Although he’s been admirably serious up to this point, Hanry laughs out loud. “Why? He’s hilarious!”
“I know that now!” I retort, but that only makes him laugh more. Of course a guy like him wouldn’t have to worry about finding a head without a body and being accused of murder. If the charm didn’t work, all he’d have to do is turn it off, and his towering mass would terrify anyone into silence. I don’t have that advantage.
“So you really made up that whole thing?” Hanry asks, wiping his eye while smiling. “About being a florist and an event planner? And you didn’t correct me or try to back out after I mentioned my friends’ wedding. Holy shit, Sabby. Is this why you were so weird about your duffel bag?”
“Yeah,” I admit. “I didn’t really expect you to follow up!”
Hanry whistles. “This is amazing,” he says. “Sabby. I stand by what I said on Saturday—you did a great job. I’m even more impressed now that I know the circumstances.”
I thought he’d be mad at me for lying. He’s taken me by surprise, and I’m stunned at my own relief. How good it feels to be open, to trust someone with a secret like this. Flustered, I ask, “Really?”
Hanry has barely caught his breath. “Yeah! That was your first wedding? Unreal. Now I want to know what else you’ve been keeping from me.”
“Well, I can promise you I was honest about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I wasn’t lying about my dancing skills. Those moves were completely authentic.”
“Yeah, we’ll need to work on those. How can you be so bad at dancing and so good at faking that other stuff?” he asks.
“The only kind of dancing I like to do is in a place where people can’t see me.”
Hanry glances around. A smile sneaks onto his stubbly face, catching shadow. Marking mischief. “We could dance here,” he says. “Right now.”
“Hell no,” I say before biting into an apple slice.
“Really? All right, suit yourself. I guess I’ll just have to dance… by myself…”
“Have fun,” I say as Hanry clambers to his feet. He can’t be serious.
“I’m going to do the boy’s part first…” And he does. He puts out his arms as if holding an invisible woman, presumably me, and starts to glide on the grass, humming. “Now for the girl’s part…”
Once again, his footwork is nothing short of masterful. Head to toe, he’s graceful, strong, coordinated. And all while being silly as hell.
“How do you know the girl’s part?” I demand.
“My dance instructor made me learn both,” says Hanry, somewhat breathlessly. “It’s really hard doing some of these movements without someone holding on to you.”
“It was awkward,” I say, sympathetic, “even with you holding on to me.”
“What’s a loop-de-loop?” he says in a falsetto. “Oof! Ahh!”
I’m blushing, but thankfully it’s so dark, I doubt he sees. “Shut up. I don’t sound like that.”
He just laughs. “Nah. But I like your voice.”
Finally, Hanry gives up his single-man dancing and comes back to the picnic blanket. He does that annoyingly hot thing where he tumbles off his feet, landing in a perfect, model-esque slouch across from me. I’ve seen guys do this in movies. I didn’t know real people were capable of it, much less on a first take. It’s enough to make me feel like this isn’t real.
And then I remember.
“So explain something to me,” I say. “You’re wrapped up in the whole paranormal world and its weirdness. In spite of being… not so weird. Why is that?” By which I mean,Why would you do that to yourself?
He shrugs.
“I don’t know. The Community isn’t all bad. At least not bad-weird. It has its pros and cons, same as the regular world.”
“Yeah, I don’t buy that. I need specifics,” I say around a mouthful of cheese.
