Page 9 of Forbidden Heart

“You kissed Tate and Charles?” Angela’s eyes grow wide.

“It just happened,” I cry. “I didn’t mean to kiss all three of them. I’ve never even kissed anyone before I came here.”

“Did you sleep with any of them?” Angela asks.

“Of course not!”

“Then you’re fine.” She shrugs. “Think of it as a bachelor auction. As long as they all know what’s happening and they’re okay with it, take your time. You’re in college.”

I shake my head and bury my face in my hands because one, I’m not actually in college, and two, I’m definitely not fine. Charles and Tate don’t know I kissed JJ. Even if they did, I don’t know how I’ll ever pick between the three.

Chapter 4

“I feel so guilty, Angela,” I say into my coffee, like I’ll somehow find answers in the cup. “JJ may be fine with me kissing his roommates, but when Charles and Tate find out, they’re going to hate me. And when JJ realizes I didn’t pick him, all three of them are going to hate me.”

“No, they won’t.” Angela places a comforting hand on my shoulder, but I shake my head.

“I always ruin everything. I’m a mess.” Just like Father always says.

“Oh, Roonie. I promise it’ll work out.” Angela gets to her feet. “I have an idea.”

“I don’t think anything will help me choose.”

“Maybe not, but it will make you feel better.” Angela raises the volume on her phone, and the music in the apartment gets louder. “Whenever things are crappy, I dance.”

“I don’t think that’ll work.” I shake my head. “I’m not really a dancer.”

“You don’t have to be a dancer to dance.” Angela laughs. “Come on, it’ll be fun. I promise.”

“Okay, just one second.” I run back to JJ’s room and grab my phone. The fractured pieces of Mom’s necklace lie on the nightstand next to it, a stark reminder of my old life. Looking at the jagged lines that run across them makes my throat squeeze tight.

“You all right?” Angela asks when I get back to the living room.

“Fine. Let me just set my alarm so I don’t miss the audition.”

Angela’s busy typing on her phone, but she adds a warm “mm-hmm” to let me know she’s heard me. Then we set down our phones and move to stand in the middle of the living room. Angela immediately does a complicated set of back and forth steps, followed by a turn that makes me shake my head. “I’ll never be able to do that! Maybe we should sing instead?”

Angela starts laughing. “You do not want me to sing. Trust me. Here, let me change the music to merengue. It’s easier to dance to, and once you pick this up, we can try salsa.”

I nod and stand next to Angela. She shows me how to shake my hips, and she’s right, it is fun. A few songs later, I’m so out of breath I’m forced to stop, but I’m laughing.

“Do you feel better?” Angela asks.

“I do,” I say as I lean my hands on my hips and try to catch my breath. Dancing might not be as awesome as singing, but it isn’t bad, either.

While I rest, Angela changes the song. Then she poses like a dancer might on stage and goes through a full routine that takes her around the living room, spinning and occasionally jumping and doing the splits in mid-air.

“That was amazing, Angela!” I cry when she’s done. “Where did you learn how to do that?”

Angela smiles and pushes strands of damp blonde hair off her face. She’s not even that out of breath, but she still looks like she’s been through a workout. “I started choreographing last year, so I’d have an original for my audition to LUV.”

“You auditioned with that? No wonder you got in!”

Angela laughs. “That’s just a new choreography piece I’m working on. My audition was much more technical, trust me.”

I shake my head, because what I just saw was already absolutely amazing. “How long have you been dancing?”

“Oh, forever! I’ve been doing it for so long, I can’t remember my life without it.”