Page 14 of Dance This Song With Me?

"You bet," Emilio winked at me. "I go there all the time. Lots of eye candy!"

"Sure then. Let's go," I said. Eye candy was always appreciated, though to be fair, I was walking in with my own.

And his comment had pretty much confirmed what I'd suspected... Emilio was definitely into men.

Chapter 11

EMILIO

Lucas was getting under my skin. In a good way.

The guy was a quick learner, and picked up on my instructions very quickly. Only had to tell him once and he had it, something which never failed to impress me. He was funny too, and we laughed a lot over his missteps during practice. He was one of those people with whom you feel instant friendship and everything is... easy.

He was a snack too, which was becoming a problem. There were moves in this dance which were done up close and personal, bodies connecting in places that weren't just hands. It was all decent, of course, but the way my body heated simply at the sight of him, I just knew I was going to have a problem when we started practicing those moves. Hiding my attraction was going to be difficult, and awkward if I couldn't. I was putting off practising those moves as long as I could.

After the first time we went for a drink after our lesson, it had become an unspoken agreement that we'd continue to do it each time we had one of these afternoon lessons. The crowd at the pub was loud but not rowdy, with most people winding down after a day of hard manual labor.

On one occasion I had to schedule an evening lesson, due to an unavoidable appointment with a client during the day. I'd grown accustomed to our after-lesson socialising, and it was late, so catching dinner together afterwards seemed like an obvious move.

"Wanna grab some food on the way out?" I asked Lucas, as I toweled my face down after our energetic session. I'd played fast tracks for the entire lesson, putting off for as long as possible the time when I'd have to teach him the slow, sensual moves - the ones that would have us up close and personal - and we were both lathered in sweat.

"Yeah, man, I could eat - you really worked me over tonight! What do you fancy down your throat tonight?"

Lucas rubbed his towel through his damp hair, seemingly oblivious to what he'd just said.

Your dick, I thought, but instead said, "There's a good Thai place around the corner. Food's great and they have a balcony upstairs where we can watch the street while we eat. Or there's an Indian restaurant further along - that's good too. Or we can just walk down the street and pick any restaurant you like... there's pretty much every cuisine around here."

"Actually, I love Thai. So, if it's that good, let's go there. I like the idea of sitting out on the balcony too."

"Excelente, parce! Give me five minutes to finish up for the night. I have to lock up tonight, so we can meet at the front desk and head out together. Okay?"

"Perfect."

Five minutes later, all the rooms except the reception area had been plunged into darkness and a strange quiet filled the empty spaces. The rooms that normally teemed with students, felt unnaturally still, brooding and solitary.

"Let's go! I've locked up everything I needed to, turned the air conditioning off. We're good to go," I told Lucas, rejoining him at the front desk and swiping my backpack from under the desk where the staff cubbies were located.

Lucas smiled and led the way out while I turned off the final light and locked the door behind us.

Out in the street, people wandered past. A light breeze from the passing traffic swirled dust and leaves along the footpath, the occasional stray piece of litter stirring in dark corners. It was always busy here, close to student acccomodations, the CBD, and a vibrant LGBTQ+ community. The street around the corner was alive with almost every type of restaurant, and although many looked dingey from the outside, they were almost always good. There was too much choice here for bad food to be tolerated. Any bad restaurants went out of business very fast.

"Wait til you try the pad thai," I groaned, thinking about my favorite dish. "You do like pad thai, don't you? I mean, it's non-negotiable if we're going to be friends."

"Of course I like pad thai," Lucas replied, mock affront on his face. "Do you think I'm a heathen?"

"Wasn't sure, you do live on the north side, after all." I bumped his shoulder with mine, feeling playful now we weren't in each other's space as much. Standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder, I didn't have to worry that his soft breath or the citrusy, manly scent of him would trigger an unprofessional reaction. It was a problem I'd never had before, while instructing.

"What! Don't tell me you live on the south side," Lucas feigned shock and glanced furtively over his shoulder. "I sure hope no-one I know sees me with you. God, the embarrassment..." He struck himself on the forehead as if it was all too much to bear, but his lips quirked as he barely contained his grin.

"Eh, parcero, if it's too embarrassing to be seen with me, I can go eat Thai by myself."

"Fucking oath, no! You've been boasting about this food all night, now you have to deliver."

Right about then, we reached a narrow shopfront. A large glass panel opened onto a kitchen area, where three short, tanned cooks bustled around each other, frying in woks blackened with age and use, the contents - mince, chicken pieces or colorful vegetables - sizzling and the aroma of garlic heavy in the air.

A smiling woman with salt-and-pepper hair and years of wrinkles headed towards us as we walked in the door.

"Hey, Annie," I said. I wasn't sure if that was her real name, but it was what she'd told me to call her. I had a feeling her actual name was probably too difficult for most Aussies to pronounce. I wasn't Australian, of course, but she'd use a consistent name for all her customers.