by K. K. Allen
Anger blew through me as I stalked onto the dance floor, slithering past dancers until Reggie and Lex were in front of me. I reached for her hand, tugged her toward me, then gestured for her to move away.
“Something bothering you, boss?” Reggie’s eyes were filled with amusement and challenge.
“Just making sure you remember to behave yourself.”
“Oh yeah? What’s it to you?” He cocked a brow.
“Don’t make me spell it out for you. If I catch you getting handsy with my dancers again, I will break you.”
Reggie’s eyes moved over his shoulder to Lex. She was watching us, her eyes wide and anxious. “Lex doesn’t seem to mind my hands”—he winked—“if you know what I mean.”
My fists curled at my sides. “Watch yourself, Reg. You never know when karma’s gonna swoop in and fuck with you.” I clapped him on the back and gave his shoulder a squeeze, adding some pressure to drive my point home. “Consider this a warning.”
He threw my hand off with a shake and stepped up to me, so close I could smell the onions he’d eaten at lunch. “You really just float through life on your cloud of ignorance, don’t you, Noska? I don’t believe in karma. When I want something, I’ll do whatever it takes to get it.”
“Yeah?” My chest filled with dynamite, two seconds from lighting up. “How’s that working for you? How’s your bonus track?”
I shouldn’t have antagonized him. I should have gotten Lex the hell away from him and left with her. Fuck the consequences.
His eyes narrowed. “Winter told you?” He looked over my shoulder and curled his lip. “That bitch.”
Explosions went off inside me. I could barely see through the smoke. “It wasn’t Winter’s call. For Christ’s sake, she was trying to throw you a bone and give you the shot you’ve been crying about.” I shook my head. “If you ever wonder why you’re still stuck where you are, maybe you should look back on this moment. The moment you called the one woman who’s been looking out for you a bitch. Maybe then it’ll sink into your brain. It takes more than great choreography to make it in this industry. It takes people skills, which I’m afraid you just don’t have.”
He moved in, so close his toes jammed into mine. “Everyone knows you screwed your way to the top, Noska. You think you’re above the rules? You’re not.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
He puffed his chest and tilted his head as though considering his words, a rarity for Reggie. “Just stay out of my way. Try to stop me and I’ll defend myself the only way I know how, the way of the streets, brother. You remember what that was like?” His top lip curled. “No, you probably don’t. Let me tell you. I’ll burn you, motherfucker. Until you’re as good as a pile of ash, like your dead girlfriend.”
All I saw was red and not the red from Lex’s dress. Everything slowed around me—time, the bass booming from the surrounding speakers, the crew spotting our argument and freezing while they watched us. He knew. I didn’t know how. But he knew the real reason Mallory had died. Because of me.
A gleam appeared in his eyes when he saw my expression. He knew he’d just hit me where it hurt most.
Suddenly, everything around us blurred except for Reggie—my target. I lost sight of the Ravens standing around us with shock and fear in their eyes. I didn’t hear Winter and Alison running up behind us and shrieking for us to calm the fuck down. Nothing was going to stop me from serving Reggie my fist for dinner.
I reeled back with my right hand and clocked him so hard he fell back into a group of dancers. Blood rushed through my veins as I shook off the fog of rage.
Reggie popped up from the floor and ran for me, his elbow cocking back on the way. I didn’t move. I would have let him hit me. And I wouldn’t have fallen down like a pussy, like him. But Winter’s bodyguards were on him and pulling him away before he could throw a single punch.
“You’re gonna be fucking sorry, Noska.” He thrashed his arms in an attempt to free himself from the grips of the men. “Just wait.” He let out a belligerent laugh. “Just wait.”
CHAPTER 57
Lex
I spent the weekend in tears, my heart heavy. Amie accompanied me in our veg-out session. With opening night less than a week away, we should have been watching our figures, but I would have done anything to take my mind off the drama that went down at Tao.
Reggie was acting crazy, which caused Theo to act crazy. Winter was pissed. And now the entire group of Ravens was making assumptions about exactly what was going on. Sure, the bonus track got pulled. I lost my feature. Reggie lost his opportunity. And there would be last-minute changes to the show. But now everyone was convinced there was a love triangle between Theo, Reggie, and Winter.
It made me sick.
I was avoiding Theo when I knew I shouldn’t, but I needed my space to sort through the craziness of all that had transpired over the last few weeks. It all seemed to be happening so fast, and I hadn’t had a moment to myself to breathe through it.
There was a knock at the door, and I jumped. Amie tossed off her covers and laughed when she saw my expression. “Relax, Lex. It’s probably our pizza.” She jumped out of bed, walked around the corner, and opened the door.
Whispered voices caught my attention. My heart jumped into my throat when Amie popped around the corner with wide eyes. “Um, Lex, someone’s here to see you.”
Fuck. I sat up, looking around for the clothes I tossed before I climbed into bed for an early night. I was wearing only my sports bra and underwear. “Hold on.”
I just knew Theo was going to walk around the corner next, but when I looked up, I felt all the built-up emotion explode. “Shane!” My best friend stood there with a huge grin on his face. Tears sprang to my eyes, and relief flooded me all at once. I threw off the covers and took one leap from the bed and into his arms. And then I sobbed.
