Page 153 of Skate the Line

“You can dance?” she asks through a winded breath.

My mouth is right beside her ear. “I have many hidden talents, Sunshine.”

She pulls away, turns, and then suddenly, we’re only a breath away once more.

Space.

We need space.

Or maybe I just need space.

I squeeze her hand, and she backs away. I spin her once more, and when she comes in close again, her eyebrow arches.“Is one of your hidden talents gifting new tablets to elderly women?”

I look over at Ellie.

Did she tell her?

“I take that as a yes,” Sunny says.

I won’t admit it. I didn’t do it so she’d find out and thank me.

In fact, why did I do it in the first place?

Was it to make her happy? Surely not.

“Can I pay you back?”

Yeah fucking right.

“No.”

She rolls her eyes. “Rhodes.”

“Sunny! Come on!”

We turn toward Ellie. Strands of her hair stick to her sweaty face, and her cheeks are red from all the energy she’s burning.

“Get up there, Sunshine.” I flick my chin to the couch. “Put on a show for me.”

I don’t mean for it to come off as dirty, but it does.

Something flashes over her features, and I wink.

Her scoff drives my smile deeper. I bend forward, wrap my hands around her waist, and haul her up onto the couch with Ellie. The look in her eye sparks something I feel in my bones, and it’s most definitely because my fingers slipped beneath herIn my Picasso erashirt and landed on her silky soft skin.

I remain unmoving while Ellie and Sunny dance and sing on the couch, giggling the entire time. Their laughter is louder than the song playing on the speakers, and when it ends, I find myself drowning in amusement.

Ellie beams with a youthful glee, and when I swing my attention to Sunny, she’s radiating with joviality.

That’s when I realize that it isn’t just Ellie’s happiness that makes me happy.

It’s Sunny’s too.

Which is fine.

Right?

It’s fine because it meansnothing.

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