Center of Gravity

by K. K. Allen

  Discomfort rumbled within me. That couldn’t have been a coincidence. “Oh yeah?” I asked nonchalantly. I took the seat, leaving a few inches between us. He slid over to close the gap, pressed his shoulder into mine, and held up his phone. “What’s this for?”

  “Winter,” Reggie said without even batting an eye. “She’s looking for a choreographer for the ‘Caged’ music video.”

  “What about Theo?” The words slipped out before I could think them through. “I mean, he’s already done the choreography, and he’s working with Winter. I assumed that kind of job would go to him.”

  Reggie’s eyes narrowed momentarily before he shrugged it off. “She’s holding the pitch meeting this week, which means it’s a possibility. Besides, Theo will be slammed with the show. I can’t see him taking his only three days off to work.”

  “You can’t?” I couldn’t help my amused expression. Did Reggie know Theo at all? And why the hell would Reggie go after a job that was so clearly Theo’s?

  Reggie set down his phone and leaned back against the couch with a hard look on his face. “Theo Noska ain’t the be-all and end-all of dance, Lex. He’s hit his ceiling. It’s time this industry experiences some fresh ideas. Like in our partner routine.” He pursed his lips, as if making a point. “We took some creative liberties and made it ten times better. Isn’t that right?”

  When I didn’t respond, he looked at Amie, who turned away and raised her hands. “Uh-uh. I’m not getting involved.”

  He huffed and stood. “Never mind. Y’all wouldn’t understand.” He walked off. “See you in the studio.”

  Amie and I exchanged wide-eyed looks at the same time. “What is he trying to pull?” I hissed it as I scooted toward her, minimizing the chance that someone could hear us.

  Amie looked around as if to make sure no one was listening and leaned in further and whispered, “I really want to stay out of whatever’s going on, but Reggie’s been on edge a lot lately. He’s been on this kick to get some other choreo work outside of the studio, but I don’t know why he’s got his target on Winter and Theo. There are thousands of other artists, and so many of them come through Gravity.”

  “It’s like he wants what Theo wants. It’s a little creepy.”

  Amie agreed with a sigh. “I hope he cools it before we hit Vegas. It’s going to be a long six months if he plans to challenge Theo every step of the way.” She looked around again before her brows bent in with worry. “And between you and me, I think he had something to do with the selections Winter made with the featured spots.”

  Dread filled me as her words sank in. Amie was only guessing, but Reggie’s nonchalance Friday morning before the announcements made sense now. He’d already known.

  CHAPTER 39

  Theo

  “Bring it under.” I swept my right arm under my leg. “Swing out. And hit. Then pop, pop.” I emphasized the chest pop as I did an angled slide pivot with my feet. My gaze traveled around the room to make sure everyone was following. It was the third time I had to go back to the beginning and slow down choreography for “What Do You Mean?” It wasn’t that they weren’t getting it, it was that I was starting to nitpick the shit out of everything. Now that they knew the routines, it was time to make them perfect.

  I swiped a towel over my forehead and shoved it back between the elastic of my shorts and my body, picking up where I left off. We continued to run the entire routine before starting the music.

  The energy was different today. A good different. Less stress and more focus. No one spoke out of turn or joked. The mood was intense, and it made the room boom with a vigor that crackled the air and made my heart pound in my throat. This was why I loved dance. This feeling right here.

  “Take it from the top,” I boomed over the intro while counting them off with four claps.

  Winter walked in just as the guys started. She weaved through them, checking out their moves as she went. Her smile was bright, and she nodded with the beat, clearly loving what she saw. And I couldn’t help feeling that everything was going to be okay.

  “Looking good, Theo.” She stared at the dancers as she said it, and that made me smile, because she was talking about my choreography.

  “They’ve been working hard.”

  She glanced at me, her angry eyes from Friday nowhere to be seen. I could almost pretend it had never happened.

