Dylan glared at him. “Tattoo Boy, youreallyneed to learn how to take a compliment. If I didn’t think you could dance, I’d tell you straight up. It’s the kind of guy I am. Blunt and thoughtless.”
“You’re not thoughtless.”
Dylan smiled slightly. “There’s a lot of people who would disagree with you.” He patted Callum’s knee. “Shall I go get pizza now?”
“Want me to come?”
“Nope. You stay and play the game some more.”
“Are you actually going to leave this time?”
Dylan laughed loudly. “Yes, darling. I’m starving.” He stood. “You are coming to the Vibe tonight, aren’t you?”
“Sure.”
Dylan’s expression brightened. “Great. You play, I’ll get food.”
Callum waited for Dylan to leave, before submerging himself in the VR world again.
* * *
Callum went home to get showered and changed before heading to the Vibe to meet the Heaven and Hell Club dancers. Who was he kidding? He was going to meet Dylan.
Maybe that was why he was slow about getting ready and why he ended up being the last to arrive. Admitting that hewasattracted to Dylan—to himself at least—was one thing, but he still hadn’t figured out what that meant, how he felt about it, or what he was going to do about it.
The Vibe was heaving, but it wasn’t hard to find the dancers. They sat at the same table they had been the week before, which made Callum wonder if they got there early each week to snag it. A quick glance told him everyone already had drinks, so he grabbed himself a beer at the bar before joining them.
“You made it,” Jared said, moving to sit on Kyrone’s knee to make room for him.
“We were going to dance when we’ve finished this round,” Hunter said. “Are you joining us this time?”
“You’d better be,” Dylan said before Callum had a chance to say anything.
Dylan looked gorgeous. He had metallic silver eyeshadow on, which he’d blended out to a smoky black. He’d used black eyeliner to create long, sharp flicks. The rest of his makeup was subtle: a small amount of blusher, highlighter along his cheek bones, and matt lipstick in a shade that was only a little darker than his natural lip colour. He was wearing high-waisted skinny jeans that skimmed the bottom of his naval and had several horizontal rips in them, black boots with big heels, and a loose fitting sheer and shimmery crop top with wide sleeves that reached the crook of his elbows. Once again, his top was see-through enough for his nipple piercings to be visible. Callum tried not to stare, but it was almost impossible not to.
Dylan was staring at him pointedly. In fact,everyoneat the table was staring at him.
He shook himself and shrugged. “Maybe.” He gulped his beer, trying to hide his burning cheeks behind the pint glass.
“Uh-uh,notgood enough,” Dylan declared. “I want to see your ass up on that dance floor. Drink up.” He picked his bright blue cocktail up and downed it, then he looked at Callum expectantly.
“Give the guy a break,” Hunter said. “If he doesn’t want to dance, he doesn’t want to dance.”
“Doyou want to dance?” Dylan’s lips came to rest ever so slightly parted.
Callum’s breath stuck in his throat. Was Dylan asking if he wanted to dance withhim? No. More likely he was throwing down a challenge for Callum to stop being a coward and let loose for a change.
“Yes,” he said, but he still drank his beer slowly.
By the time he was done, most of the guys had drifted away from the table to head to the dance floor, leaving only him and Dylan at the table.
“Don’t go backing out on me,” Dylan said. “I didn’t spend all afternoon showing you that you could dance for nothing.”
Callum gulped and put his empty glass on the table. “One song. That’s all I’m promising.”
“That’ll do.”
He followed Dylan onto the dance floor. Dylan started dancing immediately, mesmerising as ever. Callum stood for a few awkward moments, shuffling his weight from foot to foot, knowing he could never look that good on the dance floor. Then again, nor could most of the people around them. They were surrounded by people of all shapes and sizes. There was every type of dancer imaginable from amazing and confident, like Dylan and the rest of the Heaven and Hell Club dancers, to awkward and uncoordinated, like Callum.