I didn’t hear Amie leave the room. She’d snuck out quietly at some point during my cry fest. “Damn, girl. You sounded like shit on the phone last night, but I had no idea.”
My breaths were staggered as I wiped my face and fell on the bed. I hadn’t told Shane everything yesterday, just that it was all becoming so real and that I needed him. He was planning to be here for our opening show in four days, but he must have decided to come earlier after our talk.
“It’s a shit show.”
“All because of the bonus track? Was Reggie basing his career on the hope someone would see one choreographed piece and shit themselves over it? No offense, Lex. I’m sure you danced it brilliantly, but Reggie seems to have a huge stick up his ass.” He lay back on the bed beside me. “Combined with this feud with Theo, I’m sure your partner routine is a disaster waiting to happen.”
I groaned. “The disaster did happen.”
Shane turned to me and crinkled his face. “I don’t understand. I get that it’s all overwhelming, but why do you care so much about their drama? Let Theo and Reggie have their cock war without you. You’re walking your own path.”
Then he saw my face, and his own reflected how transparent I was. He knew I was hiding something. “Lex, tell me.”
I sighed before taking a deep breath and blurting it out. I told him everything, from Theo asking me to help him in class, since I picked up his choreography the fastest, to the night Theo spotted me dancing and we wound up sharing a bed in the staff room. And then how it all evolved. I wanted him to know it wasn’t a fling, as we’d both planned for it to be. I wanted him to know that we’d been through the pain of trying to stay apart. I told him everything, leaving out Theo’s personal stories about Mallory and his relationship with Winter. Those bits of the story weren’t mine to tell.
“Shit, Lex.” His eyes were wide, and he shook his head after my hour’s worth of storytelling. I expected a lecture, a hard look to tell me to wake up and end it before I destroyed my career. I expected anything but the words that came out of his mouth next.
“You let Theodore Noska deflower you. I’m
so proud.”
And despite all the emotions that had been spinning within me, I laughed. I laughed hard as more tears streamed down my face, this time because I was thanking God Shane was with me.
“Can’t I call in sick?”
Amie, Shane, and I were on our way to the theater when I stopped near the entrance and halted in my tracks. I wasn’t ready to deal with any more drama. Theo and I hadn’t spoken, but we’d texted each other a few times yesterday. He knew I needed some space to clear my head, especially with opening night approaching.
“I bet it’s all died down.” Amie was trying to reassure me. “Besides, no one thinks that night had anything to do with you. Let’s just go in there and do our jobs.”
I turned to Shane, hoping he’d steal me away, give me the reprieve I’d been searching for, but he just shook his head. “I didn’t come here to save you, baby girl. I came to watch you fly. Get out there and get out of your head.”
I took a deep breath and moved past them, through the backstage door, past security, down the cement and brick-walled corridor, until we were in the dressing room with the rest of the Ravens.
Shane took off to find a seat in the audience while Amie and I found our costumes waiting for us on the rack. We stepped into our two-piece pleather outfits, booty shorts, and a vest that crisscrossed our chests in front, leaving our midriffs bare.
“Maybe we should have laid off the pizza and ice cream,” Amie teased as she twirled to check out her ass in the mirror.
I chuckled and smacked her stomach. “You look perfect. Let’s go.”
The Ravens were lining up on either side of the stage, then I saw Theo, a clipboard in his hands and a headset on. He was speaking into it when his eyes landed on me. Something somersaulted in my stomach. I missed him. I hated that we were back to this place, our careers threatened by feelings we couldn’t stop if we tried. We had tried.
He tore his eyes from mine without so much as a smile. But what did I expect? I was the one who’d been keeping my distance. And we both had a job to do.
“All right, Ravens. Five minutes. Find your places,” he yelled out.
Reggie passed me to enter the tunnel with Winter and threw me a look over his shoulder. I didn’t think he meant to see me, because when our eyes connected, surprise crossed his features, then something else I couldn’t quite make out—something that stirred like sludge in my gut.
“Lex, c’mon. Get your head in the game.” Theo came up beside me and placed a hand on my back. “Pretend this is the real deal.”
I looked at him, my eyes scanning his. Then I swallowed and nodded, forcing thoughts of Reggie to the back of my mind.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just—” I scanned the space around us, but too many people were within earshot. “Never mind.” I wanted to tell him something felt off, but I didn’t know why. My thoughts weren’t completely formed, so I didn’t know what to say.
He leaned in. “We’ll talk tonight. I have some news.” Then he smiled. “Good news.”
I took in a breath, surprised by the calm that washed over me at his words. “Okay.”
And then the five-second countdown to our entrance began.
I marched to the stage in time to the beat coming from the live band above us. A few dozen people were in the audience—show producers, set designers, investors—everyone who had anything to do with the production but who wasn’t part of the live show.
The adrenaline was insane as we all let go and performed as we would in just a few nights. To think that only one month ago we were at Gravity, stumbling through the routines without a full picture of how it would all come together, was incredibly rewarding.