  “I loved the video for ‘Caged.’ I’ve never seen anything like that before.” She was gushing, effectively inflating my ego. The video I whipped together Saturday night before I found Lex in my studio was something I was proud of. I could only hope Winter liked it as much as I did. To hear that she did was a relief.

  “You never fail to bring on the magic with your creativity,” she said. “The concept is fresh and colorful and fun. It brings me back to the beginning of all this. When simplicity won out over all the pyrotechnics and costumes heavier than me.”

  “Glad you liked it.”

  She was right where I wanted her, loving the idea, back in her good graces. I decided to push for more. “You gonna cancel that pitch tomorrow and let me focus on your show now?”

  She laughed. “And disappoint all the hopefuls? I couldn’t.”

  I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. “For real, Winter? You and I know you’re just wasting their time. The song already has choreography. And you already have dancers. You realize you’re only saving yourself time and money by sticking with me.”

  She shrugged and bit her lip. It was the playful Winter I’d always known. “Glad to see you really want this.”

  “You know I love working with you.” That was the truth. Despite our less than innocent history together, we were still friends, and I cared about her as much as I always had.

  When she didn’t respond to my earlier question, I considered the conversation settled and nudged her arm. “You want to jump in?” I nodded toward the dancers as I reached behind and brought forward her headset. “Let’s see it.”

  My grin was wide, and hers matched.

  One week until Vegas, then the real magic would begin. I was ready. So was she. The rest of the bullshit could fade into the wind. At least for now.

  She took the headset from me, darted out onto the dance floor, and took her position. I stopped the track and started it from the beginning. “Back to the top. With Winter this time.”

  CHAPTER 40

  Theo

  A horn blared near Wicked Saints Records as a car moved around me, blocking me from leaving my metered spot. LA gridlock was the absolute worst at any time of day, but I didn’t have the patience for this now, not with less than a week before Vegas and my dancers already in the studio without me. My hand slammed against the wheel, and another car blocked me in. “Fuck.”

  A shrill ring sounded through my speakers, and Winter’s name popped up on the dash. “Hey,” I answered into the air, finally inching my way out onto the street.

  “Congratulations. You got the job!” Winter’s excitement made me chuckle.

  She couldn’t have chosen a worse time to tell me great news. Ninety percent of my concentration was on not fucking up my car. “That was quick. I literally just walked out from our meeting.” I slammed on my brakes as another car moved around me. I ground my teeth. “You might need a backup plan, though. I’m about to murder someone in this traffic.”

  She barked out a sarcastic laugh. “Funny. But don’t. I have too much invested in you.”

  Oh, so now Winter wants to admit it. It was because they loved my idea. I’d never seen so many suits with wide eyes and dropped jaws before.

  “Look,” Winter rushed. “We’ll be a few minutes behind you to the studio, but I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

  That piqued my interest. “Okay. I’m sitting down,” I teased.

  “Ha,” she said dryly. “Reggie’s pitch was before yours. I just called him to let him know he didn’t get the gig. He wasn’t too happy.”

  Great. “What did I tell you? You shou
ldn’t have had the damn pitch to begin with. Now I’m going to have to deal with Reggie’s attitude all fucking day.”

  “Yeah, well. I’m allowed to fuck up every now and then. I’ll admit, I should have left this one alone.”

  “Just say it.” A grin stretched across my face.

  She was silent for a moment, either hesitating or confused by what I meant. “Just say what?” From the annoyance in her tone, she knew.

  “Tell me I was right. Just this once.”

  A snort pushed through the car speakers. “Not going to happen. But before your ego bursts, I need to tell you something else.”

  I made a face, my gut telling me I wasn’t going to like this news. “Spit it out.”

  “I offered Reggie a bone. I’m letting him choreograph one of the features for Vegas.”

  If I’d had anything in my mouth, I would have choked on it. I coughed out my next breath instead. “News flash. That’s my job. Also, the choreography is done. That ass has already changed practically the entire routine for ‘The Cure.’ You’re giving him another one because you feel sorry for him?”

