Out of Focus (Love in LA #3)

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he deserves this happiness. more than anyone.

charlie

There’s soft music coming from the kitchen where post-dinner clean-up is happening. After sitting at the table for at least three hours, I don’t know that I’ve ever eaten so much, but it was all delicious.

When I step into the kitchen, Ivan is shimmying to Andrea. He spins her around the middle of the kitchen, pulling her into a dance as she laughs. Their eyes immediately soften as they take one another in, falling into what must be a familiar rhythm, swaying to a song with lyrics I can’t understand but with a beautifully soft melody.

Marcelo reaches for Ana Maria, and they start to dance, then, to my absolute shock, Gustavo bows, extending his left hand to me, and for the second time today, I think of a past moment with Rafael. Without thought, I place my hand in his and Gustavo spins me quickly onto the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the kitchen.

“I have no clue what I’m doing,” I say on a laugh.

His smile is wide when he asks, “Raf hasn’t taught you yet?” He cocks his head to the side, and I shake my head. He’s taught me a lot of things, but dancing isn’t one of them. “Well, no big deal. You’ll get the hang of it.” He shrugs and pulls me a little closer, keeping his hand in the middle of my back. Right when I feel like I might be getting the steps, Gustavo spins me again, and I land against Gabriel’s chest who immediately huffs at his brother.

“Sorry about that. He probably didn’t prepare you for that spin or the partner change, right?” His voice is deep but not loud—the deepest of all the brothers—and it suits him perfectly.

“He did not. And as you can see, I’m not much of a dancer.” I wince, and he smiles kindly back at me.

“You’re fine. Just follow our lead.” He looks up momentarily, and I follow his gaze to Rafael, who’s watching us with intensity in his eyes. “I’m sure by the next family dinner, you’ll have it down.” His calm and confident tone is reassuring. “Thanks for being so great with Cece today, by the way. I really appreciate your patience with her.”

“Well, she’s wonderful. But you already know that.” I sway a little more confidently, not thinking about the steps as I go.

Gabriel smiles, pride for his daughter beaming out of his eyes as he watches her dancing with her grandfather. “She really is. Now, are you ready? To your left. Pai’s got you now.”

And then Ivan is there with a warm smile.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m not a very good—” I start, but for the second time today he interrupts me to stop me from apologizing. How is it possible to feel so seen by people you don’t even really know?

“Nonsense. You’re doing great.” The song changes, but the beat is similar, which I’m thankful for. “I hope today hasn’t been too overwhelming. I know my family is a lot.” He chuckles, looking around at the group, who are mostly being silly as they dance together.

I shake my head because, yes, they’re a little loud, a lot affectionate, but they’re all so wonderful. “Your family is beautiful.I feel really lucky to be here.”

“Good. Good. Because you’re stuck with us now, Charlie!” He doesn’t explain; he just pulls away from me and tucks himself under our joined hands, and I’m met with Marcelo as my next dance partner.

“I bet you were hoping I’d be Raf, but we’re trying to see how angry he gets that we’re all getting to dance with you first.” His smile, so similar to Gustavo’s, makes me believe these brothers are nothing but mischief.

“Rafael? Angry? He doesn’t get angry over anything.” I chance a look at him as he dances with his mom. They’re laughing, and I wish I could take a photo.

“I’m pretty sure you’re the exception, Charlie. To just about everything for him.” Marcelo is looking at me when I meet his gaze, and that’s when I see the silliness in his face fade away. “Be good to him, yeah? He deserves this. He deserves this happiness. More than anyone.” His eyes shine with tears, and my God, I have to hold my breath to keep my own eyes from welling up. These Machado men…oof.

Marcelo stops, takes a step back, and lowers into a bow before placing my hand in another’s.

Rafael.

“Finally,” he whispers into my hair, pulling me in much closer than any of my previous dance partners, letting his hand settle a little lower on my back. “I missed you.”

I giggle at his seriousness. “I’ve been here the whole time.”

“Not close enough unless you’re right here, firecracker.” He lets go of my hand and pulls me into him with both hands until my cheek is resting on his chest and my hands are on the back of his neck. “That’s better.”

“Yeah, it is,” I agree. We stay like that for a couple of minutes, and when I let out a contented sigh, he puts a little space between us.

“Ready to see how it’s really done?” His eyebrows dance on his forehead, and the moment my hands slip down his chest, he takes them both and starts to move us around. I spin one way, then another, and nearly crash into him, but he catches me smoothly at the last second. Somehow, he moves my body exactly the way he wants, and I hardly even need to do anything but let him.

My laughter is uncontrollable and as soon as I hear Raf laughing with me, I swear I float up into the air. It’s magical. It’s wonderful.

When we finally stop, we sway nose-to-nose, and as our giggles start to die down, I take notice that the music has stopped and a new song has started. Raf’s whole family is singing Happy Birthday to him in Portuguese, his mom holding a cake in her hands topped with candles as she walks toward us. There’s clapping and cheering, and then Rafael pauses, looks at me for a long moment, then closes his eyes and blows out the candles.