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“What?” I stammer. “No, that’s not it. I was just thinking about something.”
“Yeah, your boyfriend's dick,” Winnie cackles.
I roll my eyes and join her laughter. “Just you wait, Win. One day some man is going to come along and leave you in a trance, pining after his long shlong.”
Winnie bursts out laughing, crossing her legs dramatically and holding her stomach. “Oh my god! I’m going to pee myself!”
“Ew! Keep your piss to yourself,” I joke.
“I’m fucking pregnant, you asshole. I can’t control my bladder when I have this big ass baby pressing on it all damn day!” Winnie is out of breath as she continues to laugh.
We finish blowing up all the balloons, and I man the ladder to put up the arches where she wants them. Winnie can be pretty damn bossy when she wants something done a certain way, but it turns out so beautiful that I forgive her attitude as soon as I’m done.
When I’m done with the arches, I let her and Brenna finish with the rest of the decorations while I find Maria and Lyric in another room setting up tables.
“This is all so amazing. Trigger and Ghost did such a good job.” I spin in circles around the large dance room, catching my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors on one side.
Lyric scampers over to me on her hella-high heels and grabs me. We laugh as we dance around the room, pretending to be proper and poised.
“Girl, you have no rhythm!” Lyric laughs as I let her lead me all around the space.
“Bitch, I know! Why do you think I came to Pebbles’s class all those months ago? I got not one dancing bone in my body!” I say with tears of laughter pouring down my cheeks.
“Jesus hell, this is painful to watch,” Maria laughs as we mess around.
Over the next hour, people pour through the doors. Adults, teenagers, kids, and people of all ages come to check out the new studio. Ringer and Flame find Brenna and me in one of the rooms watching Clara, the dancer Pebbles hired to teach, and her mom as they dance with a handful of kids.
I follow them out to the front before heading to the bathroom. I run into Pebbles in the hallway with a face full of panic.
She stops me, grabbing onto my arm. “Have you heard from Trigger?”
“What? No, why?”
“He was supposed to go by the bakery and then come straight here. He isn’t answering his phone.”
“Ringer and Flame just got here. They’re out front with Tank and Ghost. Maybe ask them?”
I finish up in the bathroom and then find myself back in the room, watching Clara move fluidly across it. The young girl is great with the kids. I eventually make my way back over to the table to help Maria sign people up.
I’m taking information from a little girl named Emery when Ringer rushes into the room, his eyes ablaze as they search the room and eventually land on my face.
Unease churns my belly as he strides my way. I grab Maria’s attention. She takes over, and I apologize to the little girl and her mom as I excuse myself, meeting Ringer in front of the table.
“Fuck, Princess. I am so goddamn sorry.” Worry laces Ringer’s tone, and a cramp pulls at my belly. He pulls me into his chest, gripping my hair tightly as I shake in his embrace.
“What’s going on, Ringer?”
Pulling away from me so he can look into my eyes, he says the words that break my heart into tiny pieces. “We have to go, babe. The bakery’s on fire.”
I rip out of his hold and take off for the front of the studio.
I have to get to my car.
I have to go to the bakery.
I have to save it.
The environment around me is a blur as I vaguely feel a strong arm wrap around my waist, and another pulls my legs out from under me.
