I nodded.“That felt good.”
“When you’re better, I’ll make you feel really good.”He put my water bottle on the table, then he got the garbage pail from the bathroom and set it by the bed.“I’ll come and check on you every chance I get.And I’ll bring you some food at lunch.”
“Thanks, honey kid.”
“Get some rest.”
He smiled at me, and then he left the trailer.I was still exhausted and fell asleep right away.I must have slept really well, because when I woke up, he was back, sitting in the chair watching me and eating a sandwich.
“What time is it?”
“Lunchtime.”He nodded at a sandwich and carton of milk on the table.“I have to go soon.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Twenty-five minutes.”
“You should have woken me up.”I sat on the edge of the bed, facing him.He looked pretty run down, and if I hadn’t been here, he’d probably be taking a nap he really needed right now.
“You need to rest for your big performance,” he said.
“Do you really have to go?”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“C’mere,” I said.He moved close to me so I could hold him.I pressed my forehead against his.“When this is over, I want us to go away together.”
“I’d like that,” he said, then he was holding me too.“Away where?”
“Let’s rent a cottage up north, and stay there, just us for a whole weekend.”
“That’s gonna cost.”
“I’ve been putting money aside, and I found a cottage online.I’ve wanted to ask you for a while.”
“You’re full of surprises.”
He had no idea I’d made a ring for him or what I was planning to ask him.
He pulled back, nudged me under my chin, and kissed me.And I didn’t feel as tired anymore.I wished we were up north.
“We can do this all weekend,” I said.“And you can fuck me, properly.If you still want to.”
He whispered in my ear, “I want to right now.”
“Yeah?”I kissed him again.
He broke the kiss.“But I gotta get back to work.”
“Okay.”
“Eat your lunch, get some rest, and I’ll see you later, okay, tapper?”He kissed my eyebrow, which tickled.Then he pulled back.He kissed me sweetly again, then he left.
I got up and used the bathroom.I was still tired, but I knew if I went back to sleep, I might not wake up in time to get ready, so I stayed awake, sat on the chair instead of the bed, and ate the lunch he’d brought me—a ham and cheese sandwich.I wondered if he’d made the effort to find my favorite.Typical him.I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast the day before, so I was pretty hungry.I ate the protein bar he’d put in my pocket.I almost kept it, because he’d given it to me like a present, and if I ate it, I wouldn’t have it anymore, which, I know, stupid.
Till now, I’d been too sick to feel performance anxiety.I’d been filmed dancing before, but not for a movie.I wished I’d had more time to prepare.I knew roughly what I was going to do, and I was an improviser anyway, but I wished I’d had time to scope out the boardwalk beforehand for any tricky spots or uneven boards to steer clear of.
I went through my stretching routine.My body was super tight because I’d been in bed all day.I put on my shoes and started my warm-up.I didn’t have my tap board, which wasn’t ideal.My old tap teacher would have pitched a fit about high-impact surfaces and shin splints and not performing on a sprung floor, but this was just a one-time thing.