  Winter sighed dramatically. “I knew you’d freak out. Look, Reggie deserves a shot just like you did when it was your time. He’s a good choreographer. Really good. I didn’t trust him to choreograph an entire Vegas show, but that had more to do with experience than his talent. You need to give him a chance.”

  “This is bullshit. What song is he redoing?”

  “None of them.” She perked up as though this was somehow good news. “I have a bonus track I’m releasing midtour, but I want to intro it on stage early to create the buzz. It will be perfect.”

  Despite the rage spiraling through me, I decided to let this one go. Reggie could have his partner choreography and whatever this bonus shit was. Maybe Winter was right. Maybe he just needed his shot. Maybe then he’d get the fuck off my back.

  “Okay.”

  “Yay,” she squealed. I cringed and turned down the volume a couple of notches. “Okay, I gotta go. Let’s do lunch today and celebrate, and I’ll tell you more about the bonus track so we can figure out where it will fit into the set list.”

  Lunch with Winter. Discomfort snaked through me as I imagined what Lex might think. I couldn’t blame her if she got angry, not after the way I acted the other night when she went to dinner with Reggie. Although that didn’t exactly have an unhappy ending. I smiled.

  But we’d decided that this thing between us, whatever it was, would be temporary. We agreed the job was our number one priority. And if that was truly the case, she shouldn’t have an issue over my going to lunch with Winter.

  “Yeah, okay. Lunch.”

  CHAPTER 41

  Lex

  It was late morning, and the crew was standing around without direction. We’d just run the entire show, full out, from top to bottom, and Theo still wasn’t there. Reggie strolled in halfway through and joined us, and from the bent brows on his forehead, I knew his pitch hadn’t gone so well.

  “Should we run it again?” Brenda asked.

  We were all breathing heavily, and many of us shook our heads.

  “We should save our energy for Winter. She’s coming today, right?” Contessa was at the front of the room, wiping her face with a towel.

  I glanced at Reggie, who shrugged and started to walk away. I caught his arm, and he turned back. “Hey, how was the pitch? Did they like your ideas?”

  I was dying to ask Theo that same question, but for now, Reggie was in front of me, and I’d never seen him look so down on his luck.

  He shook his head and waved his hand as though it wasn’t a big deal. “Nah. They liked the pitch, but it just wasn’t my time. You were right about the gig already being Theo’s. Him and Winter are a thing—I need to remember that. It’s all good, though.” He flashed me a smile as I started to lose mine at the mention of Winter and Theo. “I got another opportunity out of it. And I still get to partner with you. I’m pretty stoked about that.”

  “That’s true.” My optimism masked that awkward feeling that crawled through me again, the sensation that something was off.

  My eyes drifted around the room, looking for something to change the subject, when Wayne stepped up to the speaker. He shuffled through his playlist. “I say we take a break until Theo gets back. Let loose a little, if you know what I mean.” He smiled around the room then pushed Play. When Kelly Clarkson’s “Love So Soft” started to sound overhead, everyone clapped.

  “Ah,” Amie called out with a grin. “I feel a freestyle coming on.”

  The crew agreed, and Reggie nudged me toward the center of the room. “Lex volunteers as Tribute.”

  “Was that a Hunger Games reference?” I raised my brows at him in amusement as the Ravens laughed.

  He placed his hands on my back and nudged me toward the center of the room. The crew’s cheers grew filling my insides with that bubbly kind of excitement that could easily be mistaken for nerves. It felt good to finally be accepted as one of them. I’d definitely felt the shift this week. I now felt that I was surrounded by a dance family, one that could have moments like these despite the struggles and the insurmountable stress. I was grateful that last week’s drama was far behind us.

  “All right, all right.” I held up my hands and laughed. “Wayne, you’ll need to restart that for me if I’m going to do this right.”

