I had clung to Olivia, depending on her strength to guide me from the school section into the dance studio. And up until the point where we’d stood in front of the doors, I’d wanted to run. I’d wanted to leave and never look back.
But then I heard his music.
Ethan’s music. It was faint and muffled, but I heard it. And all of my fear, everything that was keeping me from dancing—from being me—faded away.
There was nowhere else I wanted to be other than right here, dancing to his music.
I could feel his eyes on me as I leapt around the stage. He never took his gaze away from me as his fingers strummed the cords. The way he stood there, his concentration trained on me was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
I knew he could see my flaws. I knew he was aware that I wasn’t perfect. That I was never going to be perfect. And yet, I could feel his love for me in the way his lips tipped up into a smile. Or the way when he caught my eye, he winked in a sexy yet supportive way.
He had a way of taking all of my fears away. He saw in me something that I’d only begun to admit was even there.
He was my strength where I was weak.
Dancing to his music was something I was born to do.
I was fully and completely smitten with the man standing in the middle of the stage taking risks so that I could learn to be my better self. So I could be the person that he knew I was.
The final chords hung in the air as I extended out my leg and arm and held the final pose. I waited, the silence in the room deafening. I kept my gaze up, terrified that if I looked out to the crowd, I’d see the scouts’ disgusted expressions.
Or worse, the disappointed look in my mother’s gaze.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to face her.
That was the cruel thingabout dancing. While you’re doing it, you’re untouchable. Nothing in the world matters but the feel of the floor from your toes and the air around you as you leap through it.
But once the music stops. Once the movement ends…
Reality comes crashing down around you like a ton of bricks. And suddenly, you remember there is a world around you. Judging you.
And even though the thought of Juilliard, the school I’d dreamt about going to since the moment I rose up into my first relevé, was here, scrutinizing my body and my dancing, I was scared about what my mother thought.
“Thank you, you two. You can leave now.”
I lowered my arms and stood there, taking a moment to bow. But before I even bent forward, Ethan appeared next to me and reached down to grab my hand. Warmth spread up my arm and exploded throughout my body as we bent forward to the roaring applause.
When we straightened, he didn’t move to drop my hand—and I didn’t make him.
I wanted the comfort that he gave if I was headed out of the studio to face my mother.
“You did amazing,” he mumbled as he tipped his head toward me.
My cheeks flushed as I nodded. “Thanks. You too.”
He squeezed my hand as he pushed open the door that led to the hallway. Once the door slammed behind us, we walked in silence, hand in hand.
The sound of a door opening broke the silence and my ears pricked as I slowed my gait. I didn’t even have to look to know that it was my mother coming out of the audition room. And that she was headed straight for us.
“What was that about?” she asked.
My entire body stiffened as I fought the tears that threatened to spill. I knew I should turn around. I knew I should face my mother’s disappointment, but I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was.
I wasn’t Ethan.
I clung to his hand as he stopped walking and from the corner of my eye, I saw him glance over his shoulder.
“Oh, hey, Ms. Boucher. Wasn’t your daughter amazing?” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gently guided me to turn around.
