In The Unlikely Event [updates begin may 3]

17 | takes two to tango

a/n hope y'all enjoy. vote, comment, follow--all the fun stuff.

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That following Wednesday brought about two new facts. Firstly. That thing about the cold creating my heart stutters, big fucking lie. And secondly, I hated the stupid heart stutters that Rome and his dimples induced.

"Addy?" Ellie's hand on my arm jerked me out of my fruitless attempt to burn a hole throw Rome's smile and his dimples. "Is that alright with you?"

I finally looked at her. "Uh...pardon?"

She gestured to Rome. "Would you be okay to dance with Roman since Ms. Finley is out today? That way, he can give her back what we learned today instead of completely missing today's dance class."

"Uh...yeah, no. No, that's okay." Rome threw me a grin over the top of her head as Ellie clapped once and flashed me a smile.

"Great. Because today we're going to step things us up." She nodded and clapped again before turning away from us, heading back to the front. "Please get together with your partners. We're picking things up to end our lesson on"--she swayed her hips a little--"the tango. So, get with your partners."

I had about a second to reconsider my choice and maybe opt out before Ellie turned on the speaker, and Rome offered his hand.

"May I?"

I stopped short just as we're about to clasp our hands together. "But just so you know, this isn't me 'finding you about that date.' I don't think I'll return your baseball hat just yet."

He took my hand. "And that's fine by me." He placed his right hand on my back, just behind my shoulder, automatically placing himself as the leading partner. I lifted an eyebrow, the corner of his lips lifted in a knowing--almost innocent--smile. Planting my left hand on his back, he pulled us closer together, shooting another smile as we jumped into the dance.

When Ellie had said we'd be picking things up, I hadn't thought she might have also meant the speed of the dance. I trained my eyes to my shoes, mentally slapping myself for not practicing the dance more, as I tried to keep up with Rome's lighting fast feet.

"You never told me you were a good dancer." I was talking to the floor.

"I get by well enough." At Ellie's directions, we began moving counterclockwise around the room.

"Being modest to spare me from feeling too inadequate with my two left feet." I managed to tear my gaze off my feet for a quick second before looking back down. "Cute."

His thumb brushed, faintly, the insides of my palm as the hand on my back circled around just once. My head jerked up so fast, it felt like someone had shocked me with one of those shocking gum. My skin was already heating up, and despite not being able to see any colour tinting my cheeks, I was still scared he'd be able to feel my increased body heat from the points where we made contact. Also, the fucking heart stutters decided to invite themselves to the party too. "Kinda surprised to see the baseball hat exchange has left you unable to look me in the eyes."

I rolled my eyes, fighting against a smile and willing my body to dial down on its reaction to Rome. "Your baseball hat exchange hasn't left me unable to look you in the eyes. I just have two left feet that I need to pay special attention to since I haven't actually been practicing the dance as Ellie suggests to every week."

His thumb flicked the inside of the hand again, his eyes searching. "Well, that's a nice reassurance. But I do have to know why you haven't reached out about that date yet."