He laughed. “Far as I know, there’s no age requirement for self-publishing. You should try it sometime.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think anyone would be interested in my stories.”
“Stories, plural?” Denver asked. “How many have you written?”
“Probably a dozen over the years. And I’m almost done with the one I’m working on now.”
“A dozen? Am I in the most recent one?” Austin asked.
Tonio interrupted. “Obviously, I’m better source material. You’re about as romantic as a telephone book.”
“I don’t have to be romantic,” Austin said, shooting me a wink. “It’s all about animal magnetism, right, Emma? Sex sells.”
Typically, I blushed.
“So there is sex in them,” Denver said. “Does the hero of the story dance? Because if so, he’s based on me.”
Trying to forestall an argument, I spoke up. “He’s actually based in part on all of you. But at the end of the day, it’s fiction. It comes from my imagination.”
“Which we help fuel.” Austin was still convinced that the fact that I was writing again was a compliment to him. In a way it was, to all of them in fact.
Pride kept me from admitting that. “If you want your ego stroked, go to the club.”
Austin stared at me in shock for a moment, and then Tonio and Denver burst out laughing. Tonio actually reached across Austin to give me a high five. From his spot on the recliner, Knox was grinning.
But nothing caught Austin off guard for long. “Am I bleeding?” he asked, patting his bare chest. “Because that was vicious.”
“But well-aimed,” Tonio said, shooting me a wink. “It makes me want to read your book.”
“I told you, no one would want to read it.”
“We would,” Knox said simply.
“And I’m sure others would, as well. So that’s your dare,” Tonio said.
“Excuse me? I picked truth.”
Tonio held up a hand in a maddeningly superior way. “But then you said you wished you’d picked dare. So that’s the dare. Finish the story you’re working on now and show it to my sister.”
The thought of someone else reading my amateur scribbling wasn’t a pleasant one. “Guys, it’s just a hobby. It won’t ever be anything more.”
“My photography started off as a hobby,” Knox said, “and now I sell my stuff online.” He’d showed me an online stock photo site that bought his pictures from time to time.
“I set up my YouTube channel on a whim, but now I’m trying to take it up a level or two.” Denver reached over and squeezed my hand. “You’ve said before that this is a transitional period in your life, a time to make positive changes. Why can’t this be one of them?”
“But…” It was so hard to argue with them when they presented a united front like this. Even Knox was on board. “What if it’s no good?”
“Then Veronica will tell you that, but she’s not going to shame you for it,” Tonio said. “She’s a good person, and if you do ever decide to publish, she’ll help. But the first step is showing your writing to someone. I think she’s the right person for that, but if you’d rather show us first—”
“Oh God, no, I’d rather show her.”
“Good.” Tonio looked smug. “I’ll tell her to expect your story a week from today.”
“A week?” I yelped.
“You said you were almost done. And since you’re not working during the day, that should give you enough time.” That was easy for him to say. He grinned and raised one dark eyebrow. “If you need any extra inspiration for the sex scenes, I’m sure any one of us would be happy to lend a hand or other body parts.”
I looked around to see four knowing—and eager—smiles. What had I gotten myself into?
I guess I had one week to find out.
12
Denver
“Are you ready?”
Emma looked at me with panic in her eyes. “No. Can we please go over the routine a few more times? Or a few thousand more times?”
I wasn’t sure whether to sigh or shake my head, but I did neither. As her teacher, it was my job to calm her nerves and build her up. That was part of what I was hoping would show through in the video we were making.
Taking her arm, I led her over to a pair of folding chairs by the door of the workout room at my gym. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”
She looked at me with her big hazel eyes. “I want to. For you. So that everyone can see what a wonderfully patient teacher you are and hire you to teach dance lessons.”
Acting on impulse, I kissed her on her forehead. “You’re a really special woman to do this for me. Tell me what’s making you scared.”
Her face pinked with pleasure at the compliment before her brow furrowed. “Everything.”
“Like maybe you won’t look good on the video?” It was just a hunch, but that seemed like a concern most women might have.