Apparently so did Mario. He hung by his mom’s side as she checked him in. They were a little early for the dance class and were directed to a set of bleachers on the side of the large open space.
Mario’s eyes were huge as he took in the various activities on the mats. On one side, girls were walking on a balance beam and twirling around the uneven bars. To their left was a huge pit of foam blocks, and girls were taking turns flipping their bodies in the air and landing on their backs in the soft space.
But it was the action on the mat nearest them that had Mario most entranced. Girls from around five to probably eleven or twelve were tumbling. Doing cartwheels, backflips, running back handsprings, and other intricate moves.
Cassidy looked from Mario to the mat, then back to her son. “You like that?”
“It’s amazing,” Mario exclaimed. “Look at them! Look!”
Cassidy turned her head to see a girl do an intricate flipping-and-cartwheeling routine from one end of the mat to the other. She landed on her feet with a huge smile on her face before she was engulfed by at least ten other girls, who were all congratulating her.
“She’s impressive,” Cassidy said.
“Yeah,” Mario agreed, and it was clear he was amazed by all the tumbling going on in front of him.
A whistle blew from somewhere, and the girls on the floor of the gym moved to the sidelines almost as one, a new group of kids approaching the mats from their seats on the bleachers.
“Looks like you’re up,” Cassidy told her son.
He nodded, and she saw a light in his eyes that she hadn’t seen for many years. It was almost hard to see how happy he was now, when it underscored how miserable he’d been for so long.
“Easy, Cass,” Leo said as Mario headed down the bleachers to join his dance class.
“I feel as if I’ve failed him,” she whispered.
“You haven’t,” Leo insisted. He scooted closer and put his arm around her waist. His hand felt huge on her hip, and while his presence made Cassidy feel better, it didn’t erase the hurt she felt.
“Look at him,” she whispered. “Look how happy he is.”
Mario had stood off to the side of his class, but immediately a group of girls went up to him, and within a minute, he was smiling and laughing.
“I should never have taken him out of the country. I thought it would be good for him. Instead I put him in more danger than ever . . . all because I wanted to escape.”
Leo placed his fingers on her chin and turned her to look at him. “If you were a mind reader, if you could see the future, I might agree with you or tell you how horrible your decisions were. But no one can see the future, Cass. You did what you needed to do for your own mental health. Through no fault of your own, you were forced to stay in a dangerous situation. But the fact that Mario is out there right now, laughing and having the time of his life, tells me that despite everything you went through, you did an amazing job raising him in the worst of circumstances.”
“I swear, I won’t do anything to put him in a situation like I did in Jamaica ever again. He comes first from now on.”
Leo nodded. “I believe you. It’s why you’re such a good mom. But I hope you aren’t thinking about being single for the rest of your life. You can put your son first and still be in a relationship.”
Cassidy wasn’t sure she was ready for that conversation. But she had to be honest. “It’s been so long since I’ve been in any kind of relationship—I’m not sure I even know how to be a good partner anymore.”
“You know,” Leo insisted. “And any man who wants to be with you will have to understand that you and Mario are a unit. That he can’t have one without the other. Can’t love one without loving the other.”
Cassidy’s mouth went dry. She nodded.
“Would need to support both of you in whatever you wanted to do while making you feel safe to spread your wings in the process.”
“Leo,” she whispered.
“Let me be that man,” he said quietly, not looking away from her eyes. “I won’t push you for anything, but you have to know that I wouldn’t be spending quite as much time with you both if I only wanted to rekindle an old friendship. Let me show you that you can give Mario a safe place to finish growing up while grabbing hold of happiness for yourself at the same time.”
“And you think you can make me happy?” she asked, teasing him.
“Fuck yes, I can,” Leo said. “Give me a chance to prove myself to you.”
“You already have,” she whispered.
Was this happening? Right here? Right now?
Leo leaned toward her, slowly, giving her a chance to pull back. But Cassidy didn’t want to pull away from him. She’d wanted Leo practically her entire life. She wasn’t sure she was the right woman for him, but she wasn’t strong enough to refuse him.
His lips touched hers briefly, and when he leaned back, Cassidy couldn’t help but follow. She wanted more. She needed more.
“Easy, Cass,” he said softly. “I want more, too, but we don’t want to embarrass Mario.”
Blinking, Cassidy swallowed. God, she’d gone from vowing to always put her son first to wanting to make out with Leo in the bleachers at his dance class. She knew she was blushing as she forced her attention back to the mats.
Leo chuckled next to her. He leaned in, and she felt his hand tighten on her hip. His fingers seemed to burn through her jeans. He brushed her hair away from her ear, then nuzzled the skin of her neck with his nose. Shivering at how good it felt, Cassidy clasped his thigh with her hand, digging her fingernails in as he teased her.
“You have no idea how hard it’s been to keep my hands off you,” Leo said, his hot breath tickling the sensitive skin of her neck. “Everything about you turns me on. Your temper, your courage, the way you’ve embraced Skylar, Taylor, and Molly’s friendship . . . all of it. The fact that we’ve known each other for decades and share a common heritage is icing on the cake.”
He lifted his head, and the desire in his eyes had her squirming on the hard wooden bench beneath her.
“Be warned, Cass—when I make a decision, I’m one hundred percent committed.”
“You haven’t been all in already?” she asked, her voice cracking.
He smiled. “Nope.”
“Lord help me,” she mumbled.
His smile grew. “You’ll be all right.”
“Promise?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“Promise,” he said, and it sounded like a vow. “Now, we’d better watch at least part of Mario’s first lesson—otherwise, we’ll look pretty stupid when we can’t talk to him about it on the way home.”
Nodding, Cassidy turned her attention back to the gym. Mario was in the middle of the back row of students. He was the only boy in the class, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was gyrating his hips and following the movements of his teacher as if he were in seventh heaven. She loved seeing him so happy and in his element.
Throughout it all, Leo’s hand stayed glued to her hip. His thumb had moved so it was resting on the bare skin above the waistband of her jeans. Every now and then, he’d give her a small caress, sending shivers down her back. Cassidy gave him a little more of her weight as the class progressed.