Colton’s eyes traveled the length of my body, appraising and intense, and I couldn’t help but watch for his reaction. His gaze stopped on Tim’s hand on my back, stayed there a moment, before coming up to meet my eyes.
“No cardigan tonight?” he said.
“It’s not usually what you wear to tango,” I said.
“I noticed that.”
“I noticed you noticing.”
Colton’s lips twitched, but he didn’t deny it.
“If you stared any harder, I thought my dress might catch fire,” I added, having to tease him. He’d been caught staring, and he knew it.
Colton raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying I make you hot?”
“No,” I said, blushing fiercely. How had he managed to flip this on me?
“Because that’s a natural reaction, Sadie. You shouldn’t feel ashamed about it.”
“I’m not ashamed. I just don’t feel anything but annoyance,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Sure, you don’t,” he said.
Tim cleared his throat which ended our stare down.
“Well, well,” he said, looking between me, Colton and Kyle like he was watching some kind of soap opera or reality show. He sent me a significant glance. “Sadie, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”
I didn’t know what that look meant. It made me a little wary, but his syrupy sweet tone was what really put me on my guard.
“Sure,” I said slowly. “Tim, this is Kyle and Colton. Guys, this is my former dance partner, Big Tim.”
“Hey, I’m Kyle. Nice to meet you,” Kyle said.
“The pleasure’s all mine, I assure you,” Tim said as he shook Kyle’s hand and held his eyes until my best friend blushed, looked away. Dear God, I knew Tim was attractive. Objectively-speaking, with his confident air, his deep brown eyes and fantastic hair, he could’ve made most girls—or guys—swoon. But he must’ve had some serious mojo to get Kyle blushing after a simple handshake. “I’ve heard a lot about you, both of you, from Sadie.”
Colton scoffed low. “I’m betting it was less than flattering.”
“You might be surprised,” Tim said and took Colton’s hand. For some reason, their handshake looked a lot less cordial, more intense. “Good to meet you, Colton.”
“You, too,” he said, looking Tim in the eyes, not releasing his hand. “Is there a reason they call you ‘Big Tim?’ You don’t look so big to me.”
Tim flashed a full smile. “I guess you’re not looking in the right place then.”
“Guess not,” Colton said while Kyle cough-laughed.
“I’m actually the perfect height to partner, Sadie,” Tim said, looking the twins over. “You and your brother would be, too. What are you six-foot-one? Maybe a little taller?”
Colton shook his head. “Yeah, but I don’t dance.”
“Too bad,” Tim said.
“And why’s that?”
“It’s sad when a man isn’t confident enough in his masculinity to dance.”
Colton shot him a grin. “Trust me, confidence isn’t a problem.”
“I can see that,” Tim said.
“We’ve never even seen Sadie dance,” Kyle put in. “Besides her videos. She’s my best friend, and I’m trying not to be offended that, the one time she did invite me, Colton got the invite as well.”
I was hoping Kyle wouldn’t notice that, but of course, he did.
“I wanted to come to one of her competitions, but she’d never let me,” Kyle said in a whisper to Tim. “Threatened to shave off my eyebrows more than once. Sadie’s always been weird about dancing in front of me.”
“You’re exaggerating,” I countered, though he was right on the money. If Kyle had come to see me dance, if he hadn’t liked it, I would’ve been crushed, absolutely annihilated. I hadn’t wanted to take that chance—and I knew how much Kyle cared about his eyebrows, so it’d been the perfect means to keep him away. “And hey, like you said, I invited you tonight.”
“So, you guys came to support Sadie,” Tim said. “That’s nice.”
“Yeah,” Colton laughed, finally releasing Tim’s hand and backing away. “We’re here to see some of that sexy 16th Century ballroom dancing she told me about. Right, Sadie?”
I sniffed, giving a small nod. “I have a point to prove.”
“Yeah, you do,” Colton said. “There somewhere you want us to sit?”
