One Shot At Love

Love is a First Dance

KAI

The next morning, I blissfully drifted between classes, both excited and nervous about my first dance session with River later that day. I had my head down at my phone through most of the Dance History lecture, looking up Latin dance and writing my lesson plan on the Notes app while the professor droned on in the background.

"Careful, with that posture, you'll end up with hyperkyphosis."

I immediately perked up at that, unconsciously straightening my back as a hearty chuckle sounded next to me.

"Well you don't have to give yourself whiplash, either."

I turned to the girl next to me, causally flipping her long auburn hair across her shoulder, her deep blue eyes dancing with amusement. I recognised her from most of my classes, but I didn't know her name.

"Cas, right?"

"Right, and you care about my posture because...?"

"Because it'd be a damn shame to waste such a pretty face on such terrible spinal alignment."

I gave her a deadpan look but she continued to smile, ever charismatic and not the least bit discouraged by my indifference.

"Who are you again?"

"Gee, I thought you'd never ask. I'm Aeri," she extended a hand toward me, smiling expectantly. I made no move to shake her hand, instead turning away and bringing my phone up to eye level this time.

"Okay, rude, but I like a man who's hard to get. I'll have all semester to charm your pants off... Both literally and figuratively."

I grimaced, "You'd be hard pressed to charm me, but you're more than welcome to try."

"That's a start! Can I have your number? No? Too soon?"

I shook my head, chuckling to myself. Thankfully enough, she eventually took the hint and stayed quiet through the rest of class. As students slipped out of the lecture hall, she discreetly slipped a piece of paper into the open page of my text book, disappearing long before I could question her about it. I hesitated.

Well... I guess there's no harm in keeping her number.

When my last class ended, I nearly sprinted out of the building. The weather was amazing that day, the sun radiating just the right amount of heat and the soft breeze blowing my hair away from my forehead. I watched the students going about their daily lives, my eyes only searching for River. When he appeared, hands shoved in the pockets of his black sweatpants, luscious hair pulled back into a bun, waving at me, a smile automatically made its way onto my lips.

"Hey," I greeted as he made his way towards me.

"You're early," He flashed a dazzling smile.

"So are you."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

After a short walk, River walked us into an empty studio. He set his backpack down on the floor before doing a few stretches in front of the mirror. I managed to turn my gaze away from his impressive form long enough to plug my cell phone into the speaker, putting on the playlist I had prepared the previous night for our dance session.

"So, what are we gonna start with today, Professor Cas?"

I chuckled at the name, which sounded oddly hot coming from him, "We'll start with some common handholds and basic moves."

I held my hand out for him to take and watched the slight reluctance in his eyes before he eventually stepped forward and took it in his own. I instantly got tingles at the simple contact, eyes flashing up to his warily as I tugged him closer.