More Than Maybe - Erin Hahn Page 0,50
has to empty the bathrooms’ garbage?”
“Not clean toilets or anything?” Luke asks, dipping a rag in solution before slopping it back on a stool.
“Nah, we have a crew for that. But we have to take the garbage out before—The Neighbourhood!” I shout, cutting myself off and swerving my hips, while holding on to my broom as a mic and belting the first lyrics.
Ben shakes his head. “Not fair! I was listening to you!”
I ignore him. This song is my jam. Tessa starts in on the chorus of “Sweater Weather,” holding the ends of her rag over her head and spinning in a circle in her high-heeled black boots. I swerve around to face Luke and Ben, belting it out while Kazi twirls Tessa in a circle. They can be really cute when I’m in a good mood, and the end of this song swings into the sweetest bridge, always putting me in a good mood.
“Sorry,” I say breathlessly once it’s over. “As I was saying, we have to take the trashes out or they can start to smell.”
Luke’s eyes are doing their twinkle thing sucking me in and I can’t look away. He doesn’t seem to mind. “Right.” A new song clicks over on the box, and before I can open my mouth, he says, “‘You’d Be Mine,’ Annie Mathers,” in a smooth voice.
“The Brit knows country?” I ask as Tessa squeals and moves to make it louder.
“Some. I like Cash and Chris Stapleton okay. Mathers snuck up on me, but you’ve got to admit, she’s got soul.”
“I like ‘Coattails’ a little more,” I admit. “When Marcus pisses me off, which is always, I like to crank it up.”
He grins. “I could see that. I might need to borrow that idea.”
“‘Beat It’!” Kazi yells, jarring Luke and me from our weird version of a staring contest.
I groan, shaking off the flutters in my stomach. “Damn it, lost focus.”
“Michael Jackson, may he rest in peace,” Ben says, making the sign of the cross. I snicker at his antics.
Everyone knows the lyrics to this one, and Luke does a surprisingly strong moonwalk. Kazi’s patchouli dreads swing all over the place, and Ben hops up on a chair, moving in a way that reminds me of a dad at his daughter’s wedding reception. I’ve got tears streaming down my face, and my stomach hurts from laughing so hard at this stupid crew.
The music slows and turns melodic, and before I can skip ahead to something else, Luke elbows me. I follow his eyes to where Kazi and Tessa are slow dancing, wrapped around each other. Damn. They’re gross. Also, adorable.
Ben starts to gather up his coat. “Kodaline,” he says, taking his stack of dollars. “See you, guys.”
Kazi and Tessa move as one for the exit, and I lock the front door behind them. Before I can turn off the music, Luke tugs at my hand. “It would be a shame to waste it. Paid a dollar of hard-earned tips.” Even at his tug, it’s a question. If I didn’t want to, we wouldn’t.
Oh, I want to. Desperately so.
I pinch my lips together to keep them from smiling off my face. He spins me once and pulls me in. We’re sticky and smell like disinfectant and sweat, but his hand is dry and cool as it takes mine. His other hand is at my waist, and he’s singing under his breath and not hiding it from me.
It warms me down to my toes.
I cock my head to the side. “You knew this one.”
He shakes his blond hair out of his eyes, and his grin is only a little sheepish. “I was distracted.”
He releases my hip and spins me out gently, and my breath catches at the sweetness in the old-fashioned gesture.
“I did, too,” I admit.
“I figured.” We sway in silence for a beat. My chest is tight, but in a happy way. I’m not nervous around Luke anymore. We seem to have moved past that part and are ever so slowly creeping toward something new.
But the level of intentionality in this—our movements in sync and our faces, at times, only inches apart—it’s rife with expectation. I’ve never had this with anyone. Luke crept up on me. I was comfortable in my crush.
But it’s as if Luke wants something to happen, and I’d never thought about having my feelings reciprocated. I’m not sure how to proceed.
The song ends, and I release his hands to turn off the machine. Our shoes echo on the concrete floor.