Tank: Devil's Rose MC #6

Chapter 16: Hazel Martinez

"Oh my god, Tank, I cannot believe you."

"I know."

"You didn't think this through. I have no coordination at all."

"That's why I'm the lead."

"I'm going to hurt you."

"How could you possibly hurt me? I'm like a foot taller than you."

"Your toes. They're gonna be crushed."

"It'll be fun, come on."

He tugs me into the room, a mirror lining the entirety of one wall. Other couples stand to the side, their eyes turning to us as we walk in. And of course, we're late. The dance teacher welcomes us in and gives us a second to join the group before continuing with her speech.

"As I was saying, welcome to Salsa dancing. Now, by the end of the lesson, you aren't going to be perfect, but you'll have a start. With that, you can practice and get as good as you want to."

How did I end up here? Why did Tank think this would be such a good idea? I was just an idiot for tagging along with him. This is so far out of my comfort zone. Like, I'm on a completely different planet. I can't even see my zone anymore.

I take a deep breath and stand slightly closer to Tank, needing to feel some sense of stability while my brain goes haywire with anxiety. He rests a hand on my upper back and subtly nudges me in front of his body so his lower chest presses against me. I feel his hand drift down the side of my body, his hand latching onto my hip to keep me to him.

My stomach erupts in butterflies, and I can feel the heat rushing to my cheeks. I can barely concentrate on the steps that the teacher describes and shows with her dance partner. Instead, all I can think about is the heat that radiates from that gorgeous large hand on his and how fucking good it feels.

Gosh, it's like my whole body is being set on fire but in a good way. Like my insides are all tingly and adrenaline is just rushing through my body. Moments later, the teacher has us step into the center of the dance room, couples standing around us and getting into dancing positions.

I let Tank guide me where I need to go and allow him to take the lead on everything.

"I got you."

"You promise? I'm not interested in embarrassing myself in front of everyone."

"I promise. Anyway, we'll just embarrass ourselves together."

I am about to come back with a witty remark, but I hear the hiss escape from his mouth before I even realize that I practically stabbed his toe with my high heel.

"I told you. I knew I was gonna hurt you."

"It could be worse, you don't need to worry."

"But I said-"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take to dance with you. Now, follow me."

Just when I thought he couldn't get any better.

He leans down, kissing my cheek before completely stunning me and dancing like a professional. The dance teacher shakes her head at him, and I have a feeling she knew who he was already. I laugh uncontrollably as he tosses me around and disrupts the whole class.

Tank tugs me closer to him, chuckling into my ear, and wrapping an arm fully around my waist. He digs his fingers into my back but not in a hurtful way; it's like he's repressing himself from doing something.

I wrap an arm around the back of his neck and hold tighter onto him, feeling his abs clench as he rolls his hips. He turns me around in his arms, and I know he wants to go all Dirty Dancing on me in front of couples of are all trying to learn how to Salsa.

He's such an asshole.

"This is so fucked. These poor people have to see you rubbing up on me."

"I'm dancing on you. There's a difference."

"I highly doubt that you are Salsa dancing with me. Although, I wouldn't know."

"I'm taking a couple of liberties," he confessed with a smirk.

"I cannot believe you. Now, I look like an idiot."

"No, you look beautiful."

"Smooth," I sass with a rolling of my eyes.

He knew what he was doing all along and there I was stepping on his toes for like five minutes. To give the other couple space to learn, I force him to dance me into the back corner of the room.

"I honestly didn't mean to embarrass you, pumpkin. I just wanted to tease you."

He sounds genuinely distressed about it. He's so fucking cute. I don't mind that much, it's just that I wasn't expecting him to be so good at it and me to have so much fun and be so turned on by it.

A lot is going on in my head. I've never felt this way before about anyone, and then he takes me on the dance floor to take control, and I guess I started to wonder what it would be like if he took control somewhere else. He looks at me as if I'm a diamond carved from jagged stones. I'm something to be admired, protected, and loved. I don't know.

After what happened with my ex, finding out that he kind of lied to me about what he was feeling, I didn't think that anyone would ever feel that way about me.

I know I shouldn't be allowing my worthiness of love to depend on a man who didn't love me the way I loved him, but there are times when I can't help it. I doubted my lovability, and I think that hindered me from getting into another relationship.

However, with Tank, I don't have to worry. He says exactly what he means, he doesn't hide, and he's never made me feel insecure about anything in my life. I guess when he took the lead in dancing me around the front of the room, he showed he wasn't afraid to be weird with me or show me off.

He wanted me there with him. It is nice to be wanted.

"It's okay, Tank. I just felt a little nervous."

I'm such a liar.

"You were feeling nervous or something else?"

"Don't make me say it."

He gives me a throaty chuckle and taps my leg.

"I'll teach you."

Slowly and carefully, knowing that my brain takes a minute to comprehend information, he guides me through the basics of Salsa dancing. He counts the steps softly in my ear and corrects me with pure patience when I make a mistake.

He is one of the most gentle people I have ever known. And even today when he was hanging decorations around the classroom and the kids would want to help with something or they had a question for him, he was so sweet and kind. He was perfect with them. He was patient and compassionate and helpful.

I swear there were moments when I would have felt the need to explode and I would have had to take a deep breath before continuing on the project, but he wouldn't give up. He just stood there and let them figure it out or give them help if they wanted it.

It was one of the reasons he was there for the rest of the day. He was just dealing with kindergarten children. He was so great with them.

I'm still working on being able to deal with little kids all day, and I've been doing it for four years now. Every day brings a new challenge, and I'm sure that if Tank spent enough time with them, he would find a challenge too.

The amount of patience it takes is ridiculous. And although I adore my job, there are days when it can be a little much. But I think there's something natural in him where he just knows when to not rush anything.