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I went to the locker room and changed, making sure my brace was in place before walking out to gather my first class of the evening.
Between my first and second classes, Cora called the other instructors and me into her office to announce we were doing a Christmas recital, and starting the following week, we would be rehearsing it instead of teaching regular classes. She was giving each of us leeway with our classes, so we could pretty much do any dance as long as the music was holiday-themed.
I decided I was going to have all my littles be Sugar Plum Fairies and called dibs as soon as Cora called an end to the meeting.
The other instructors, all of them older than me, groaned, but they gave in, and I walked out of the office grinning.
Until I saw Lyla sitting with Barrick.
“Miss Mia, Miss Mia!” Josie squealed as she came running up to me, and I forced a smile for her. “I’m ready to dance.”
I was glad she seemed unaffected by the events of the previous week’s class. “So am I, sweet girl. And I have a surprise for you.”
“You do?” she asked excitedly. “What is it?”
Laughing, I turned her toward our classroom. “You’ll just have to be patient and wait for the other girls to arrive before I make an announcement. Go on. I’ll be right in. I just have to grab my phone so I can get the music.” No use in waiting for the next week to start when I already knew what I was going to be teaching them for the recital. The longer I had to practice with the littles, the better.
“Mia,” Lyla called behind me, and I stopped but didn’t turn to face her. She walked over and stood in front of me. “Could we have coffee tomorrow? I really would like to talk to you.”
“No thanks,” I told her tightly. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“So, you can forgive Braxton but not me?” she called after me, hurt lacing her voice. “That doesn’t seem fair if you ask me.”
I laughed humorlessly and turned to look at her. “Life isn’t fair, Lyla. Haven’t you realized that by now?”
Chapter 21
Mia
By the end of the week, I was so tired, I felt like I was ready to drop. As I walked out of the dance studio, I fought back a yawn and contemplated just curling up outside the door and taking a quick nap before making the walk home.
Instead, I glanced around, expecting to see Barrick since he’d followed me to work once again. But he wasn’t anywhere in sight. Figuring he was at the Underground, I pushed back the ridiculous feeling of disappointment and headed for campus.
“Yo, hot stuff, what’s a guy gotta do around here to get some attention?”
I stopped mid-step at the sound of that voice and slowly lifted my head, not sure I could believe my own ears. When I saw him leaning back against the hood of a car, arms folded over his chest, legs crossed casually at the ankles, I had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn’t a mirage.
Dressed in jeans that hugged his thighs and sat low on his hips, a white button-up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his hair in that stylish, unkempt way Jordan Moreitti was famous for, he was the best thing I’d seen all week.
A choked laugh escaped me, and I took off at a run. My best friend caught me as I threw myself into his arms, and he swung me around twice, holding on to me for dear life. “What the fuck have you done to yourself?” he demanded once he set me on my feet. “You’ve lost weight, and hell, you look like a damn wraith right now with those dark shadows under your eyes. Please tell me you aren’t letting some idiot with a cock make you do this to yourself, Mia.”
I punched him in the stom
ach, causing him to grunt in pain. “Don’t judge.”
“I come all this way to check on my best girl, spend a little time with her before her birthday, and this is how I’m treated?” He sighed dramatically. “What the fuck? I thought you loved me.”
“I do love you, dummy,” I assured him as I hugged him again. “Now drive me back to my dorm so I can change.”
His gaze skimmed over me appreciatively from head to toe. I was wearing my usual Friday night work outfit, dance shorts and a sports bra. We’d had a particularly good night and I was still sweating, so I wasn’t wearing the hoodie I’d brought with me or the yoga pants I normally would have slipped on after class.
“Jordan,” I laughed, snapping my fingers in front of his face.
He shook his head as if to clear it. “Sorry, sorry.” Tossing his arm over my shoulders, he guided me around his rental and opened the passenger door. “Your chariot awaits, dear lady.”
In my dorm room, he camped out on the unmade extra bed that had once belonged to Lyla while I went into the bathroom. A quick shower and a change of clothes and I felt better.
Walking into the bedroom, I found Jordan lying back, his feet propped up on the end of the bed because he was so long, the bed was way too short for him.
