December 11

DECEMBER 11

Could this be considered another milestone in our very new relationship?

It’d come as no surprise at all when I’d found out Wyatt had to work a couple hours on Saturday, and I’d said, “No problem. I gotta rehearse with my dance squad anyway.” Then came the surprise. He’d asked if he could watch. If it was an open rehearsal—because he could bring his work phone and laptop and get some things done in the background.

So here we were. I climbed out of the car, resisting the urge to remind him once again that Kim would be here. Also, my sister sometimes turned up because she lived nearby, and our temporary practice spot offered way more entertainment than our usual warehouse.

It was a trampoline park south of Glendale.

Every Saturday at noon for the past six weeks, we’d had the place to ourselves for three hours. Kim and I had come on our own at least once a week too, ’cause this shit wasn’t easy, even with our experience.

The company was opening a second location, an outdoor trampoline park, on January 2, so…that was what we were rehearsing for. The grand opening, which took place on New Year’s Eve.

“I told you Kim will be here, right?” I asked nervously.

“Twice.” Wyatt donned his shades and smirked softly. “If you remind me again, I’ll start worrying you want us to be discreet.”

I blinked and moved toward his side of the car. “Dude, I’m not the one facing a firing squad for sleeping with my boss when they find out. You know we have a nonfraternization policy, right?”

He let out a laugh and pulled me in close. “My sweet boy, do you never read the fine print?”

I scrunched my nose. Uh, no? Nobody did that.

“Our policy is pretty clear,” he said. “You’re not allowed to have a relationship with someone you work directly under or over. For instance, you wouldn’t be allowed to date John.”

Ew, Mr. Williams?

“I’m technically at corporate.” He dipped down and kissed me. “Technically, I only give you orders when you’re off the clock too.”

“Oh.” I bit my lip and peered up at him. “I like that policy.”

He hummed and rested his forehead to mine. “Me too.”

“So, um…” I fidgeted with the collar of his shirt. “We’re official? We’re together? None of that, let’s see what happens, non-exclusive, casually dating crap?”

His distaste for my last sentence was clear. “Absolutely none of that. You’re mine and only mine, thank you very much.”

I beamed.

Holy fuck, this was definitely a milestone.

“All yours.” I reached up and smooched him.

“That said…” He cleared his throat and smiled carefully. “It would spare me some grief at corporate if we let HR know we’re involved.”

I exhaled a laugh and smirked. “It doesn’t get more official than that. Sign me up!”

* * *

So…we walked hand in hand into the trampoline park, and I showed my ID to the bored teenager behind the front desk. All paying customers were leaving, and she’d be here till we were done.

Then we walked through the changing rooms that probably never saw much action aside from people changing their shoes. If they were like me, they arrived in the clothes they jumped in. In my case, a pair of sweats and a body-hugging tee.

“The short end of the park has a cafeteria,” I said. “It’s down this hall.” I pointed toward the very end. “Once you go through there, you’ll look down at the trampolines. Like, it’s open or however I should explain it.”

“I think I understand.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Enjoy your rehearsal. I’ll see if I get anything done.”

I kinda hoped he didn’t! I wanted to be captivating and stuff.

On the other hand, I didn’t want him to work when we got back to his place.

We parted ways for now. I entered the park through a set of heavy doors, and I dropped my bag just inside. I sort of had to, because down here, there were no chairs or off-to-the-side benches. Just the soft mattress framework and approximately twenty trampolines in various sizes. On the opposite side from where I was now, the trampolines extended halfway up the wall too, and there were a few platforms as well. A giant bouncy castle of trampolines.

I couldn’t lie, it was the best fucking rush to combine dancing and trampolines.

“Hey, Parker!”

“Hey!” I nodded to Andy and Kim as I removed my shoes. We’d bought these ridiculously soft-sole sh…actually, I couldn’t call them shoes. More like really thick rubber socks. Perfect for jumping in.

The park’s theme colors were black and purple, so that was what we’d opted for with our workout clothes too. On the opening day, we’d get tees with the company logo.

Before I jumped over to my group, I glanced up at the cafeteria and spotted Wyatt looking out over the trampolines. I waved at him, and he smiled and waved back.

If I went nuts on the trampoline below the cafeteria, I bet I could make him laugh when I jumped the same height he was at. I guesstimated the cafeteria was about fifteen feet up.

Later, maybe. For now, I ran along the mattress framework till I reached my dancin’ buddies. It wasn’t a big crowd, but we were hella good, all nine of us.

Andy was in charge, and he was a good leader. “Five minutes of warm-up!”

I left the mattress and gave the nearest trampoline a couple test jumps, and I stretched my arms and rolled my neck.

Kim jumped over to me. “Hi.”

“Hello.” I grinned.

She pointed toward the cafeteria. “That’s Mr. Abrams up there.”

“By golly, is it?!” I swung my gaze that way, all theatrical-like. “Oh my, it is.”

She laughed and shoved me. “Mya says you’re together. Are you?”

I couldn’t pretend to jerk around anymore. I wanted to tell her. “Yeah. He’s just…yeah.”

“Oh my God, look at your face.” She grinned and shook her head. “So you faked being sick together, huh?”

I snickered and put a little more oomph into the jumps, and she followed. When I hit the surface, she was in the air and vice versa.

“We totally did.”

“Aww, that’s cute—and mildly frustrating because we had to deal with four emergencies for the conference.”

Oops?

* * *

I considered it a win the first time I did a flip in the air, and I caught Wyatt doing a double take at me.

But he’d seen nothing yet. After a music-less warm-up, Andy asked Kim and me to demonstrate the program we had so far, which covered the first minute of a song that was two minutes and forty-five seconds long. It was the chunk she and I were in charge of.

“Okay, just spread out along the sides for now,” Kim instructed. “Aadesh, you can push play when Parker and I are at the wall.”

We jumped down to the short-end wall—the opposite one from the cafeteria.

“I’m gonna film it.” Andy gave us a heads-up.

Seconds later, a slightly sped-up version of “Merry Xmas Everybody” pumped out of the speakers, and Kim and I exchanged a nod. Those fourteen seconds of semi-calm in the beginning were the perfect length to get people’s attention at the opening.

After that, the song morphed into a hardcore EDM remix, and that was our cue.

We pushed off the wall, sprinted along the mattresses before we jumped onto two trampolines—she took the left; I took the right—and we gained altitude in three jumps, then performed a double flip, landed once, jumped over to the next trampoline, two heavy jumps, we locked eyes, and we dove diagonally at the same time so she landed on the next trampoline in my row, and I landed on hers. No rest for the wicked, Kim performed a series of twists and spins in the air while I jumped up on a platform and then sprinted off it.

I spun in the air and landed on my back on the trampoline, jumped up, landed on the mattress, jumped to the next trampoline, did a cartwheel into another, and met up with Kim on the biggest mat at the center, where we took turns doing triple side flips.

Heart pounding, adrenaline surging, I wasn’t ready to stop when Andy cut the music, but I was ready to see the look on Wyatt’s face. It did things to my stomach, and I grinned gleefully. Now, he wasn’t the type to drop his jaw or anything, but the blank stare and lifted eyebrows told me plenty. Someone had been stupefied!

Triumph.