The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 187: Dancing lessons. (Patreon)

Her happiness is gone and her day is ruined.

“Why are we here?” She asks, not even trying to hide her apprehension.

They’re standing in front of a four-story building with a sign that very clearly reads “Dance School”.

“Because I hate dancing and I’ve been told you hate it too.” David nods, as if proud of himself.

“I do hate dancing!” She argues. “So why are we taking dancing lessons!?”

It just doesn’t make sense to her. If at least HE liked it and had assumed she did as well, she could understand. But to pick this BECAUSE they both hate it? She thought David was smart.

“Because I wanted to get both of us out of our comfort zone.” He tells her seriously. “I think there’s plenty of things we have in common, Katherine. Apparently our dislike for dancing is one of them. That means neither of us is good at it, right?”

“I guess…”

“Then let’s try something new together. If we end up liking it, we can keep doing it. If we don’t, we don’t have to do it again, and our next date can be something we know we’ll enjoy.”

H-He’s thinking of a next date already!? No, of course he is! He did say he wasn’t playing around. She just need to make sure he doesn’t regret saying there will be a second date!

…

But dancing? Seriously? She can see now why he picked this, but… No, he might have a good point. She doesn’t really try new things, and that probably one of the reasons she’s never had many friends. How many times did she refuse to hang out with people just because they were going somewhere she didn’t like or didn’t know?

She doesn’t like to dance because she’s terrible at it, but if David also doesn’t know how, then…

“Alright, I surrender. But what are we learning?” She asks as they make their way through the building and up to the third floor.

“Tango.”

Tango? That… actually doesn’t sound too bad. As far as she knows, tango is a very intimate, slow and methodical dance. If she can spend an hour or two very close to David, then this might end up being a really good idea!

_______________________________________________________________

It was a terrible idea, but she’s loving it. She hasn’t laughed this hard in ages!

The room they’re in is very simple. It has a clear wooden floor and four walls, three of which are white and one is a full mirror for everyone to check their own performance. There are various other couples around, but they’re all beginners making just as many mistakes as them, so screwing up stopped being embarrassing about two minutes into the lesson.

She still gets to be very close to David, so that’s one objective accomplished. And maybe because of their previous kiss, she doesn’t feel that awkward when he holds her.

As instructed by the two teachers, David takes her with his right arm around her torso, with his hand at the middle of her back. On her part, she puts her left hand over his right shoulder, almost resting her arm on his. They hold their left and right hands respectively at shoulder level.

“Okay, so it was front, right, back, back, stop, back, turn and stop, right?” David asks, trying to remember the most basic steps. Katherine plays that on her head and realizes he’s wrong.

“No, no! That’s me. You have to do exactly the opposite!” She laughs.

“Oh! Yeah, I think I get it then. Let’s try again.” He nods to himself.

With him in the lead, they try to follow the steps along with the music. They make mistakes, but they both laugh it off. Besides, her role in the dance is mostly to just follow him, so she can relax a bit.

“Remember, the teachers said to bend your knees a bit more.” She remind him.

They practice, and practice and practice. All the while laughing at each of their mistakes but still trying to correct them. The instructors come every once in a while to check their progress and help, and they slowly start improving.

In fact, soon they start to effortlessly do the basic steps. It doesn’t look at all like the professionals are doing it, but they’re getting there! It’s starting to come so naturally that, as they start to fall into the routine, both of their bodies start to relax.

They hold each other and look into their partner’s eyes, smiling and laughing all throughout. Then, David starts a conversation.

“I forgot to say this earlier, but you look amazing.” He tells her. “That dress is very cute.”

“T-Thanks.” She blushes. “I bought it for today. The other girls helped me pick the whole outfit, actually.”

“Oh, so is that what you were doing on Thursday? They wouldn’t tell me why they had to leave school in such a hurry.” He laughs.

“They also wouldn’t tell me what we were doing today. I’m glad Emily insisted I wear sneakers today.” She laughs with him. “I don’t know how professionals do this with high-heels.”

When their laughter calms, David gives her a meaningful look that just warms her heart like she can’t believe. Does she feel like this because of the multiplier he mentioned? Maybe, but… there’s no way to deny how special this all is. That kiss, this date, that look he’s giving her…

“Did I make the right choice picking this place?” He asks, but his smug smirk tells her he already knows.

“It’s… okay, I guess.” She says, trying and failing to sound aloof.

“Would you like to pick the place for our next date yourself, then?”

!!!

Oh, god! Where would she take him!? She has no idea what people do on dates. Do they go see a movie? Diner? WHAT!?

It’s like he can read the panic in her eyes, so he gives her a quick peck on the forehead that stops her brain for a moment.

“Don’t worry so much. If you want, we can pick something together.”

“Y-Yeah. I’d like that better.” She giggles shyly.

