Hot cup of love

Three

Lou´s POV

"Ready girls? 5, 6, 7, 8!"

I proudly stood in front of my class, watching them as they performed the dance routine we had been practicing for the past four weeks.

"Oh my gosh, girls! You were all amazing!"

They huddled around me, all their faces lighting up at my praise. This was what I loved about my job, seeing their bright smiles whenever they learned something new, only to run off beaming to their family picking them up, showing off their dance routines.

They always did so well, especially for them being so little, it was adorable!

"Miss! Miss! Can we do it one more time?" A little girl with the cutest ponytails asked me. If I remembered well, her name was Julia and she was 8 years old. She was also one of the most active and excited girls in the group, always jumping around before and after class.

"I don't think we have enough time anymore today, sweetheart. Your dad will be here soon to pick you up," I reply, twirling her ponytails around. I'd never seen a woman pick her up, always an older gentleman. Although I didn't want to make assumptions, I had a feeling she didn't have a motherly figure around.

"Nuh uh, my dad isn't coming today," she said with a big smile.

"How come?" I couldn't help but frown. So far, I'd never had a parent forget a child, but other teachers had warned me it was a possibility, especially in the big city. Sometimes, they wouldn't come until 8 or 9 PM, either because they were stuck at work or simply forgot to pick them up.

"My brother is picking me up and we are going for icecream!" She squealed while doing a little happy dance.

Releasing the breath I was holding, I crouched down in front of her and sent her a smile. "Lucky you! I wish I had a brother like that!" She hadn't been in my class for that long, but I wanted to get to know each of the girls, it made me feel like I had a small extra family of my own.

"You don't have any brothers or sisters?" She questioned, her warm amber eyes wide open. There was no doubt in my mind she'd be a real boy magnet when she grew up, she already possessed a natural beauty.

"No I don't. But I have a really amazing best friend who's like a sister to me." It was true, when I was little, I'd regretted my parents choice of not having any more children, but when I met Sam in first grade, I knew immediately we had a unique connection, well worthy of the word 'sisterhood'.

Julia tapped her chin, seeming deep in thought. Suddenly, her eyes lit up with an idea.

"I don't have a sister, can we be like sisters too?"

Laughing out loud, I gently pulled her ponytails before answering. "Ofcourse sweetheart!"

Before I could say anything else, she jumped at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me real close. Her sudden move surprised me, but after a second I gently hugged her back.

"Julia?"

We broke apart and looked up, only to be met with a pair of bright blue eyes. Looking at us with clear questions in his eyes, was the tall handsome guy from the coffeehouse.

"Orry!" Faster than I could blink, Julia let go of me and ran into the arms of who I assumed was her brother.

His handsome face lit up with a smile as he twirled her around. Standing up a bit awkwardly, I couldn't help but smile at the heartwarming picture in front of me. As if he suddenly realised he wasn't the only one in the room, his eyes turned to me and his smile became less forward and more guarded. A small part of me felt sad that he seemed to feel like he had to hide his true feelings around me.

"Hi again," he said.

"Hi to you too. So... I assume you're Julia's brother, Orry was it?"

"It's Luca actually, only this little raskall calls me Orry."

Julia started giggling and poked her brother's cheek.

"We gotta go, Orry! Or they will run out of icecream before we get there!" The small pout following her words was truly adorable.

Luca laughed, not just a smile, he genuinely laughed. It was one of the most warm, comforting sounds I'd ever heard.

"Don't worry JJ, I'm sure they won't be out of cherry-peach-sundae. But we better get going." He looked over to me before picking up Julia's bag. "It was nice to see you again..."

"Lou," I replied to his unspoken question. Both of his eyebrows slightly raised and the corner of his lips went up in a small smirk, his eyes glistening with amused interest.

"Maybe I'll see you around sometime, Lou."

Not trusting my voice, I smiled and nodded before turning around to get my stuff and head to the showers.

Wait until Sam hears about this.