Chapter 21
THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT
Thane: Senior Year
“I’m not going to do it, Mom! It’s weird!” I heard Bash saying to his mom as I walked through their front door without knocking.
“Come on, Sebastian, she just needs to learn, and Dad is gone until Sunday,” Mrs. Spencer chimed in.
I rounded the corner into the kitchen. “What’s weird?” I asked, and took a seat on the barstool next to Bash.
“Sera got asked to the prom last-minute, and my mom thinks she needs some dancing lessons,” Bash replied. “But I refuse to slow-dance with my sister.”
A stone dropped in the bottom of my stomach. Someone else is taking Fina to prom. My Fina. The girl I’d loved for years was going to her first prom with…
“Wh-who asked her?” I stuttered, my face flushing with heat.
“Some guy in her Spanish class named Paul Gibbons,” Bash replied.
Paul Gibbons. I hated him instantly and I didn’t even know him.
“And you won’t teach her how to slow-dance… why?”
“I don’t know, man, it’s just weird.”
Mrs. Spencer’s eyes lit up. “Wait! You could do it, Thane! You’ve known her your whole life, but she’s a few steps away from being your sister.”
I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to hide my eagerness. “I mean, I can if she wants me to,” I said, but not nearly as nonchalantly as I was hoping for.
“Perfect!” Mrs. Spencer said, clapping her hands together. “Serafina! Get down here!”
Panic rose in my chest. “What, you mean, now?”
“Of course I mean now. It’s Thursday night. We dress shop after school tomorrow and prom is on Saturday.”
Sera walked into the room and my pulse quickened.
She stood there in sweats and a tank top, with a messy bun in her hair, but she could’ve been wearing Louis Vuitton and it wouldn’t have made a difference.
She. Was. Stunning. It took every fiber of my being to keep my jaw from slacking open.
I swallowed hard and tried to salvage any moisture I could in my mouth.
“Serafina, Thane is going to teach you how to slow dance, since Sebastian is being stubborn.”
Sera looked from her mother to me, and I could’ve sworn I saw a hint of a blush appear on her cheeks. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and her indifferent poker face was back in place.
She shrugged. “Okay, whatever.”
“Come on, Sebastian, you’re on dish duty,” Mrs. Spencer said, nudging Bash to the sink. “You two have the patio all to yourselves,” she said, opening the back door. But it was the sly glint in her eye when she flicked on the switch to the bistro lights that gave me pause.
The ethereal glow on the backyard created a moment more romantic than the early 2000s rom-coms that Fina loved to watch.
This was feeling more and more like a potential turning point for us, and it terrified me.
I faced two choices: act awkward and stiff and get it over with before she saw through my facade, or lean into it and show her what dating a gentleman felt like.
With one deep inhale, I decided on the latter, and forced away the butterflies swarming in my stomach.
I stepped outside and turned around to Sera.
My whole body shook as I took her hand and guided her under the lights.
I opened my phone and selected the perfect song from My Best Friend’s Wedding.
As the intro to Tony Bennett’s “The Way You Look Tonight” played through the speaker, I stepped closer to her than I ever had before.
I cleared my throat to make sure my voice didn’t squeak. “If you don’t know the guy, don’t let him hold you too close. This is the perfect position if you’re just friends.”
I put my hand on her waist and held our arms low with a bent elbow, keeping plenty of space between us.
We swayed, taking tiny baby steps in a circle around the patio.
“If you like the guy,” I stammered, “you can bring your hands in like this,” I said, tucking our clasped hands against my chest and moving a trembling hand around to her lower back.
“He may even spin you to see how beautiful you look from every angle.” I pushed her back slightly—already missing having her so close—and spun her slowly, before pulling her back to me.
“What about if I dance with him like this?” she asked, as she moved my other hand to the small of her back, then clasped hers together behind my neck.
Our bodies were millimeters apart—so close I could feel warmth emanating off her.
My pulse kicked into high gear, and if it weren’t for muscle memory, my feet would’ve forgotten what they were doing.
“Uh, this one is for love,” I whispered, debating whether I should move her hands back to a safer position. Instead, I waited to see what she would do.
“Hmm,” she said with a smirk, then left them there.
I chuckled nervously, trying not to forget my own name as Tony Bennett crooned over my phone speaker.
Time sped up and slowed down, all at once, and I wanted more than anything to be the guy taking Sera to the prom.
I’d never even dared to ask her, though I thought about it every day for months.
Then there was the very important factor of how Bash would’ve reacted to me dating his little sister.
But the truth is, I’d steal the moon if she asked me for it.
When the song ended, I leaned over and dipped her backward ever so slightly.
She relaxed into my arms, fully trusting that I wouldn’t let her fall.
Our cheeks brushed, our lips so close I could smell the wintergreen gum she chewed.
I froze in the moment, her eyes locked on mine in that tiny corner of the world lit by twinkling lights.
A soft smile crossed her face, and I knew I needed to put some space between us or I’d never be content to just be the boy next door.
I pulled her upright again and exhaled slowly, trying to steady my racing heart. Her hands slid from my neck and down my chest before she shoved them into her pockets, causing a wake of goosebumps to trickle down my torso.
I had always imagined what it would feel like to be close to her like that—to touch her skin, to feel her fingertips brush across my body.
But I never could’ve imagined that it was like being struck by lightning and skydiving without a parachute at the same time.
I wanted to taste her lips more than I wanted to breathe, but I knew crossing that line held consequences we couldn’t come back from.
Our families were close. Bash was my best friend.
We had so much at stake if things fell apart.
And I wanted her forever, not just for a year or two in high school.
She would be worth the wait—that I knew.
So I backed away from her hypnotic brown eyes, her soft red lips, and her hair that smelled like summertime, and forced my heart to shut up.
“Okay,” I said, picking up my phone and pausing the next song in the queue, “that about covers it. You’ll do great.
” Then, like an idiot, I pretend-slugged her in the arm like she had no effect on me.
My cheeks flushed with the embarrassment of my awkwardness, and I took a step toward the door.
I held it open for her, and as she moved past me, she squeezed my arm affectionately.
“Thanks, Thane.”
I nodded dumbly and watched as she stepped back into the house, taking my heart with her.