Luc clasped his hands together to stop himself from fidgeting. His knee still managed to jog up and down much faster than the music’s beat. He wanted to stride over to Adam, grab him, push him up against the wall and kiss him. He wanted to run his hands all over his brother's sweaty body, breathe in his musky scent and taste the salt on his skin. Luc had no idea what it would take to drive Adam out of his head. Living elsewhere for four years hadn't worked.
The piece of music finished, prompting Adam to stop.
Luc clapped his hands. "That was amazing." He couldn't help but grin as he spoke.
"I was just messing around." Adam grabbed a hand towel that was draped over one of the barres.
Luc licked his lips as Adam mopped the sweat from his face and hair. "I was going to check the social media accounts, if you want to help me?"
"I need to take a shower."
Luc would have given anything to be able to join his stepbrother in the shower. "Sure. I can wait for you."
Adam held the towel against his chest, tilting his head to the side. "Do you miss it?"
"What?"
"Dancing?"
Luc shook his head. "I never enjoyed it as much as you did. I only took lessons because Mum and Dad wanted me to."
"So you wouldn't have carried on, even if we hadn't been bullied about it?"
Luc shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. I might have." He glanced upwards. "It was important to them."
"Sometimes I wish I'd been able to see them dance on the stage," Adam said quietly. "I've seen all the programmes and photographs from their performances, but it's not the same."
Luc's eyes widened. If he'd been in a cartoon, a thought bubble with a lit lightbulb would have appeared above his head. "We should use some of those photos," he said, suddenly excited. "Mum was a prima ballerina. We need to use that in our marketing." He stood. "Did you get in touch with Mason?"
Adam nodded. "I'm going down to see him on Monday for a couple of days."
"Do you think you could get some photos of him dancing?"
"Maybe. Why?"
"Because we should use him too, as a success story of the dance school." He rolled his eyes. "I seem to remember he was pretty photogenic." It annoyed him to admit that, especially in front of Adam. Especially when Adam was about to run off to go and spend time with him.
"I'd have to ask him," Adam said, his expression doubtful.
"You don't think he'd be up for being our poster boy?"
Adam shrugged. "Hard to say. He's moved on, Luc." He stared into Luc's eyes as he spoke.
A shiver ran down Luc's spine. He had no idea what was happening, but neither of them was looking away. Surely there was only one reason Adam would make it so clear that his relationship with Mason was over. His breath caught in his throat. And if Adam was telling him that he was available…DidAdam have feelings for him?
"I should go and take a shower," Adam said nonchalantly. "I'll see you upstairs in about twenty minutes? To look at the social media accounts," he added gruffly, as he finally dipped his gaze.
Luc nodded, unable to speak. He was sure of it now. Adam might have been denying it to himself, but therewassomething stirring within him. There had to be. Luc needed there to be. He watched as Adam hung the towel back over the barre and wandered past him to the stairs. Once his stepbrother was gone, Luc retrieved the towel and held it to his face, inhaling Adam's scent. It wasn't the same as kissing or licking the sweat off Adam's body, but for the time being, it was close enough.
***
Luc couldn't concentrate as he sat next to Adam, watching as his stepbrother added new posts and tweets and responded to the single enquiry they'd received, which asked for clarification on the exam board they followed. Adam smelt of citrus and cedar wood. His freshly washed skin was still a little pink, suggesting he'd taken a hot shower. As he focused on the wording of a tweet, his forehead wrinkled adorably. It would have been so easy for Luc to lean across and kiss his jawline. He resisted, but that didn't mean he was about to stop staring.
"That's distracting," Adam muttered.
"What?" Luc tried to make his voice as innocent as possible; he was pretty sure he'd failed.
"You know what." He gestured towards the screen. "How's that."
