My breath catches when a six-foot-five man with wavy brown hair and matching eyes comes into view. He stands out against all the others. Most of them being women and much shorter men. Although, some jocks join from time to time.
All the girls in the room are taking turns staring at him by either turning their heads or peeking through the large mirrors that surround the studio. His eyes remain on mine, not paying a lick of attention to anyone else. He looks much more confident and comfortable than he did a couple of days ago, like a man on a mission.
I raise a brow.What’s his game?I asked for space, goddammit.
A girl who’s been taking my classes religiously and is always in the front row clears her throat, making me realize that I haven’t finished my speech.
My cheeks heat. “As I was saying, I would also like to announce that because of everyone’s support and attendance, I get to continue teaching next semester.”
The class congratulates me while lightly clapping. My eyes find Cameron standing in the corner of the room, leaning on a wall, also clapping with a smug smile.
Why is he looking at me like that? He’s acting…playful. Is this his idea of trying to win me back? Taking one class isn’t going to do that. He’s also wearing that one smile that’s been pissing me off all semester.
I then realize that this is a challenge. The man wants my attention, and he’s getting it because he knows I won’t back down.
Alright, two can play this game; we’ve been doing it all semester.
“Excuse me, tall guy in the back,” I announce.
Everyone turns their heads to Cam, and he instantly stiffens. I try hiding my smile.
“Me?” He points at himself.
“Yes, you. I need you to get off the wall and find a spot within the group. Unless you aren’t interested in participating, then you need to leave. As you can see, the class is full.”
The students stare at me with wide eyes. I’ve never called anyone out on something as minuscule as this, but he’s asking for it.
Cameron does as he’s told and stands straight in the center of the room in between thirty other people. The spot doesn’t surprise me.
Attention whore.
“Better?” He smirks.
“Much,” I deadpan. Redirecting my attention to the class, I give some instructions. “Since today is our last day, I compiled a playlist of everyone’s favorite choreographies. Let’s have some fun.”
Picking my phone up, I scroll through the playlist and pick the song that is accompanied by the hardest choreography I’ve made thus far.
Hopefully he can keep up.
“S91” by Karol G blasts through the speakers, and everybody starts moving their feet before I get to my spot, having memorized them during the semester.
The dance is full of footwork, jumping, and hip movements.My body is so used to the steps that I’m able to peek at Cam, who I see is trying his best to keep up but is three steps behind everyone else and has bumped into two people five times now. When our eyes meet, I see him shaking his head slightly with a panicked smile.
I grin in satisfaction.
He knows I’m not going to make any of this easy. The class or us.
A little under an hour later, we’re all stretching, and everyone is out of breath. In their defense, I chose the faster paced songs today. Cameron’s moves weren't bad but his timing was just horrible. Eventually, he moved to a spot where there were fewer people since he almost knocked over the girl next to him. He was a walking safety hazard. Outside I was trying to act pissed, inside I was laughing my ass off, and so was the rest of the room.
The song comes to an end as we all take in one more deep breath.
“Okay, everybody, I hope to see all of you next semester. Good luck on your finals, and happy holidays.”
People slowly start to leave the room as I try to focus on packing my things up, waiting to see what Cameron’s next move is. I’m hoping he’ll quietly leave, although it’s highly unlikely. I still need space no matter how much fun I had giving him a rough time. But that’s probably why he came. Because he’d know I’d enjoy this.
While the last couple of students are leaving, my eyes lock with Cam’s in the mirror.
He smiles confidently and stalks towards me. I expect another speech or apology, but instead he hands me a card.
