Page 61 of In Step

Judah took that moment to stride over and pull me into a hug. “Great night. Thank you. On Monday I’ll send a ton of emails about the free public classes, and May said she’ll put up flyers in town and along the coast. But right now, I’m starving.” He grabbed Morgan’s hand. “Come on, Fred Astaire. We’ll take the two mums and get dinner heating while the rest of you shut the place down. Don’t be long.”

“We won’t.” I waved them off and then walked Jon and Connie and May and Linc to their cars. When everyone was gone, I headed back, only to be met by Leroy stacking chairs just inside the door.

“So, is Kane enjoying the dancing lessons?” Leroy’s look was studiously neutral.

Shit.“I think so. He’s been a good sport about it.”

“I’m sure he has.”

“He’s giving me a lift into Whangarei next weekend. There’s a couple of things I need.”

Leroy’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “Kane Martin,ourKane Martin, is leaving Painted Bay on a weekend? And he’s takingyou?Which means talking and being social and shit?” His hand landed on his chest. “Be still my heart.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s notthatbad. He just doesn’t have a lot of spare cash or a lot of friends to spend it with.” I shot Leroy a look, then gathered another couple of chairs. “You know, he should’ve been here tonight, especially since he’s been helping me.” I knew Leroy was still staring by the hot pokers stabbing into the side of my face.

“I’m not sure what Judah would’ve said about that,” Leroy said quietly.

“Why is everything about Judah?” I fired back. “I mean, I get the history and all and why things are complicated between the two of them. But they do inhabit the same space without imploding most of the time. And you work with Kane six days a week. You even seem to have fun doing it. You also obviously like him. And yet in the time I’ve been here, I’ve never seen him set foot inside your house. He sits up there and watches you lot coming and going and having fun and lunches and shit, but he’s never invited on the inside.”

Leroy’s cheeks pinked and I cringed.

“Fuck. I’m sorry.” I dropped the chair I was carrying and walked across to him, aware of Fox watching us from the other side of the studio. “It’s none of my business.”

Leroy worried his lip, a deep frown carved into his forehead. “It’s okay. I know what you’re saying, but we’ve been protecting Judah. He didn’t want to be unexpectedly confronted by Kane, and at the start, I wasn’t so sure about him myself.”

“But that was months ago,” I said, not trying to hide my frustration. “You don’t feel that way now, do you?”

Leroy shot a look to Fox who was watching the proceedings but keeping his distance. “No. I like Kane. He’s... not what I expected.”

“Exactly.” I threw my hands open. “And you know I love Judah, but Lord knows he can be a stubborn son of a bitch.”

Leroy chuckled. “We have that in common. But we’re also only just getting our relationship back on track. I didn’t want to—” He paused. “Look, I’ll think about it, okay? Maybe we can get him down for a meal just with us sometimes. It’s... complicated, that’s all.”

I nodded. “And I spoke out of turn. I’m sorry. I just... no, forget it.” Time to shut the fuck up.

But Leroy didn’t move, watching me like he was trying to work something out in his head. Then he put a hand on my arm and locked serious eyes with me. “Just be kind with him.”

What?My breath caught in my chest. What didthatmean? Was he saying... did he mean...?Fuck. I wanted to laugh the comment off, but the words wouldn’t come, lodged in that ball jammed in my throat. Instead, we stared at each other for what felt like forever until Leroy finally blinked and waved Fox across to join us.

Fox jogged over and looked between us. “Everything okay?”

“Fine.” Leroy kissed his boyfriend’s cheek. “Let’s go eat.” He caught my eye and added, “Don’t be long.” Then they headed out the door, chatting inanely about the evening being a good workout, how cool the music was, and who the best dancers were. The light-hearted banter was so at odds with Leroy’s expression and his words only a minute before that I was left wondering if he’d even said them at all.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Abe

The next weekpassed in a blur of phone conversations with Con about our mother’s increasingly odd behaviour, and ensuring we had everything finalised for the upcoming recital and public dance lessons.

Finessing the choreography for the kids took a lot more time than I’d planned—not only to get the sequence of moves fluid and in time with the music, but ensuring the kids were safe in the process as well. We worked from eight until five, or until Morgan dragged Judah home by the scruff of his neck.

Sometimes I ate at the boathouse, other times with Leroy and Fox, and once I even managed to cook pumpkin-stuffed ravioli with Kane—the two of us laughing and bantering and talking about our day. It was so fucking domestic, it should’ve been the stuff of nightmares. I avoided that type of activity like the plague—it hardly fit with the transient relationships I cultivated.

But with Kane, it had been... nice. Really,reallynice. Nice enough to have me smiling about it days later. Nice enough to carry a consumer warning label—Caution: Contents may contain Class A Drugs.

Kane had been hilariously bossy, firing instructions like I was his damn sous-chef. He’d checked the consistency of my sauce, the chop size of my mirepoix—a word I made him repeat three times while I nibbled his earlobe and handed out an exhaustive critique on the shape of my pasta, which was sadly lacking, according to him.

That state of affairs lasted until I shoved him against the fridge door and shut him up with my tongue down his throat, before dropping to my knees and taking his sweats and briefs with me. His initial reaction had been a scramble to stop me, but that only lasted until I waved a condom in his face and he relaxed with a grin. Abiggrin.

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