I rested my elbow on the table, my chin in my hand. Looking at him, I asked, “What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know.” He rolled his eyes.
“Liar, liar, pants on fire.”
“Oh, so mature,” he teased. “I was thinking I’d love to see young Elijah Coleman dance ballet. I bet he was a brave, cocky little shit when he was a kid. It took a lot of heart to be who he was, and I just… I guess I don’t know if anyone has told him that. So, if you see him, tell him I said it.”
My breath hitched, and I sat up straight. That was…damn, I hadn’t expected that. My heart was racing, and my chest felt funny, twitchy. “I, um, think he would appreciate hearing that. I know he would. He says thanks.”
“Tell him he’s welcome.”
I never felt like I knew which way was up with him. I would think I was on steady ground, that I knew what to expect, where curves were in the road, but then he would throw me totally off-track. I’d realize I was traveling somewhere completely different than I thought I was. It was exciting, fun. Scary, but fun. “We need to find what you’re passionate about,” I found myself saying.
“What?” His nose wrinkled cutely.
“I read your post. You helped me with Danny and the dance class, which inspired me to take ballet again. I start soon. So I want to help you too. You know, return the favor and all.”
He stood and picked up his plate. “I have plenty to be passionate about.”
I grabbed mine and followed. “Yeah, sure. Okay. Because it was a total coincidence that you made that post after our dance lesson. You want to find your passion.” We put our dishes in the sink, then stood facing each other.
“You’re an ornery little shit now. Isn’t it time for you to go home?”
“Holy crap. I expected a sex joke at some point in the last minute. We’re talking about passion and Shaw Hastings in the same sentence. I mean, according to you, the two go hand in hand.”
“Well, you said it, not me. I’m glad you finally noticed. I can definitely make sex jokes if you want. I’m quite good at them. Not as good as I am at sex itself, but since we’re just friends, we don’t need to discuss that.”
A warmth started low in my gut. My dick twitched slightly, and yeah, that was just about enough of that conversation. “Whatever.”
Shaw laughed. “That’s what I thought. Come on, troublemaker. Let’s go watch our movie.”
We grabbed our wineglasses, which Shaw promptly filled, before heading over to sit on the couch in front of his big screen. Shaw set his glass on the coffee table, picked up the remote, leaned back, and put his feet up on the table.
His arm was touching mine, and damned if I didn’t enjoy the warmth, the feel of his muscles and hot skin against mine. He smelled like he always did—a fresh summer day and a hint of soap. There was stubble along his jaw. The remote was in his right hand. He lifted his left arm up, along the back of the couch, my stupid eyes drawn to the stupid muscles in his dumb arm.
My cock was perking up, which I did not want him to know, so I leaned forward and set my glass beside his before grabbing a throw pillow to place on my lap.
What is wrong with me? This is Shaw. I don’t want him. I love Danny.
Only that last part was even more muddled in my brain than the rest of it.
“What do you want to watch?” he asked.
Him. I wanted to watch him, which was wrong, wrong, wrong, so I said, “Lemme see.” He handed me the remote, and I switched over to recently watched to see what type of movies he liked and—“Oh my God!”
“What?” He looked at me.
“The Little Mermaid, How to Train Your Dragon, Up, Beauty and the Beast. You love animated movies!” You could have knocked me down with a feather in that moment. I didn’t know why. It wasn’t that it mattered, but it wasn’t the Shaw I thought I knew. “You are so cute.” I felt it, the twitch in my chest, and it was like a shock to the senses.
I didn’t have much time to focus on it because Shaw’s eyes went wide. “I am not cute! Well, not that kind of aren’t-you-the-cutest-little-thing cute. Give me that!”
He reached for the remote, and I pulled it away. “What else do you like? I wanna see! You’re adorable, Shaw. I want to pinch your cute little cheeks!”
“Take it back,” he teased, still reaching for the remote.
“No.”
He leaned over me, trying to grab it. I was laughing and pulling away as we fought. He grabbed for my arms, and I ended up lying on my back, with Shaw on top of me, and he was laughing too. I felt the vibration of it through his chest and into mine, felt his stomach move as it lined up with mine.