Line Change for Love (Hockey & Love #2)
1. Tango for Charity
1
TANGO FOR CHARITY
Gabriel
"Dance with me!"
Magnus stares at me, stunned. His surprise is understandable.
We're standing at the edge of a dance floor that’s been specially created for tonight's event — a fancy benefit gala in Gothenburg's ultra-modern opera house. All the money raised tonight is going to the Children's Cancer Aid.
I love this waterfront building. Every time I walk past, the design brings to mind a ship that’s run aground. And it doesn’t look much like a theater tonight, either. The foyer is decorated all in white with pops of color from the flowers on the tables — they look like confetti. I want to say they’re Ranunculus, but I'm not sure. Whatever they are, they look like confetti.
Magnus and I accepted my coach's invitation to attend the gala, and the place is packed with other personalities from film and sport. My entire ice hockey squad is here too. The same team who, until a few months ago, thought I was straight. Not that I haven’t been of the same opinion.
Until I met Magnus …
"Haven’t got the guts, huh?" I tease my boyfriend.
"Are you sure you want to?" he asks cautiously.
He worries about me all the time and it’s so sweet.
Some of my colleagues made a few stupid comments when I showed up with Magnus as my date, but the news that I'm not as straight as we all thought I was has been pretty well received. And if I want to dance with my man, then — damn it — I will!
My grin widens even more, and I nod.
Magnus takes the hand I’m holding out to him, and together we step onto the dance floor. Should I be nervous? Maybe. There will be a hell of a lot of eyes on us. But we haven't danced together in ages.
As I take Magnus' left hand in my right, his look becomes panic-stricken. "Are you really letting me take the lead?"
Will there be a few strange looks when the burly hockey player takes the traditionally female position? Sure. Could I care less? No!
So, I just shrug indifferently and say, "You were always better at it than I was."
Magnus can see through this white lie instantly. What can I say? He knows me way too well!
"You're saying you're better at all the fancy bits, right?" he says.
"Am I wrong?" I reply with a wink.
In any case, my fooling around has the effect I was hoping for — Magnus doesn't seem quite as edgy as he was a few minutes ago.
The music changes from the sultry opening of our favorite piece, "Por una Cabeza," into the more robust second movement of the piece. Magnus slips his left foot forward and starts the basic step. His body moves with easy grace, and a deep joy rises in me. Dancing the tango is like riding a bike, it seems — you never forget how to do it. But I’m surprised enough by how natural it feels that a broad grin spreads across my face.
Back on the cruise ship, my sister Susan made us dance together. Since then, we haven’t had a chance to do it again. But somehow, I feel like we’ve been missing something. Maybe these Latin American rhythms stole their way into our hearts and never left.
After we’ve oriented ourselves with a few basic steps, Magnus gets braver and leads us through a promenade which we execute faultlessly. I can hardly believe it! Our vacation on the cruise ship was almost a year and a half ago.
Then, Magnus tries a slightly more complicated sequence of steps with some sort of twist — one I loved on our trip back then. We stumble slightly but manage to keep the rhythm, and our bodies brush against each other tantalizingly. I grin at Magnus.
"I completely forgot how much of a turn on dancing is," I murmur to him.
"And I was just thinking I’d forgotten how much fun it was," he teases.
It's incredible to be back in his arms like this, letting him guide me, and moving together in harmony with the music.
"That too!" I reply. "But everything we do together is fun."
I never expected my life would look like this.
And it all started with one annoying phone call from my sister ...