It was actually really fun. I faked it as best I could, while Lucky danced like he’d been doing this all his life. We laughed and danced through three songs before I dropped to the floor, gasping for air, and told him, “I need a time out.”
He stretched out on his back beside me, then turned his head and grinned at my profile as he said, “I’m having a great time. Thanks for humoring me.”
“Thanks for being patient while I screwed up everything you showed me.” I turned my head to look at him and asked, “How are you so good at this?”
“I’m actually pretty rusty, but my abuela insisted I take salsa lessons, starting when I was about eleven years old. She practically raised me, since Dad was always working, and my mother had remarried and moved out of state. Anyway, Abuela believed knowing how to salsa dance was an important skill for a young man, because it would help me impress the ladies. Little did she know.”
“Is she still with us?”
“Sadly, no. She died a few years ago, at ninety-three. You would have liked her. She was bossy, opinionated, and never took crap from anyone, but she also had a heart of gold.”
“I wish I could have met her.” He moved closer and laced his fingers with mine. After a pause, I said, “I have something I want to ask you.”
“Okay.”
“Next Saturday is my son’s first birthday, and my housemates are throwing him a party. Actually, they’re throwing it for both him and me, because my housemate JoJo says parents of small children deserve to be celebrated. Anyway, I thought if you weren’t busy, maybe you’d want to drop by, eat some cake, and visit for a while. Just, you know, if you want to.”
This was a big step, and we both knew it. I’d always kept Lucky separate from the rest of my life. There were a lot of reasons for that, including my fear of letting Owen get attached to someone who was leaving soon. Okay, and maybe I was trying not to get attached too, for the same reason. But Lucky wasn’t just some guy I was sleeping with, and it wouldn’t feel right if he wasn’t at that party.
“What time?”
“It’s a brunch and meant to be pretty casual, so around eleven? Or just drop by whenever…”
“I’ll be there.”
I sat up and exclaimed, “That’s great!” Then I chewed my lower lip for a few moments before saying, “There’s something else I wanted to ask you, too. The Saturday after that, two of my good friends, who also happen to be my landladies, are getting married. It’s a small, kind of casual wedding in the backyard, but I think it’s going to be really beautiful.”
Lucky sat up, too. When he realized I was waiting for a reply, he said, “You know there was no actual question in any of that, right?”
“Oh! Right. I was wondering if maybe you’d want to be my date to the wedding. I was just going to be dateless at first, because I figured I’d be busy baby-wrangling. But there’s going to be dancing afterwards, and I really would love to dance with you. And there’ll be cake! You like cake, don’t you?”
“You don’t have to sell me on it, Logan. I’d love to be your date to the wedding.”
“You would?” When he nodded, I said, “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me, either. It sounds fun.”
“It definitely will be.”
“What’s the dress code? Does ‘kind of casual’ mean a sportscoat but not a suit?”
“No, thank god. I don’t own anything like that, and it’s fine if you don’t, either. I asked JoJo and Yolanda—the brides—and they said jeans are fine. I’m going to wear my best pair with a button-down shirt. That’s as dressed up as I can manage.”
He nodded, and then he glanced at me and asked, “Why didn’t you ask me sooner?”
“I just didn’t know if you’d be into it.”
“I definitely am.” He jumped up and smiled at me. “Let’s practice, so we’re ready for the reception.”
He went back to the control panel, put on some mellow music, and slid back over to me. After he helped me to my feet, he spun me under our joined hands and pulled me close. We began to slow dance, and I rested my head on his shoulder. It was as great as I’d imagined.
Once that song ended, “I Love It” by Icona Pop began to blast from the speakers. He chuckled and said, “Oops, I guess I put it on shuffle.” A moment later, we both just went with it and started jumping around and dancing wildly as we belted out the lyrics.
We let the shuffle be our guide through several more songs, alternately slow-dancing, salsa dancing, or rocking out, depending on what came up. Then we collapsed side-by-side on one of the benches and leaned on each other as we caught our breath.
“This was so much fun,” I said. “Thank you for a wonderful night.”
“I had fun, too.” He kissed me, lingering in the moment before saying, “I guess we should think about heading back. It’s getting late.”