. “You flatter me, my friend.”

“So you know the song, then,” Rory said. “Well enough to sing.”

Nick grinned. “Go put in the song slip for me.”

“You’re the best, Nick!” Rory looked excited enough to start jumping up and down.

“You know I can’t compare with you, Rory.” Nick kept his tone good-natured and his smile gracious. “Tell Bowie to behave himself, okay?”

Nick dropped his grin to glare at Hayley as soon as Max and Rory were a safe distance away. He couldn’t tell if she was shocked or impressed.

“What?” he asked her. “What is it now?”

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