“Miguel—”
“I’m going to wait outside so Kendra doesn’t have to get out of the car and try to find the apartment.” Miguel cut off whatever Hector was about to say; he didn’t understand why this tension had so suddenly popped up between them when they’d been co-existing just fine after he’d moved back to the couch. He needed to get out of there before either of them said or did something they couldn’t take back. One sexual encounter could be shrugged off as a mistake. A second, not so much. Ignoring his pounding heart, Miguel gave his friend a quick wave over his shoulder and left the apartment without looking back.
Thankfully it didn’t take long for Kendra to come and pick him up. They drove to the club, already listening to music and laughing. By the time they arrived, Miguel had mostly put the confusing incident with Hector out of his mind. When they pulled up to the Space Lounge, they saw a small line of people waiting to get in. They swaggered over to the end of the line and chatted until they made it to the front door.
Once inside, Miguel saw the place was nothing like the bar he’d gone to with Leon. In contrast to the Pit’s dark and grungy atmosphere, the Space Lounge was slick and shiny. Pop music blasted while cocktail servers dressed in tight silver dresses or silver pants with no shirts strode through the crowd carrying glowing trays of drinks. Strobe lights flashed over the crowd on the dance floor. Miguel and Kendra made their way over to the glossy black bar.
“First drink is on me,” Miguel said. He had to lean in to be heard over the music.
“Thank you!” Kendra said with a bright grin.
They ordered appletinis and toasted each other when the drinks arrived.
“To Miguel, for being the best co-dental assistant a girl could ask for.”
Miguel laughed and clinked his glass to hers. “To Kendra, for hiring me so I could be the best co-dental assistant to the other best co-dental assistant.”
Laughing and happy, they finished their drinks.
“Do you like to dance?” Kendra asked once they were done.
Miguel put a hand over his heart like he was wounded. “Do I like to dance? Girl. Let’s go.”
He pulled her over to the dance floor, where they ended up dancing back to back, laughing over their shoulders. Just after they spun around to face each other again, a tall blond came up to Miguel.
“Can I steal you away from your friend for a minute?”
Miguel looked at Kendra, ready to say no and continue dancing with her. But she smiled and gave him a little push.
“Go ahead!”
Miguel gave the guy a small smile and started dancing with him. He had good rhythm, following Miguel’s moves with ease. Miguel kept it clean tonight. He only got raunchy when he was goofing around with his friends. Grinding up on some rando wasn’t his thing. But apparently the tall blond didn’t mind that Miguel kept a little distance between them. He stuck around for two more songs. At the end of the third, he leaned down to speak into Miguel’s ear.
“Can I call you sometime?”
Miguel almost said no. But maybe he should at least give meeting someone new a try. He was away from Santos. He had a new job. And Hector… Confusing looks aside, Hector wasn’t an option. Dating someone might finally make that stick in his head.
“Sure,” he ended up saying. He stopped dancing for a moment to exchange names and give his number to the guy to put in his phone. Miguel waved goodbye and turned to see Kendra had drifted away. She grinned at him when he went over to her.
“Look at you. Lover man.”
Miguel laughed. “Not hardly. He probably won’t even call.”
“I bet he will,” she said with a wink.
Miguel rolled his eyes. “Let’s get another drink. Those appletinis are delicious.”
“Just relax. You’re doing fine.”
At work on Monday, Miguel reassured a teen in Dr. Coker’s dentist chair. Her eyes had gone a little wide with fear when the dentist picked up the sickle probe and mirror. The tiny hooked instrument scared a lot of patients.
The girl breathed through her nose, making a little sound of agreement in the back of her throat.
Miguel smiled down at her. He patted her shoulder once, staying quiet as Dr. Coker quickly checked her gums, calling out the numbers for Miguel to record in her file. Once Dr. Coker was finished with the probe, Miguel rinsed the patient’s gums then swept the suction tube over the floor of her mouth.
“Close.”
She pursed her lips and the tube gurgled as it sucked out the excess liquid.