Page 27 of Lovely Venom

“I have some time before I go back to work. Can I think about it?”

She reluctantly agrees, but when my phone alerts me to a message from Viktor, I can see I’ve made a liar of myself. I texted him this morning to let him know I’d injured my ankle, asking if I could take some time off. In typical fashion, he’s being an asshole about it.

You’ve got until Monday. If you don’t come back by then, don’t come back at all.

“Everything okay?” Mariella asks.

“Yep.” I stand and plaster on a happy face. “Let’s go join this class.”

“Okay, Shakira.” Val elbows me. “Where’d you learn to move your hips like that?”

“Seriously.” Abella laughs. “I think you caught the instructor off guard.”

“And on a stability ball, no less,” Lucia adds.

“I just got caught up in the moment.”

“Can you show me that figure eight thing again?” Serafina asks.

“Sure.” I stand and show them again, a little slower this time.

“Yeah, no. That defies the laws of human anatomy.” Mariella shakes her head. “I give up.”

“It’s so…hypnotic.” Lucia sighs. “I might need to take more classes so I can do that.”

“You aren’t the only one who’s hypnotized.” Gabi points out. “We have an audience.”

We glance over to find the men have gathered in the backyard gym now that our class is out of the way. But there isn’t much working out happening at the moment. Angelo and Romeo are staring at their wives while Cristian scowls in our general direction. Rafe and Michele grin like idiots as I use my hands to guide Serafina’s hips, breaking down the move for her.

“That’s it, ladies,” Rafe encourages. “A little more hands-on action.”

Cristian smacks his brother in the back of the head as he walks by, and Michele laughs.

“God, they are such children.” Mariella rolls her eyes.

We resume our practice, and the girls follow along, asking me questions as they try to perfect the moves we learned today. It feels like a breath of fresh air dancing without the pressures of the club. Sometimes, I forget how much fun it can be to do something simply because I want to.

“You’re really good at this,” Val notes. “I’m bummed I’ve never even been to one of your shows.”

“You should go to one,” Mariella says. “She’s a total smoke show.”

“You could all come if you want,” I tell them. “You’re more than welcome.”

“I doubt our chaperones would have a problem with that,” Abella muses.

“We should make a night of it,” Lucia suggests. “I want to learn how to do that thing with the feather fans.”

“I could teach you. It’s easy once you get the hang of it.”

After a brief discussion, I find myself booked for a future lesson with all of them.

With that settled, we migrate to the al fresco dining area and take our seats around the table.

“Who knew belly dancing could be so exhausting?” Abella sighs, leaning back as she cradles her bump.

“I’m sure part of that has to do with the fact you’re growing an entire human,” Mariella remarks dryly.

“Tell me about it,” Abella groans. “I’m officially at the part of the pregnancy where everything is either swollen or painful.”