Harem Online: My Party Is Full of Beautiful Celebrities

Martin glanced toward the lantern above them.

"That was a long pause."

"I’m thinking."

"You’re trying to find an answer that doesn’t make you sound hopeless."

"That too."

She waited, giving him no chance to escape.

"Eventually," Martin said.

Alexandra laughed once. "Coward."

"It’s the truth."

"How long would ’eventually’ have taken?"

"Long enough for you to lose patience."

"I had already lost patience."

"I noticed."

"No, you didn’t."

"I noticed after you kissed me."

Leaning farther across the table, she narrowed the space between them.

"What changed afterward?"

Martin rubbed his thumb along the side of his cup while he considered the answer.

"The kiss didn’t make me want you. I already did."

Alexandra stopped smiling.

"It made it impossible to keep pretending I didn’t understand what was going on," he continued. "You weren’t joking anymore, and neither was I. After that, acting like we were only teammates who flirted too much felt stupid."

She kept her eyes on him. "So I did the difficult part."

"You moved first."

"I kissed you."

"And I kissed you back."

"You grabbed my ass."

"You seemed happy about that."

"I was."

Martin smiled. "Then we both contributed."

She leaned back, and the corner of her mouth lifted again.

"You still would have taken forever without me."

"Probably."

"I appreciate the honesty."

"I knew you’d never let me forget it anyway."

"Absolutely not."

Martin began returning the dishes to his inventory while Alexandra handed him containers in the least helpful order possible and criticized the way he organized everything.

Once the table was clear, he stood and offered her his hand again. She accepted it without hesitation.

"Where are we going now?" she asked.

"For a walk."

"That sounds suspiciously ordinary."

"You haven’t seen everything yet."

Martin led her back onto the network of branch paths. He had chosen the route carefully, avoiding crowded shops and keeping them near quieter sections of the academy, but Alexandra noticed him checking the left side before every planned turn.

At the third intersection, she went right.

Martin stopped. "Wrong way."

She looked over her shoulder. "Am I lost?"

"No."

"Then it isn’t wrong."

"It is when I planned something in the other direction."

Alexandra continued walking backward while facing him. "Stop me."

Martin almost reminded her how much time he had spent planning the evening, but then he remembered Rangar’s advice and followed.

Her smile widened. "There we go."

"You only did that to test me."

"I wanted to see whether your schedule mattered more than I did."

"The times were approximate."

"You gave things times?"

"I’m not having this conversation."

Alexandra laughed and turned around.

Her detour took them along a narrow path overlooking several training platforms far below. A faint melody drifted up through the leaves, played on a stringed instrument by someone neither of them could see.

Alexandra slowed and turned toward him.

"What?" Martin asked.

She began walking backward again. "Show me."

"Show you what?"

"The tango."

Martin stared at her.

"You’ve called me your tango partner several times," she continued. "Surely you know how to dance."

"It was a combat metaphor."

"It was false advertising."

"I didn’t expect you to ask for proof."

"That was your mistake."

The path widened into a round platform surrounded by dense leaves. Alexandra pulled him toward the center before he could argue.

"Put your hand here."

She guided his right hand to her waist, and his fingers settled against the fitted fabric of her dress, close enough to the curve of her hip that the position felt far less innocent than a simple lesson.

Alexandra took his other hand and raised it between them.

"Stand straighter."

"I am standing straight."

"You look like you’re waiting to block an attack."

"That’s how I stand."

"It’s terrible for dancing."

She moved closer until her chest brushed against him.

"Now follow me."

"I don’t know the steps."

"That’s why I’m leading."

"I thought the man was supposed to lead."

"The man is also supposed to know what he’s doing."

"That sounds unfair."

Alexandra moved first, and Martin followed half a beat late. Their feet almost collided.

She clicked her tongue. "Again."

The second attempt went no better. Martin watched her feet so carefully that he missed the turn of her hips and pulled her in the wrong direction.

"Stop looking down."

"I’m trying not to step on you."

"You fight monsters by watching their entire bodies. Try doing that with me."

"That sounds much less romantic when you explain it."

"I learned from you."

Martin raised his eyes and tried again.

Alexandra guided him through the first few movements, adjusting his posture whenever he stiffened and repositioning his hand when it crept too high. Once, it moved in the opposite direction and settled lower along her hip.

She looked up at him. "Accident?"

"Mostly."

"Your feet are uncertain, but that hand seems confident."

"I’ve held you there before."

"That was during combat."

"You didn’t object then either."

A quiet laugh escaped her, and they continued moving.

Martin eventually stopped counting the steps and paid attention to her instead. The pressure of her hand, the turn of her shoulders, and the way her weight shifted told him where she meant to go before she moved.

It wasn’t that different from fighting beside her. Alexandra moved first and expected him to keep up. When he didn’t, she made sure he knew it.

"You’re improving," she said.

"I learn quickly."

"You tripped over your own spear the first time we sparred."

"That happened once."

"It remains one of my favorite memories."

Martin guided her through a turn. Her gold hair swept outward in the lantern light before she came back into his arms, and he caught her cleanly this time.

Alexandra settled against him, one thigh slipping between his legs as the dance slowed. The distant music continued, but neither of them followed its rhythm anymore.

She looked up. "You stopped counting the steps."

"I figured out the important part."

"And what’s that?"

"Keeping you close."

Martin tightened his hand around her waist, and her breathing changed. Alexandra rose toward him, stopping with barely any space left between their mouths.

"Was this the end of your plan?"

"No."

She studied his face. "There’s still more?"

"This part was supposed to happen later, but you ruined the route."

"I improved it."

"You changed it."

"Those are often the same thing."

Martin released her hand, although the one around her waist stayed in place for another moment.

"The next part is what made Rangar look at me as though I’d lost my mind."

Alexandra’s eyes lit up. "Now I’m excited."

"You weren’t excited before?"

"I was interested before. There’s a difference."