Eventually, their lesson comes to an end. They say goodbye to the instructors and leave the building. They stand outside of it for a few moments while David asks her a question.

“What do you want to do now? We could go eat something if you’re hungry.”

Well, she IS hungry, but… There’s something else she’d rather do.

The voices of Sophia, Megan and Emily echo in her head. They told her (very explicitly, too) that if she wanted to… get busy with David, to go for it and not be afraid to ask because it was only the first date.

As they told her, Megan and Emily did it with him even before they had a first date, and Sophia started dating him AFTER doing it.

Besides, Katherine might be extremely shy, but she’s no prude. She WANTS to have sex with David, especially so after that kiss. How could she not? She’s a healthy woman. She’s just as horny as any other 19 year-old in the world.

…Perhaps a little bit more, even.

She doesn’t need to be afraid of asking. He… Yes, he wants this, too, right? He likes her. He finds her attractive. He called her sexy the other day, which was a huge self-esteem boost. She knows he does it a lot with the others from what they talk about. Now that she thinks about it, he’s more than likely been doing it with Ms. Campbell, Ms. Owens and Ms. Fujiwara as well.

She swallows.

She’s afraid she’ll compare poorly against all those beauties, but at the same time, she doesn’t want to be left behind. Yes, she doesn’t need to be afraid. David asked her out because he likes her. She needs to be confident.

“Actually… I wanted to ask you if… w-we could go back to your place.”

She feels a slight chill when she sees him raising an eyebrow at that.

“Really? You want to go there?”

“I-I know what I’m asking!” She clarifies. “Is it so strange that… I want to spend time alone with you?” Once more, fire runs through her face, but the fact that she can say what she wants is refreshing. Mentally so, because her face is still hot.

“Look, it’s not like I haven’t thought about it.” He says, smiling shyly and rubbing the back of his neck. “But are you sure you want us to move so quickly? I can wait.”

“You can, but I’ve been waiting enough.” She tells him firmly.

Is it okay to say that? The other girls always spoke as if her getting together with David would happen any day, but time passed and… nothing happened. Until today, of course, but she still was left uncertain of what was going to happen.

“That’s right. I’m… I’m sorry.” He sighs, smiling wryly. “I just want to make it clear. I want this, too. I just don’t want you to think I want you only for this.”

Oh god! Did she sound like that!? Did she sound like all she wants is to take David into bed!?

“M-Me too!” She hurries in clarifying. “I had a great time today, I wanted to thank you for making me do something I wouldn’t have normally done. I want to spend more time talking to you, hanging out with you, laughing with you. But I also want to…”

He chuckles and shakes his head to himself. “Sorry. I’m being short-sighted again.” He extends his hand, offering it to her. "Let's go. We can buy something to eat on the way there.”

YES!

________________________________________________________________

She knew from talking to Sophia that they had made changes to David’s place, but this is her first time seeing it. They were obviously inspired by Arab design style but didn’t go for replicating it exactly as it is. It looks really nice, though.

But her eyes immediately go to the bed. Arranging the mattresses on the floor, they went for a ridiculously big bed, and she doesn’t need to think hard about the reasoning behind it.

They bought chicken on their way here. A bucket of it. David asks her to leave it next to the TV while he hurries to the bathroom. That’s when she notices that the TV is not the only new thing. He has two video game consoles set up.

…She’d like to play, but not right now. There’s other stuff she wants to do.

She eyes the bed again, and a part of her wishes to throw herself on it like she would on her own. Tango might not be the most physically straining dance, but it was still tiring. She settles for sitting on David’s desk chair. She’s been here enough times now that she’s comfortable enough to do that.

When he comes out of the bathroom, he does exactly as she wanted and throws himself face-first on his bed, groaning tiredly. He doesn’t just stay there, though. He sits up and pats the spot next to him while looking at her.

Her heart skips a beat. A-Are they starting now? J-Just like that?

She has no idea how this goes, so she just follows David’s lead.

“I-I should take my shoes off, right?” She asks shyly.

“Preferably.” He laughs, and that helps her relax a bit.

She sits down next to him, but he can tell her body is shaking ever so slightly.

“Are you nervous?” He asks quietly.

“Yes.” She nods. “But I’m excited, too.” She admits, looking at him.

“How do you want to do this?”

“Y-You’re asking me?” His question takes her aback.

“Of course. I can’t read your mind.” He smiles. “Things don’t just happen on their own. If we want this to be a good experience for both of us, we have to talk.”

That… makes sense, of course. Huh. She always thought that people just looked at each other and understood everything. Maybe porn has messed with her perception of reality more than she thought.

“That’s why I ask.” He continues.” What do you want to do? We can just hang out here and relax if you want. We can eat, watch a movie, play a game, talk or we can get straight to it.”

What does Katherine want?