Page 44 of Drawn Together

Sebastian sighed and stood there, staring at me for a moment.“If you like dancing so much, why do you only do it alone in there, where no one can see you?”

His question took me by surprise, most of all because he’d never shown any interest in learning anything about me, other than the meaning behind my name.

“My father and my uncle forced me to stop dancing when I turned fifteen. I stopped training professionally and lost almost all my technique.”

“You don’t seem to have lost anything…”

I narrowed my eyes, confused. He hadn’t seen me dance…

“The day you taught those girls… You didn’t seem bad at all.”

I leaned forward and started untying my pointe shoes, quickly yet carefully. “That was a dance lesson for twelve-year-old girls… It’s not that hard.”

“Right.”

I nodded, eyeing him like a kid does a piece of candy they can’t have. That’s what he was for me. The way he’d made me feel that day in the bathroom still replayed in my mind every night.

As if echoing my thoughts, he gave me a once-over. I took the opportunity to openly observe him as well, taking in his muscles, recalling the way he’d lifted me off the floor and carried me onto the counter with almost no effort.

“You know what? You’d be a great dance partner,” I said without thinking.

Sebastian raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Clearly you’re still feverish,” he said, placing a palm on my forehead, looking at me like I was delirious.

“I’m not joking,” I responded, pushing his hand away and trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.

“I guess we’ll never know,” he said with a blank expression.

Just when I thought the tension in that small room would suffocate us, the doorbell rang, and we both jumped.

Sebastian stepped away from me and walked toward the front door.

I followed.

“Are you expecting anyone?”

I shook my head, annoyed when he put out an arm to stop me from checking to see who it was.

He muttered something to himself, then opened the door, an unfriendly look plastered on his face.

Liam walked past Sebastian without even looking at him and greeted me with a smile. “How are you doing?” he asked, giving me a gentle hug. “If you’re feeling better, I have a proposal for you.”

“I’m doing perfect!”

“Great! Because I have tickets to see Imagine Dragons tonight.”

“What?!” I exclaimed, overjoyed.

“I got them today at work—from a rich dude who knows someone, who knows someone who’s in charge of the tour. It’s a private balcony, great view. What do you say? Are you in?”

“Of course!”

Sebastian shook his head, staring at me with a patient expression on his face. I looked at Liam, and then back at Sebastian.

“How many tickets do you have?” I asked, feeling my euphoria beginning to subside.

“Two,” Liam said, smiling. “One for me and one for you.”

“You can wait for me outside,” I said to Sebastian before he had time to object.