AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And along the way, they’d found love. Despite being happily committed to each other, they’d met a woman, and they’d both fallen madly in love, and now she was their shared wife and co-owner of the resort, and the three of them are more in love than any couple I’d ever seen back in New York.
So it doesn’t matter here if you love a man, a woman, both, or all of the above and then some. Just be good to the people around you, and the Hidden Pearl Resort will welcome you with open arms.
Chapter Five
Brendon
I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t exactly thrilled about sharing my time with Hazel, but even before we’d sat down to lunch with Chip, I took it all back. He was interesting and engaging, and the more he talked, the more I wanted to listen.
To be fair, I also hadn’t been excited about the prospect of the dance class, but it wound up being more fun than I thought. There was something satisfying about watching Hazel spin and twirling her back to me. It felt like some cheesy movie moment, and while it’s sappy and shit, I liked it.
And what I said had been the truth, I do have plenty of time to get Hazel all to myself, so one little lunch is just a drop in the bucket. After all, if things on this trip goes the way I’m planning, I’ll have the whole rest of my life to spend with her.
The three of us keep up a running conversation with ease all throughout lunch, talking and laughing, and I have to admit, I find myself kind of charmed by the guy, and I’m glad Hazel’s so interested in all his dance classes. I want to hang around the dude more, hear more of his stories.
Over the course of lunch, Chip reveals that he’s been dancing since he was six years old. He got a job as an assistant for a dance teacher when he was fifteen and after going to college for dance, he’d split his time between teaching and performance.
And he wasn’t just performing for nickels down in the subway, he informs us that he’d been an ensemble dancer on Broadway for a number of years, along with teaching at some of the best schools around.
It’s fascinating to listen to, but I can’t help wondering what changed. He said he came out here after losing his job, so I wondered what had happened to shatter such a promising career. How did he go from dancing on Broadway and teaching elites to teaching beginner’s salsa classes four times a week?
It feels rude to ask, delving into territory too personal for a stranger, so I refrain, but the question still lingers at the back of my mind.
We talk long after we’ve finished eating, losing track of time until Chip glances at his watch. “Oh, wow, guys, I’m sorry, I’d better get going, my next class starts in twenty minutes,” he says, pushing his chair back from the table.
“No worries, we didn’t mean to keep you so long,” Hazel says apologetically.
“Absolutely worth it,” he says firmly, “This was fun, thank you guys. Were you going to join me for the swing class?”
I look at Hazel, who frowns and rubs her belly a little. “Not sure I’m up for it on a full stomach, that sandwich was bigger than I was expecting,” she says with an apologetic grimace.
Chip smiles and waves off her worry. “Totally understandable. If you still wanna take it while you’re here, I’ve got plenty of others.”
“I’ll plan on making one,” Hazel promises.
“All right, I gotta run, I’ll see you guys soon!”
Chip waves and jogs off, having already taken care of the tab with Kelsey a while ago, despite my protests and attempts to pay.
“Oh, shoot,” Hazel says suddenly as he disappears out of sight.
“What’s up?”
“All that time and we never actually asked him about a follow-up salsa lesson,” Hazel laughs, “Which was kind of the whole reason we came out.”
I mentally replay the conversation and realize that she’s right, we’d never asked, and he hadn’t brought it up. “Well, shit.”
She laughs. “I guess we’ll have to go back and talk to him.”
“Well, you wanted to go back tomorrow for the ballroom dancing class anyway, right?” I remind her, “We can catch him then.”
She nods, then reaches up and cups my cheek. “Come here,” she orders, pulling me down for a kiss.
I’m more than happy to oblige, and when she draws back, I’m pleased to see that her beautiful face is practically glowing with happiness. “Thank you,” she says unexpectedly.
I blink, confused. “For what?”
“For this…all of this,” she gestures around us, “For bringing me here. For taking me to dance classes I know you don’t really want to go to-”
