Page 24 of Dance This Song With Me?

"This is kinda awkward and I know you said you only ever did one-offs, you know, with a guy. But I... I was thinking tonight... that dance, our night together... our chemistry was off the charts. I was wondering if you wanted to do it again." I finished babbling, slamming my mouth shut as heat poured into my cheeks and I waited for the rejection.

Emi's eyebrows rose. "You left the dance with Damien," he said, simply.

"You know him? Yeah, sort of. I mean, yes, I did at first, but then I realized that wasn't who I wanted to be with."

Emi cleared this throat and looked away, focusing on his knees. He ran his hand over the back of his neck.

"Lucas, I need to tell you something. Maybe I should have said something before."

That sounded ominous. My heart sank. "What?"

"You went to that dance with the sole purpose of picking that guy up," he said. "I know that."

"Well, you're not wrong," I admitted, "but then I realized I'd made a mistake, and I'd rather be with you." If I'd thought that would move him, I was totally wrong. Emi looked up again, face twisted in a grimace, as if he were tasting something bitter, and he shook his head, his unruly curls scattering, silver earhoops glinting in the light.

"You spent the last six weeks - and however long before that - learning a dance specifically so you could pick up this guy -"

I frowned. "How do you know about that? I-"

I didn't get to finish my protest.

"Because I was the guy who told you to do it."

Silence.

I frowned, thinking about the path I'd taken to get to this point. "What do you mean? I only met you when I came for the lessons, which was a gift from... wait! Did Aunt Macie tell you?"

"Not exactly. Kind of. It was my idea. I was Aunt Macie."

He went on. "I should have told you before, but I didn't expect to get involved with you, other than giving you the lessons. Aunt Macie isn't an actual person, or rather, not a specific person. When your email came in, the regular Aunt Macie guy was on holidays and I was doing the job for him."

"Wow. That's... a lot to process," I threw myself down on the other end of the sofa. "So you knew all along?" I wasn't sure whether to be angry or relieved. "Isn't that kind of wrong? Telling me to get lessons and then giving them to me yourself?"

"It wasn't quite like that. Yes, as Aunt Macie I did gift you the lessons, but I expected you to get them through some other dance studio and use the Aunt Macie budget for it like would normally happen. Only I'd apparently overspent on the budget. Jase got mad at me when he came back from holiday because Aunt Macie had promised you the lessons but there was no budget left. So I volunteered to do it."

"So you saw all my emails with Aunt Macie?" God, I was gonna die here. That was all supposed to be confidential.

"Except for the last one where Aunt Macie sent you my details. That was Jase."

"But if you already knew why I was doing all this, why did you hookup with me?"

"I honestly wasn't expecting to fall for you," he said, ducking his head and looking away. A flush of color stained his cheeks. "It just happened."

"Wait! Does that mean... can I ask you something?"

He nodded.

"You fell for me? Does that mean you might be interested in a repeat? With me?"

"Would you be interested? What about Damien?"

"A repeat with you? Fuck, yeah. And I already told you I decided I didn't want to be with Damien. I just got caught up in the idea of that and didn't know when to let it go." I shrugged. "I'm a bit of a dumbass sometimes."

We both looked at each other, Emi looking considerably happier than he had when I'd arrived. We both grinned.

"I have a better idea," he said. "How about we start again? Right from the beginning? I want to take you on a date."

"A date? Does that mean you might be interested in more than a hookup then?"