Before I could answer, Betty raised her hand, waving to get Colton’s attention. He frowned slightly when he saw who it was flagging him down, and I smiled.
“Looks like there are some seats right over there,” I said sweetly. “You wouldn’t want to keep Betty waiting.”
Kyle laughed. “So, that’s Betty? Oh, I can’t wait to meet her.”
“And I’m sure she wants to meet you. She absolutely adores Colton,” I added.
“Of course, she does.” Colton turned to me and shrugged. “Why wouldn’t she? Let’s go, Kyle.”
“Good luck, Sadie,” Kyle said and nodded to Tim.
As the twins walked off together, Betty looked pleased as punch to see them, gathering them both into a hug once they were close enough. Tim waited until they were out of earshot then pulled me to face him, eyes bright like he was on a sugar high, smiling like a kid in a candy store who’d just found the chocolate aisle.
“Sadie, why didn’t you tell me?” he said, voice full of excitement.
“Tell you what?” I asked.
“Well, for one, that Kyle’s gay.”
I blinked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tim rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, the boy may be in the closet, but he’s gay as gay can be. No wonder he’s never gone for you. I hit him and his brother with my come-hither stare, and Kyle reacted like a moth drawn to a flame.”
“I—”
“And the brother! Oh my God, I can’t believe you never said anything about the brother.”
“What about Colton?” I asked.
“He’s into you, Sadie.” He nodded as I shook my head. “Oh yes. Didn’t you see how he was staring at you? And how he got all jealous when he thought we were together? It was hot.”
I had to laugh at that. “Tim, you are so incredibly wrong.”
“I’m so incredibly right,” he countered. “There were definite sparks, and he was eating you up with his eyes. FYI, you were eating him up, too.”
“I did not look at him that way.”
Tim crossed his arms. “You look at him like you’ve kissed him, and you can’t wait to do it again.”
My face flamed up like a freaking forest fire.
“Oh my God,” he said, eyes widening, “have you kissed him? You have, haven’t you? Sadie!”
“Okay, okay,” I said as Tim wore me down, “yes, we kissed. Once. And I can’t stop thinking about it, which is really frustrating and confusing as heck. But it’s just because it was my first kiss, not because I have any weird repressed attraction to Colton.”
“Really? Because I’m positive there was some repressed attraction there.”
I gave him a look.
“So, you’re saying you’re confused about the kiss with Colton, and that’s why you may or may not have been looking at him with I-hate-you-even-though-I-want-you eyes?”
I shrugged. “If you want to put it that way, I guess.”
“Then you know what this means right, Sadie?”
I shook my head.
“You have to kiss him again.”
Kiss him again.
Kiss him again.
Kiss him again.
The words replayed through my head again and again during my performance with Tim. To be honest, I didn’t know how I managed to get through it without tripping, let alone stay on beat. My brain was so discombobulated. Besides those words echoing in my ears, the way Colton and Kyle’s eyes followed us across the dance floor made my heart race. Were they impressed? Did they like it? Hate it? Oh God, please don’t let them hate it.
/>
Though the dance was only a minute and thirty seconds, by the end I was sweating. And it wasn’t because of my curves or a lack of stamina.
Oh no.
It had everything to do with the two guys in the front row and the pair of eyes that I couldn’t seem to stop meeting even as I’d been dancing with Tim. Surprisingly, those eyes hadn’t belonged to Kyle. The applause was deafening as we came out of our final dip, so we must’ve done a decent job. But if you’d asked me what’d happened in those 90 seconds, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you a thing.
After we finished, some of the residents got up to dance while others remained seated just enjoying the music, and Kyle came over and grabbed me up in a hug.
“Holy wow, Sadie,” Kyle said. “Why didn’t you ever let me see you dance? That was awesome!”
The relief I felt almost brought me to my knees. “Really? You liked it?”
“Are you crazy?” he said, taking a step back. “You were incredible!”
