Page 155 of The Vacation Mix-Up
“Here, I’ll show you,” Riles says while whacking my arm, demanding I pay attention while she demonstrates the move. I turn to face her, cross my arms over my chest, and admire the view. “Are you watching?”
“I am.”
“My feet, Riley. Watch my feet.”
“I can’t. I’m distracted.”
She gives me a gentle shove back into line. “You’re incorrigible, you know that?”
I do, but I refuse to admit it. Ever.
“Jump, hop. Back-front, back-front,” Michelle repeats, circling her platform.
Positioning myself yet again, I give it a try and don’t fuck it up.
“You did it!” Riles beams, her eyes flicking from my feet to dead ahead, her hands straight by her sides.
Confident I can put this Michael Flatley dude to shame—whoever the hell he is—I jump up again, hop, and then do the step-back-and-forth move when I lose my balance, my arminstinctively flinging out and hitting the woman beside me in the head.
“Shit!” I gasp. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
She rubs the spot and glares at me before forcing a fake smile and stepping over a safe distance to allow me extra space.
Smart woman. I’d move away from me too.
Feeling awful, I hunch over and rest my hands on my knees.
“Hey, don’t give up,” Riles says, stifling her laughter.
“It’ll be safer if I do. I nearly knocked that poor woman out.”
She glances at my victim, then swipes her hand. “Don’t worry about it. She’s fine.”
I sneak a look too. “Yeah, for now.”
“Here, if you’re worried, swap places with me.” Riles shuffles me to the end of the row. “And try putting your hands in your pockets like Leo did inTitanic.”
I do as I’m told, because securing my hands is a good idea. “Wait!” I gasp, twisting in her direction. “Is that how you know how to do this… because ofTitanic?”
She grins, nodding maniacally. “Yes! After watching the movie, I begged Mom for lessons.”
My jaw tics. “How many lessons did you have?”
She side-eyes me. “A few.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me this before we started?”
“No. You insulted me and said I couldn’t dance.”
I did,damn it! “Do you have any other talents I’m unaware of?”
Riles kicks her feet out and turns in a circle, exactly like Rose and Jack did in the movie. “Maybe.”
Amusement lifts my face; she’s good. “Care to elaborate?”
“Not yet. But if you keep going, I might show you what I can do with a banana.”
The banana in my pants jerks to life.
