Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 6

toes."
    Kate just laughed at me and placed my hands correctly. "You don't have to be a twinkle toes, just sway with me."
    We'd just gotten into a rhythm when she leaned her head up near my ear. "Have you talked to Chase yet?"
    I leaned back and looked at her and then frowned. "He told you? I'm gonna kill him."
    Kate rolled her eyes and held up her left hand. "Married now. He's required to tell me everything or he knows I'll kick his ass." She smiled at her attempt at humor but I did not find it funny. She touched my cheek and cocked her head. "Oh Adam, I'm sorry. But if you haven't talked to him yet, I just wanted to tell you you're wrong."
    "Wrong?"
    She nodded. "You're wrong if you think he doesn't like you as much as you like him. You don't see it because you're wrapped up in your own feelings and worries, but Adam, it's so obvious on his face. The way he looks at you when you're not looking." Her eyes glanced away over my shoulder. "The way he's looking at you right now."
    I swore my whole body went hot and cold all at the same time. "You better not be messing with me Kate."
    She smiled at me. "Adam, you're my brother now, I wouldn't lie about something like this; I just want you to be happy."
    The music ended and we both stopped moving. "Thank you for the dance little brother." Then she leaned up and kissed my cheek and grabbed both my hands. "Now go talk to him." And then she swirled away in her dress and I was left standing there, scared shitless.
    I walked off the dance floor to hide behind a group of guests. From here I could look across the room at him. He was standing alone, sipping champagne, still looking so damn sexy in that tux. His face looked. . . sad maybe? And he was trying to be subtle but his eyes were scanning the room as if he was looking for someone. Looking for me I hoped. For a moment I heard Dad's voice in my head, his words from all those years ago, about honor and telling the truth. Should I do it? Should I risk the closest friend I'd ever had for the chance of something more? He was always there for me, whenever I needed him. What if Kate was wrong? What if he said no? Could I live with his answer? More importantly could I live with the lie if I never told him? My legs felt like jelly but I took a deep breath and started walking toward him.
    He saw me coming and tried hard to look like he didn't notice, only shifting to look at me when I was standing right next to him.
    "Chase."
    "Wedding went well, didn't it?"
    "You know I don't want to talk about the wedding, I want to talk about last night."
    "You were drunk, Adam, it's okay. I understand."
    "No you don't understand." While I was trying to explain myself, the arranged dances had ended and the DJ was trying to get everyone on the dance floor. One of the little flower girls, a niece of Kate's was jumping up and down with excitement and was going up to everyone she could reach and trying to pull them out to the dance floor. Before I could say any more to Chase, she had come up to both of us and grabbed our pant legs in her little fists and was trying to urge us out to the floor.
    "You. And You. Dance togetter!" She tugged mightily, then bounced off to the couple next to us, repeating the same to them. Chase had smiled awkwardly down at her before she let go of our pants and moved on. But suddenly, I had an idea.
    I stepped in front of him and reached out to take his hand. "Dance with me." I immediately started walking backward toward the dance floor, keeping my grip on his hand tight so he didn't have a chance to escape. His face was shocked and his eyes darted all around, like he was questioning if we should be doing this. I wasn't worried about anyone, my family and Kate's family all knew I was gay and no one really had a problem with it and the rest of the guest list was small so I didn't really expect any looks or comments. And if anyone did have a problem with it they could go fuck themselves. I had more important things on my mind.
    Of course, not thinking when I'd grabbed his hand, I forgot how sweaty my palms were, or how nervous I was... or how I couldn't dance.
    We got out onto the floor and I let go of his hand and stood there for a minute before I looked up at him. "Okay, I can't really dance."
    I finally got a little smile out of him. "Not part of your Marine training?"
    I ignored him and decided to improvise. I stepped close to him and wrapped my arms around him. He finally moved his hands up to settle around my lower