“You have no idea how much that means to me, Kyle. Thank you,” I said as Colton joined us. For some reason I couldn’t explain, I wanted to hear his opinion—even if it scared the crap out of me. “What about you, Colton? You said ballroom couldn’t be sexy. Do you still think that, or did we change your mind?”
Colton shook his head, and I braced myself.
“I stand corrected,” he said and met my eyes. “You were amazing.”
“Thanks,” I said unable to look away, my heart skipping for some reason. What the heck was that about?
“You were good, too, Big Tim,” Colton added.
Tim did a little bow. “Why thank you.”
“Man, I wish I could do that,” Kyle said. “You know, when we were younger, my mom put Colton and me in dance class for a few years.”
My eyes widened in disbelief. “What? I never knew that!”
“That’s because we promised never to speak of it again,” Colton muttered. “Seriously, what the hell, Kyle?”
“What kind of dancing was it?” I asked still stunned.
“Ballet and tap,” Kyle said and shoved his hands into his pockets, ignoring Colton’s glare. “This was before I even knew you, Sadie. We did it from kindergarten to fourth. I was decent, but Colton was actually pretty good.”
My eyes shot to Colton. “You took ballet?”
“And I hated every second,” Colton said.
“Aw, come on, you were good,” Kyle said.
“I still hated it. Are we done talking about this?”
I shook my head. “I can’t believe you took ballet. And tap! I’m having a hard time picturing it.”
“Don’t,” Colton said. “Stop trying to picture it right now. That’s an official order as your coach.”
Eyes closed, I held up a hand. “Wait, wait, I almost have it—”
“Sadie,” Colton practically growled. This was too much fun.
“He was good,” Kyle said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “The girls were too scared to talk to him, though, because he looked miserable. So, they talked to me instead. I think most of them had a crush on one or both of us.”
I could picture it so clearly. Kyle, loving it, drinking up all the attention, and Colton, grumpy as all get out, waiting for it to be over.
“Miss Patricia used to always say, ‘You Bishop boys both have rhythm, but Colton is a natural.’”
At Colton’s sigh, I opened my eyes. “Thanks,” I said. “I have the perfect mental image now. But honestly, Colton, I don’t see what you’re so embarrassed about. Dance is awesome.”
“Yeah well, not everyone thinks so,” he said.
I didn’t really understand what he meant, but Tim nodded like he got it. To Colton, he said, “Was it the ballet belt, the classical music, or all the crap you caught from other guys that turned you off?”
“It was everything,” Colton said deadpan. “Those were dark times.”
“Ah well,” Tim said, “kids can be jerks. That’s why no one at my school knew I did ballroom. But at least the teacher said you can move.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” I mumbled.
I’d made the comment mostly under my breath, but from the way Colton’s eyes narrowed, he must’ve heard. Wonderful.
“Hey, Sadie,” Tim said, which gave me an excuse to look away from Colton. Bless Tim and his perfect timing.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Don’t you always say there’s nothing more attractive than a guy who can dance?”
If Tim’s tone was innocent, his eyes were anything but. They were shining with mirth as my mouth fell open. I take it back. My ex-dance partner had the most awful timing imaginable.
“I—well I…did say that,” I sputtered. Of course, I had said that. And yes, I truly believed it. When a guy knew how to move his body, there was nothing more appealing—except maybe a guy who loved to read. The truth was I’d take a man who could move over a football jock any day of the week. I just didn’t necessarily want to own up to it in the presence of certain bad boys with already humongous egos.
“While you two talk, Kyle and I will be just over here going through the finer points of ballroom,” Tim said as he whisked my best friend away. Kyle followed all-too-willingly, and I was suddenly left alone with Colton. He was looking at me with this calculating gleam in his eye that I didn’t trust for a second.
“So, dancing,” Colton said finally. “That’s what does it for you?”
“It might,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
My eyes widened, my brain grinding to a halt. Did he really just say…? Before I could think too long on it, Colton’s next words stunned me again.
“By the way, have you given any more thought to the kissing?”
