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At this moment, I can’t help but be a little miffed at Eleanor because this is seriously the last place on earth I want to be… dancing withSawyer. Yet here we are.
An attractive woman with a ballerina’s body and a commanding presence approaches us. I realize it’s Françoise, the woman Eleanor said would be directing the play. It’s been years since I’ve seen her, and she’s only become prettier with age.
“Welcome, Dawson and Sawyer. We’ve been waiting for you.” Françoise looks Sawyer up and down, cracking into an approving smile.
Oh, great. She’s going to be swooning over Sawyer. “Nice to see you again, Françoise,” I say.
“It truly is.” Sawyer uses his wooing tone, returning the smile. But he’s a bit off and not his usual super confident self. He probably feels the same way about this place as I do.
Françoise says, “All right. We have two remaining practices, tomorrow and Friday from eight to eleven a.m.”
Sawyer frowns. “For three hours?”
“Yes.” She nods. “And a dress rehearsal on Friday, the same time. Now let’s not waste minutes. We can’t have you two ruining my show, now can we?”
Sawyer walks out on the stage. “You’ve got it, Fran.”
Wow, he’s on a nickname basis with her? What’s that about?
When he stands there like a dude without any sense of movement, I tilt my head and say, “Sawyer, you look more ready to attend a Star Trek convention than attempt ballet.”
“Haha, Dawson.”
“Hello.” A deep voice echoes from behind me. I turn to see a very fit, very attractive man smiling at me. “You must be Dawson.” He extends his hand.
“Yes.” Now it’smysmile that’s dazzling. “And you are?”
“Dante. I’ll be training you while Françoise works with Sawyer. This way, you’ll both be learning from an expert.”
Well, well, well. This might not be so bad, after all.
“Sure Dante, let’s get to work.” I step into position.
Dante takes me through the basic steps. When he twirls me around like he could do it in his sleep, I giggle and lean into his chest, which feels like chiseled iron. As it turns out, he’s part of a professional ballet company out of Nashville.
I see Sawyer side-eying us before going into a basic plié with Françoise. When he almost falls, she finds this funny.
Actually, I do too, even though I’ve almost bit the dust a time or two as well. That doesn’t stop me from saying, “You need knee pads and a helmet, Sawyer? Doing a bend can be a dangerous activity.”
He narrows his gaze. “You know, maybe I do. But at least I have rhythm. You dance like SpongeBob.”
I gasp. “Take that back.”
“Never, Beer Barfer.”
“Humph.” I turn back to Dante, saying, “Turn the music on again.” I’ll prove I have moves. When the music starts, I attempt a pirouette with everything in me. I spin right into a fall, hitting the hard wooden floor with an echoey thud, a burning sensation ripping through my knee.
When I look at it, it’s already red and bloody, like a rug burn.Great.
Sawyer’s face is serious when he says, “You okay?” as he rushes over.
But Dante steps in front of him, offering me his hand. I take it with a big smile. “I’m fine.”
Sawyer looks a bit peeved as he nods before walking away.
Once we’re practicing again, I realize Eleanor’s training plan was quite brilliant. Now that Sawyer and I are with separate partners, our competitiveness takes over as we fight to outdo each other with each turn and spin.
I’m laughing and having a good time with Dante, but I already know he’s not my type. He’s a bit too smooth and proper, which is actually Eleanor’s type, if I’m being honest. I’m sad she isn’t performing as Clara this year so these two could’ve met, as they would have hit it off, big time.
