I spin her around until she has her back to my chest and now we’re both facing Cameron and Will. The sudden spin catches their attention. Ignoring Cameron’s odd intense gaze on me, I focus on the plan that could get complicated and awkward if not done right. Either way, it’ll still be uncomfortable for Cameron and I. I turn Zoey to face me again, knowing I need to hurry since the song only has a minute and a half left.
“Ready?” I ask her.
“For what?”
She hasn’t realized that while twirling her, we’ve ended up directly in front of the boys. I slowly take Will’s hand and put it on my hip, forcing him and Zo’s bodies to press together. Her behind touching his front. She tenses up, and Will lets out a sharp breath. Casually, I lean into Zoey.
“Relax.” She takes my advice, trusting me as I nod at Will in encouragement. He grabs her by the hips and starts dancing with us. He’s not bad. They’re both still a little unsure, and I’d rather not make what currently looks like Will and I bothwanting to make out with Zo a reality. Not that I would object if they didn’t have actual feelings for each other.
I finally push my head up to see Cameron, whose eyes are wide with shock and understanding. I’m close enough to grab his hand, and I take advantage of the proximity between us. As soon as our fingers touch, he stiffens.
Yeah, well, I don’t like it either, but this shit was too much damn work to stop now.
We have a moment of silent communication like we used to and he finally understands my end goal. Before Will or Zo can change their minds, I twirl her to face him. Pretending to lose my balance for a second in order to make it look like an accident. Cameron grabs me, pulling me up right. Finally, after what feels like way more than two songs, Will and Zoey are looking at each other. I hold my breath, hoping they’ll continue to dance and that all of that wasn’t for nothing. The desire is clearly there and the physical closeness they’ve had for the past two minutes has to count for something, right?
Come on.
Eventually, they relax in each other’s arms and lean their foreheads together. Thank God.
Letting out a deep breath, I turn around to see Cameron. He’s looking at them with a genuine smile on his face.
“Well?” I ask smugly.
“Well, what?”
“No ‘thank you’ or ‘well done’ or ‘I’m impressed?’”
He doesn’t take his eyes off Will and Zo. “Nope.”
I elbow his side lightly.
“Fine. You did a good thing. Happy?”
I feign surprise. “Well, would you look at that? A compliment.”
He scoffs. “Hardly.”
“We said tonight was for Zo. So, I put all my focus on her.”
He nods, and it’s followed by awkward silence. Whatever, Ididn’t do this for him, and one night isn’t going to fix all the damage from the past. At least it was fun playing matchmaker.
We remain in the same spot, not talking, till Nick’s voice filters through the speakers again.
“We’re gonna throw it back a little bit more now.”
“Obsesion” by Aventura starts playing. A snort escapes me at the coincidence. Eventually, Cameron gives in and chuckles.
“You remembered it too?” he asks.
“Are you kidding me? How could I forget? My mom trying to teach you to dance bachata, and you bumping into almost all of our furniture, then tripping over the rug? You were awful, thank God—” I stop myself before saying my sister’s name. Cameron must notice the change in my demeanor. His smile falls.
“Our temporary truce is ending soon, Morales. Let’s not ruin it by talking about the past.” I nod, agreeing with him, and stare ahead. “I’m going to get some more water. Do you want any?”
“Sure, thanks.” Without saying another word, he walks away. It was stupid of me to mention the past. Stupid of us to laugh about it.
Making the decision to look for Em and the others, I stroll around and bump into someone.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to?—”