The Ravens were all backstage during the only song where none of us were needed. We were changing into our fourth costume of the set. It was one of the few pieces where the audience would see us all onstage together.
“Hey, Lex,” Reggie said, approaching from behind. He was dancing beside me for this one.
Anxiety shot through me at his nearness. I knew he was drunk the other night, but I’d never known him to be truly aggressive until then. I hated that I saw him differently. “Hey.” I looked away, unable to hold his gaze for long.
“I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry about what happened at Tao.”
I looked at him again, thankful for his apology, but I knew our friendship would never be the same. “I’m sorry the bonus track isn’t happening. It was really great.”
He nodded, his jaw tense. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t you that pulled it. It was Theo’s decision. Dude’s had it out for me for years.”
“What?” My heart freefell into my stomach. “Why would you say that?”
Reggie laughed. “Ask your boy. He feels threatened, I guess. We go way back, Lex. And you should know, he’s not the guy you think he is. But he’ll get what’s coming to him. I’m just sorry you had to get caught in the middle.”
What the hell? “Reggie,” I started to remind him that it was the label’s decision to pull the song, but then I heard our cue to take the stage.
Was he threatening Theo? And why would he think I was caught in the middle? Because of the other night? Again, I felt I must be missing something.
That feeling didn’t last long.
We took our marks on the stage while the band transitioned out and the prerecorded interlude video faded in. It was supposed to be an interview Winter had recorded during our rehearsals at Gravity. It was a moment for her to introduce us individually to the audience. And then we’d have an eight count each to freestyle.
Almost as soon as the interview began to play on the big screen, the video faded out and cut to black.
All eyes were on the black screen as the image transitioned into a faint outline of the backstage area.
“Hey, turn that up,” Winter called out.
The faint noise grew louder, but once my eyes adjusted to what was playing on screen, I didn’t need to hear it for my heart to feel it was being squeezed to an early death.
I recognized the couple hiding among the stage props. Two silhouettes, in love, kissing, laughing, and whispering sweet words. And that was all anyone else should have been able to make out. Shadows. Outlines. But then the camera moved in closer. There we were, Theo and I, together in more ways than one. And someone had recorded it all.
My hand flew to my chest, and my eyes opened wide. Tears sprang to them, and if it weren’t for Amie’s hands landing on my shoulders, I might have fallen to the floor. I looked around, and the Ravens were in various states of shock, fury, and confusion as they realized what they were watching. Then all eyes turned to me.
“Cut the fucking video,” Theo shouted as he stormed onto the stage and pointed at the AV guys in the back of the room. “Cut it now.”
They did. But it was too late. Everyone had seen. Everyone knew. And my career was officially over before it had ever truly begun.
CHAPTER 58
Theo
I couldn’t find Lex anywhere. Not backstage, not in our room, not in her room. Nowhere. Shane had darted off to look for her before me. Now, I couldn’t find him either.
After our cover was destroyed by that video that no one fessed up to shooting, rehearsal was dismissed, but not before Lex disappeared backstage and Shane followed. Me? I was the idiot who went back to the venue to talk some sense into the furious Winter. She was seething—foaming from the mouth, practically—and once the dancers left, she tore into me.
“I fucking warned you,” she growled.
I knew there wouldn’t be an easy way out of this. “I can’t control some peeping asshole who stuck his camera where it didn’t belong.”
“How long have you been in this business? That’s exactly how this kind of thing works. You just had to have her, didn’t you? What makes Lex so goddamn special to you that you’d decide to fuck with my show?”
I shook my head and held up my hands. “No one had any intentions of fucking up your sh
ow. Well, I take that back. Whoever put up that video might want exactly that.”
A heat wave blew through me at the thought of someone invading our privacy and using it against us. When I thought of who might have done it, only one person came to mind. “It was Reggie.”
She shook her head, in complete denial.
“You know it too,” I tried again. “And how fucked up is that? He’s friends with Lex.”
“I don’t care who put up the video,” she screamed. “There wouldn’t have been a video if you had abided by the stupid contract. You know I don’t have a choice but to let Lex go now. I’ve already sent notice to her room. Her flight back to LA will be fully paid. But she’s got to go.”
My chest puffed as anger swirled through me. “You can’t let Lex go. Let me go. The choreography is done, anyway. I’ll step down from my producer role. The show starts in four days. You can’t lose a dancer now.”
Winter’s face was red. “I can do whatever the hell I want. How do you think it will look if she stays? Everyone signed that contract. Everyone knows the rules. I allow this one to slip, then the rest of the crew thinks they can get away with anything. This is a business, Theo. One you used to be very good at. You, better than anyone else, should understand the consequences of fucking with me.”
There was no reasoning with her. “Then I’m out too.”
She visibly shook. “You can’t leave,” she screamed as the tears brimmed from her eyes. “You would seriously turn your back on me? After everything we’ve been through together? After all the opportunities I’ve given you? Don’t forget who made you an instant celebrity ten years ago. What ever happened to gratitude? To loyalty?”
“What ever happened to free will, Winter, huh? You don’t own me. We were partners in all of this, but you fucked up the moment you decided to control my life.”
