Page 39 of Dancing on Air

His smile increased as he held out her bag towards her. “I’ll wait for you out front.”

“Thanks,” she said, taking her bag from him.

After going through it and making sure everything was in there and undamaged, she dressed, put on her makeup, and braided her hair.

When she stepped outside, Max’s eyes ran over her quickly.

“What’d you do to earn the spite of Jynx?” he asked as they started walking.

“Pointed out that she has no love life,” she answered with a smile.

“I thought she was seeing…” He dropped off suddenly and stopped walking. “Son of a…” He shook his head, the truth just now sinking in.

“What?” she asked, suddenly concerned.

He looked at her for a moment before answering. “Cora Jenkins was seeing Reece. Now Reece is seeing my mother.”

“Your…” Cora stopped. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

He shrugged and started walking again, and she had to jog a little to catch up with him. “Are you okay? Is that what’s bothering you?”

He glanced over at her and slowed down. “Yes and no. I… it’s complicated. Seeing someone you work with. Especially since I’m… Since we’re…” He ran his hands through his hair. “You know, the whole Me Too movement,” he said, and she shook her head, not getting it. “I’m technically in a position over you…”

Cora’s laughter stopped him. She couldn’t help it. He was fumbling all over his words.

“Max, no one would ever believe that you’ve taken advantage of me. Besides, your dad is the one who picked me as the lead. You weren’t even there during auditions.” She smiled. “Besides, no one knows for sure about us.”

“Yet,” he added with a frown. “Which is why I think⁠—”

She stopped him by holding up her hand. “Nope. You don’t get to break things off because of your fear of what others will think. No one else is here.” She motioned between them. “So no one else gets to be the reason we don’t get to enjoy what we did last night, twice.” She smiled. “Got it?”

He waited a beat before nodding. “Got it.”

“Good, now, I’m starving.” She opened the door to the Thai place.

She’d been eating at the place since the first week she’d arrived in New York. The older couple that ran the restaurant were very friendly and always happy to see anyone from the BAC.

The place didn’t officially have a name, which is why everyone just called it the Thai place.

As they stepped in, Cora spotted more than a dozen other people from the BAC sitting at tables.

Suwan, the owner’s daughter, smiled and greeted them, then motioned to an empty table. Max pulled out her chair and they sat and looked over the menus.

After they ordered, Jynx and her gang walked in. They took one look at her and scowled. The trio sat across from them, preventing any private conversation between her and Max.

So instead they talked about changes to Romeo and Juliet while they ate. They were nothing but professional as they chatted about work.

By the time the larger group left, Jynx and her gang had lost interest in them. Still, after paying for their food, she and Max parted ways.

During her walk back down the street towards the BAC, she pulled out her phone and called her brother.

JT and Emma always talked to her on speaker phone when they could. Hearing both of their voices made her homesick. Even though she’d only lived on the island for a short time, it was more home to her than any other place she’d been.

“They’ve decided to do a sequel to Crescent Creek!” Emma exclaimed right off.

Cora stopped walking. “What?” she gasped. “Seriously?”

“Yes.” JT chuckled. “We just found out today.”