She shocked the life out of me by dropping her arms and launching toward me to give me a hug.
I stood frozen for a second as her arms wrapped around my waist. I lookeddown at the top of her head in stunned silence as she squeezed me tight. I shook off the shock and wrapped my arms around her too, returning the hug.
“I am so excited for you,” she gushed, her face pressed against my shoulder and her hair tickling my nose. I tried not to notice the feel of her curves pressed against me, or how good she felt in my arms. I’d held her countless times now as part of her dance routine, but never like this.
She pulled back slightly to look up at me. “And I’m so glad you finally told me.”
I blinked stupidly as her words registered. It wasn’t until she took a step back that I was able to form words. “Youknew?”
She gave me an impish grin. “Tilly might have said something.”
I arched my brows in question. Tilly was the dancer assigned to help Ryan catch up on the basics of ballet, but I wasn’t sure how she knew anything about our upcoming gig.
“I guess Ryan bragged to Tilly about the concert and how you were stepping in.” She shifted, waving a hand in the air like the rest was obvious. “She told Eve and Eve told me and…” She sighed. “You know how ballerinas are. They’re the worst gossips.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t know that, actually, but, uh…why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugged. “I figured if you wantedme to know, you’d tell me.”
“So?” I asked. “Will you come?”
“Of course!”
Any flicker of hope I might have felt that maybe this would be our first date was killed quick when she smacked my shoulder in a decidedly friendly manner. “I wouldn’t miss my practice buddy’s big debut.”
I forced a smile. Practice buddy. Right.
Awesome.
“Will your mom be cool with it?” I asked.
“If I tell her it’s an outing that involves the great Ethan Morrison?” She arched her brows. “She’ll probably offer to drive me herself.”
I grinned. It had become something of a joke between us, how much her mom loved me. Not that I was such a great dancer or anything—I definitely wasn’t. But once her mom got wind that I was the mayor’s son? The term ‘teacher’s pet’ may or may not have become my new nickname in class.
“You’re not really going to tell her though, right?” I winced because I knew the answer but I still had to ask.
She rolled her eyes. “No, of course not.” She dropped her voice two octaves and donned a terrible mob boss voice as she added, “I keep your secrets, you keep mine, right?”
I laughed as I shook my head. “You’re ridiculous.”
She laughed too as she smacked my arm again like I was her brother. “And you’re an idiot if you think I’d out your secret just to get a ride. I’ll figureout something to tell my mom.”
I nodded, trying to play it cool, trying not to show how relieved I was that she’d agreed to go, or how excited I was, or how crazy nervous.
“What are you going to tell your parents?” she asked.
That…was a good question. “I haven’t figured that out yet.”
She gave me a sympathetic look as she nodded.
She now knew better than anyone what my situation was like at home. Thanks to Coach Reynolds talking to my dad, he was now on board with me taking ballet classes. The fact that he hadn’t listened to me, but had listened to my coach?
That was the reason I didn’t feel guilty lying to him and my mom about where I was when I was practicing with Collette. Dance practice ran long, coach made me take an extra class this week—he thinks it’s helping my throw…
I was getting good at lying. Not exactly something I was proud of, but for the first time in my life I was doing something for myself and not for others, and it felt freakin’ amazing.
There was just one more thing that I wanted—something far more complicated than time to play guitar. And she was standing right in front of me right now, grinning like a clown. I shoved my hands in my pocket as my heart rate picked up speed. “So, about Thursday,” I started slowly. “Maybe after the show?—”
