Sequins and Shots - Book Three of the Café Latte Trilogy

Part One: Chapter 2

Hope you enjoy, my lovely readers!

Love, Cam

♡

Chapter 2

Harper

Ross, predictably, ditched us after four songs. That was actually faster than he usually ditched me, which meant he probably was thinking of Edward as my new babysitter.

Dickhead.

"Jesus Christ," Edward shouted over the music as we watched Ross approach someone and then immediately start getting off with him against a wall. "He doesn't piss about, does he?"

There were many words to describe Ross Daniel Stone, but 'subtle' was not one of them.

I grinned and shouted back, "I was promised dancing!"

Edward had loosened up a bit, enough to give me a glimpse of the person I'd seen back at Café Latte when he'd caught me swearing at my phone. I'd worried that Ross would make him turn and run, but he'd seemed to take it in his stride, and even crack the polite exterior.

Initially, Ross had been frustrated with Edward, because he was being so 'normal'. I had kicked him in the shins a couple times under the table, and when Edward had gone to get some ice for a cocktail, I'd hissed a warning at him.

"He's newly free of a home that didn't want him. He's finding his feet."

"Didn't take me that long to find my feet," Ross had snorted, but relented for the rest of the time at our flat. 

The alcohol had helped a bit, and Edward was seeming more relaxed in the club. I wondered if clubs had been the only place he could have truly been himself until now. He did an elaborate bow and offered me his hand.

"I shall provide the promised dancing," he beamed, and I took his hand and let myself be pulled onto the dance floor.

I loved dancing. I loved it more when I was a little tipsy, my self-consciousness melted away. I loved dancing with a friend the most, someone I wanted to spend time with. Ross danced usually only with guys that wanted to grind on him, which was classic Ross. I wasn't averse to grinding on a cute guy, but it had been a while, and I didn't want to dance just to find that.

Edward truly let go on the dance floor. I'd never seen someone quite so at peace while dancing, eyes closed, smile wide, moving as though nothing else existed. I liked music, but it didn't transport me like it did some people. Edward was clearly one of the people that experienced music as though it were part of their own being.

People were looking at us, with appreciative eyes for Edward, and I couldn't help be one of them. He didn't really fit into any of the 'types' I usually saw; he was shorter than me, his hair neatly cropped close, with wide shoulders and thick thighs. I wondered if he'd played rugby at school. I also wondered if Ross had truly broken my brain, as I apparently now divided men into categories like 'twink' and 'bear' and suddenly got confused when someone didn't fit into those categories.

I tried looking at him without those categories. Just as a man. Just a man dancing in a club with me. A man with a bright smile and brighter eyes, and arms and legs that moved fluidly with the rhythm of the drums, and surprisingly large hands-

Ah.

I was suddenly glad the club was the temperature of the average sauna, because my face was heating and I could blame it on the dancing. Edward was attractive. I found Edward attractive.

Damn it.

We kept dancing, and I went over and over it in my head. I found someone attractive. Why was I so surprised by this? I found plenty of people attractive. There were beautiful people everywhere, and I appreciated their beauty all the time. Why was this specifically surprising?