"If you change your mind, let me know. I'm crazy about you, Adam. That's not likely to change any time soon."
Chapter Nine
Luc
Luc felt no satisfaction at being proved right. He'd known Adam would freak out, be repulsed and that he wouldn't give a shit about the distinction between brothers and stepbrothers. As much as he wanted them to be able to, those four letters didn't have the power to make his desire appropriate.
Despite all that, he'd still been stupid enough to kiss Adam. He wasn't even sure why he'd done it. Had pushing Adam like that been a good idea? Of course not. But he hadn't exactly been thinking with his head as he'd crept closer and closer to his stepbrother. And fuck, the confusion that had created lines on Adam's forehead had only made him look even hotter. Besides, the kiss had been wonderful. He'd fantasised about it for so long, that it could have easily fallen flat, but it hadn't. Pressing his lips against Adam's had felt completely right. Caressing Adam's face had made his fingers tingle with delight. He'd wanted so much more and he wasn't entirely sure that Adam would have resisted, but he'd forced himself to stop with the kiss, so that Adam could think over his reaction to it.
That had been two days ago and Adam had barely looked at him since.
To be fair, that wasn't much of a step backwards from where they'd been before they'd gone out to the club. But Adam had also been fairly uncommunicative to their parents and that was likely to cause problems.
Luc didn't know what to do about it. He hadn't been alone in the house with Adam since the evening he'd kissed him. Either their parents were around, or Adam was out. Unable to speak to his stepbrother, Luc threw himself into marketing the dance company. He went to the studio and took photos of the lessons, although he avoided the classes that Adam taught. Jane had worked quickly to send him three ideas for a new website. He talked his parents through the designs, helping them to choose the one that best suited the identity of the dance studio.
"Jane will design flyers to match," he told them. "And social media banners. With the photos I've been taking, we should be able to give you a really good web presence."
His mum kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Luc. You've done so much."
"I'm not done yet," Luc said. "I promised I'd get the social media accounts going for you. But we need to think about local publicity, too." He breathed in. "Did you think any more about lessons for youngsters?"
Ken pressed his lips together. "I'm waiting to hear Adam's ideas for lessons. I thought he'd have given them to me by now."
"He's been very out of sorts the last few days," Luc's mum agreed. She looked at him, lines gathering around her eyes. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"
"How would I know? We're not exactly best buddies."
"Maybe you could talk to him?"
"He's more likely to talk to you, than me." Not that Luc wanted Adam to pour his heart out to their mum. He couldn't think of a worse outcome. "But sure, I'll give it a go."
His mum patted his shoulder. "Thank you."
"It's probably because he's fed up of me being here," Luc said, trying to make a joke out of the situation.
His mum's chin quivered. "Don't say that, Luc."
"If me being here is a problem—"
"It's not," Ken said gruffly. "We want you here. It's been good to have you back.Ifthat's what Adam's problem is, he'll just have to get used to it."
"For a couple more weeks," Luc pointed out. "I have a job to get back to."
"Yes, of course," his mum agreed, nodding. "But it has been lovely having you here. We've missed you."
"Anyway," Luc said, eager to change the subject. "If you decide to go ahead with toddler lessons, I thought you might consider doing workshops at the local nurseries and preschools."
He bit his lip as he waited for either of his parents to say something.
"I think that's a good idea," his mum said.
"You could hand out vouchers for a free trial lesson," Luc said, gaining more confidence in his idea.
"There you go again, with the idea of free lessons," Ken grumbled. "We're trying to make more money, not give tuition away."
Luc folded his arms. "It's a good way of getting people through the door. Make sure the kids enjoy the lesson and you've got returning customers. It's like when chocolate shops give free samples out. They know that if someone likes the chocolate, they'll probably buy some and something else as well."
Ken pursed his lips. "We need to see what Adam comes up with first."