“What?” I squeaked, my eyes shooting to Tim. Had he said something to Colton when I wasn’t looking? Tim had been the one who was all gung-ho about me kissing Colton again…but no, he couldn’t have. I’d been here the whole time, and it hadn’t come up.
“Kissing,” Colton said again. “Have you thought any more about it?”
“Not really,” I said, the lie tripping easily from my tongue, but I was pretty sure my blush gave me away. The library, his lips, my lips. Meeting in a first kiss to end all first kisses. Was he crazy? Of course, I’d thought about it.
Colton frowned, the metal in his lip catching the light. “Listen, Sadie, I can’t be the only one thinking about these things. You’ve got to do your part, too.”
“Y-you’ve thought about it?” I asked in disbelief. “The kissing?”
“Well yeah, only like every day.”
“Wait, wait…what exactly are you saying?”
Colton stared at me a beat then said slowly, “We need to find you a new kissing partner. There’s no way we can complete your list without one. I thought we were on the same page about this.”
I exhaled a laugh. “Oh, of course! Yes, I completely agree. Couldn’t agree more actually.”
“What did you think I was talking about?” he asked.
“The kissing partner thing,” I said, my tone bright. “I was just making sure you knew what we were talking about. You know, sometimes I like to test you Colton just to make sure you’re paying attention.”
“Trust me,” he said, “with you, I’m always paying attention.”
“Well that’s…nice.”
“No, it’s not,” Colton grinned. “I’m your coach, so it’s my job.”
I guess when he put it like that…
“So, you wanna go out tonight?” My jaw dropped, and Colton laughed at my expression. “Ah, don’t get over excited, Sadie. It’s just so we can cross off a few more things on your list and find you some guy to kiss. No big deal.”
“Oh,” I said, unsure what I felt right then. There was definitely relief, but something else was mixed in there. Something I chose not to exam too closely. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Think your
mom will let you go?”
I thought about it a second then nodded. “She won’t be home until tomorrow actually. But I’ll call her, and she’ll be okay with it. I’m about 99 percent sure. Mom trusts me.”
“Of course, she does.” He shook his head. “Such a good girl.”
I rolled my eyes at that as Colton turned to look at his brother. Following his gaze, it seemed like Tim really had shown Kyle some basic ballroom steps. I felt my lips turn up at the corners. My BFF was smiling, enjoying himself, and it was obvious the two were having a good time. Curiously, I didn’t feel even a hint of jealousy. I’d long ago accepted the fact that Kyle would never be mine. I just hoped Big Tim had mentioned Little Tim. If he’d led my best friend on…well, ex-ballroom partner or not, we would be having some serious words.
“Hey Sadie.”
I turned my attention to Colton, only to find his eyes already on me.
In a completely serious tone, he said, “Be ready at eleven, and bring your naughty list.”
No matter how many times I asked, Colton wouldn’t tell me what we were doing tonight. He refused to give even the tiniest of details. It was frustrating. He was frustrating. But to be honest, I wasn’t really worried. And that—the fact that I wasn’t worried—worried me.
I sighed as I glanced over at my cell. I’d gotten off the phone with my mom a couple hours ago, and the conversation had gone like this:
Mom: “Well of course, you can go, Sadie. But where are you going?”
Me: “I’m not sure. Colton wouldn’t tell me, said it was a surprise.”
Mom: “Colton.” A long pause and then, “You’re going out with Colton Bishop again?”
Me: “We’re not going out, Mom. He’s just helping me with a project.”
Mom: “A project? For what class?”
That one had given me a moment’s pause, but I’d finally come up with a great and (mostly) truthful answer.
Me: “Life Sciences. It’s due soon and requires some work we can only do at night.”
She’d been thinking it over—I could practically hear the gears turning in her mind—when suddenly my father was on the phone.
Dad: “Sadie, it’s Dad.”
Me (laughs): “Yeah, I know. Hi Dad, how’s it going?”
The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad Page 14
