Page 55 of Every Move You Make

“Her ninetieth birthday is coming up and we’re having a huge surprise party for her.”

“Do they ever come here to visit? I’d love to meet them.”

Glancing over, her smile is radiant even in the darkness of my car, and an ache forms in my chest. I haven’t introduced anyone new to them since Travis. After what he did to me, I didn’t want them getting attached to anyone becauseIdidn’t want to get attached to anyone again. Even in the sea of clients and random hookups throughout the years, I haven’t had a steady significant other since then. I haven’t seriously considered being with someone until… now.Now?

The image of Robyn meeting my family plays like a movie in my head. She would give my parents a hug and then after her, Isaiah.God, wouldn’t that be the dream?

I reach over and lace my fingers between hers, then guide her hand to hold the stick as I down shift. “I’d love for you to meet them.” Remembering why we’re doing this, I add, “What are Zay’s parents like?”

“Oh. Well, his dad, Neal, is nice, but I think his relationship with him has been a little off. His mom died when he was eight.”

“Oh shit. I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah. Zay didn’t tell me any of this though. I heard it from his older sister, Angie.”

“He doesn’t like to talk about it?”

“Not really. He will if you bring it up, but he doesn’t get deep about it.”

When there’s a lull in our conversation, our fingers gently stroke each other. Just that tiny movement has my blood stirring and my heartbeat galloping. Temptation sings, urging me to drop her as a client just so I can have her. But there's more to consider. It’s not just us.

“What do you like about Isaiah?”

She sighs, “I thought we weren’t focusing on him anymore. This is a dating lesson for a to-be-determined man.”

As much as I want this to be a real date between us and not a practice date for some to-be-determined man—as much I want to blur the lines of this dating coach situation—I try not to let on. I simply smile at her. “Just tell me.”

Her head lolls back and she thinks it over before smiling to herself. “I like the connection we have in rugby. It’s like, even if we didn’t have anything else, we’d still have that. He’s also kind and gentle. He really listens to me. He just… makes me feel good. I know that sounds insignificant, but it’s really that simple.”

“He is like that,” I hum back at her, then train my eyes back on the road. “He’s also fine as hell.”

“Dell,” she drawls in an amused but surprised tone. “Do you have a thing for him?”

“How can I not? Don’t you just want him to pick you up and spin you around?”

Her honeyed laugh is like a melody. “You might have a better chance with him than I do.”

“He’s queer though, right? I’m usually pretty spot-on with these things.”

“Yeah. He told me back in college that he was bi. Though to my knowledge he’s only had one significant other. A girlfriend in college.”

“Interesting…”

“Why?” she asks, her voice low and probing as we pull upto Sidetraxxx, a nightclub in the Gayborhood I’ve been to several times.

“No reason,” I trill and hop out, tossing the keys to the valet as he hands me a ticket.

Robyn eyes me curiously as she takes my hand to step out. “What do you have planned?”

“Follow my lead.”

When1 we enter the club, music and people overwhelm the senses in the best way. Nothing is said between us as I lead her to the bar and order our drinks with our hands intertwined.

That’s when I spot him. Isaiah stands behind a crowd of people along the perimeter of the club, eyes locked on us. She hasn’t spotted him, and she has no idea I taunted him so he’d follow us here. After Robyn takes her first sip, I lean in to whisper in her ear, “Show me what you’ve learned on the dance floor, darlin’.”

When she leans back and looks up at me, her eyes sharpen and her smile expands. “Alright,” she says, and pulls me through the crowd. “But first you need to dance likemebefore I dance like you.”

I chuckle, “Oh, you mean dance like people don’t have cameras on their phones?”

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