“Gilly.”
“You look so familiar,” the light café brown freckled face woman casually gestures, once more encouraging uncertaintyto cha-cha slide around the pit of my stomach. “Have we met before?”
Like earlier, a hiccup sound escapes rather than words.
Huh.
My lady has a nervous tick.
Why do I think that shit makes her even more adorable?
How is her bein’ more adorable even possible?
“Maybe at a meet and greet?” Joey follows up when she doesn’t get an answer.
Gilly’s mouth lowers to answer only to have another hiccup escape.
Concerningly, Cap’s wife inquires, “Need some water?”
“Now,” Courtney states loudly, regaining control over the situation, round face the brightest and most enthusiastic I’ve seen it yet, “is everyone ready to learn a few basics?”
Bella’s excited glee-filled squeal gets the group smiling and nodding and properlyoffthe topic of Gilly’s hidden relation.
Our first directions are all about proper stances.
The next are about footwork.
And the last are about putting them altogether to simple timing.
Cap and I flawlessly execute each movement – credit due to training exercises that have required much more strenuous and awkward poses – while the females in our company all seem to have two left feet.
Or arms.
Or in Gilly’s caseboth.
“You got this, Gillybean,” I lovingly encourage, hoping it dulls some of the frustration that’s pinging around her face. “It’s jus’ like when we first met.”
“This isnothinglike when we first met, Jukes,” she huffs between stumbles.
“Sure, it is,” sweetly leaves me in tandem with swinging around to be behind her. “We’re gonna shuffle…shuffle…this way,” my fingers lightly lift her bent elbow upward for better form as we slowly take two steps to the left, “switch,” I maneuver them into the opposite direction, “and shruffle…shruffle…this way.”
Giggles are attached to her headshaking.
“Shuffle…shuffle…again…” There’s no stopping my hands from falling onto her hips to assist. “Then switch.”
“And shruffle…shruffle…this way.”
“Exactly,” is cooed beside her ear. “And once more…” Her frame instantly softens against mine practically turning my voice into nothing but air. “Shuffle…Shuffle…last time.”
“Then switch.”
“And shruffle…shruffle…last time.” She cranes her face up and over her shoulder. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make everything feels so…” a smile sweeter than candy rain graces her glossed lips, “easy.”
“Don’t think everything in life has to be that hard.” Leaning down is met by Gilly lifting herself up. “Especially not with you.”