  He gave me a nod and went back to his phone and restarted the track as Reggie waved the crew off the floor. “Let’s give our girl some space,” he boomed. “Contessa, you jump in next. We’ll go girls then guys.”

  I was midway through my freestyle, the energy in the room building with the crew’s cheers and applause, when I caught Theo’s eyes in the mirror. My face immediately grew hot as I continued to move, my gaze glued to his. There was something about the way his stare burned through me, as if he could be standing in a ball of flames and still not move.

  I loved it as much as I knew I should hate it.

  Theo didn’t stop us from taking turns to freestyle until every single person had a chance to take the floor.

  “Sorry about this morning,” he said once someone cut the music. “We lost some time, but we’ll make it up this afternoon. As soon as Winter gets here, we’ll run the set from the top. Just mark the new dances the best you can for now.”

  If the rest of the dancers felt like me, they were more than ready for a full-out performance.

  And that was what we did. Winter arrived a few minutes later, and we started the entire show from the top.

  “It’s looking good, Crew.” Theo’s compliment made me do a double take. Why is he in such a good mood?

  Theo seemed far less intimidating than he had when I first met him. Perhaps it was the fact that I’d seen him bare or that, just this morning, he’d wakened me with his mouth, working me to an orgasm before running out the door for his pitch. But it was also possible he had softened some since we’d gotten to know each other.

  Still, I had to remind myself that whatever affection I’d built up for Theo was only temporary. In four days, everything would change, and I wasn’t ready to face that.

  “I think we’re ready to pick things apart a bit. Once we get back from lunch, be ready to run through the tracks, one by one, until we perfect each one.”

  “That’s right,” Winter said with a clap of her hands, shaking me from my thoughts of Theo. “And you get an extra-long lunch break today. Be back in two hours.”

  My eyes tracked Winter’s playful nudge at Theo’s arm and the way she hugged his bicep as if it belonged to her. My gut felt heavy at the exchange, though Theo simply allowed the flirtation without appearing to return it. It was a harsh reminder that no matter how sweet and cute Theo was with me behind closed doors, he wasn’t mine to claim.

  “It’s beautiful today,” Amie said with brilliant eyes and a wide smile. She looked between Reggie and me. “Let’s take our lunch outside.”

  A few other dancers accompanied us to
the concrete steps in front of Gravity. As we unpacked our lunches—mine a selection of cold cuts and cheese slices from Theo’s refrigerator—a flash of white and leather caught my eye. My chest tightened before I looked up to see them, Winter and Theo, dashing down the stairs and toward his black Ferrari. My heart sank when he opened the door for her and glanced up at the lot of us on the stairs, his eyes connecting with mine.

  I looked away first, hating the way my chest ached, knowing this was what we’d agreed to. This was our reality. Me, the background dancer he’d secretly opened his home and his bed to, and him, the famous choreographer with a superstar on his arm. It didn’t matter that he murmured sweet words against my lips last night as he drove inside me or fed me bites of grilled cheese from his plate at dinner. Because in this moment, hearing the rev of the familiar engine before it drove away and listening to the crew whispering about the hot sex Winter and Theo were surely having, my reality was my burden to bear.

  And I’d do it alone.

  CHAPTER 42

  Theo

  Lights from the fireplace flickered against the wall as a wave of heat washed the air. Lex looked beautiful with her hair knotted loosely at the top of her head and tendrils of blond framing her heart-shaped face. She wore a thin gray sweater that fell off her shoulder, revealing bare silky skin I’d quickly become infatuated with.

  I was falling for her.

  The thought hit me hard today when I walked into Gravity and saw her dance. It was so much like the first time I watched her audition, except this time, she wasn’t an amateur dancer with stars in her eyes. She was the best damn presence in my life. But she had a dream—a dream that I would ultimately be responsible for destroying if anyone were to find out what we were doing.

  I couldn’t let that happen.