by Alexis Daria
She shook her head and he shut up. Her hand dropped from her mouth, and he saw the beginnings of a smile.
“I’m just shocked because . . . this makes so much sense. All the questions I asked my TV—or Natasha—while watching episodes of Living Wild make sense now.” Excitement shone in her gaze. “Where did you live, if not in that hut?”
He shrugged, then spread his arms wide. “In the Glacier Valley Inn.”
“Shut the front door.” She let out a delighted laugh and clapped her hands. “For real?”
“Yep. It’s the worst-kept secret in town.”
“I love hearing behind-the-scenes gossip like this. So, wait, none of this stuff is true?”
She was handling this better than he could have expected. “I mean, we stay out there sometimes, if we’re filming at night. We still build and haul stuff around.”
It was a relief to finally have someone know the truth, and even better that it was Gina. He’s been so worried about her reaction.
“I feel like I’m meeting you for the first time.”
He swallowed. “I wanted to tell you. I hate lying. It’s why I’m terrible at interviews. I’m scared I’m going to slip up. My family . . . the show offered a package deal. All nine Nielsons, or no show. I had to join.”
“I understand.” She laced her fingers behind his neck. “So, who are you, Stone Nielson? If that’s even your real name.”
He chuckled and rested his hands on her hips. “It is. My parents really are crazy nature lovers, and Nielson is Swedish.”
“I want to know all about you.” She smiled up at him. “I was watching your show to try to understand you better, but now, I can just ask.”
“I feel like myself for the first time in . . . years,” he admitted. “I had to cut ties with all my friends when we started the show.”
Her eyebrows dipped in compassion. “That must have been hard.”
“It was.” He tugged on his beard. “I didn’t have this before the show started. Or the long hair.”
Her eyes sparkled. “I want to see pictures.”
“I have a few. Not a ton, since the fire that destroyed my family’s home is a true story. I just wasn’t living there at the time. I was in Juneau.”
“Doing what?”
“Working. I was an engineer for a construction company. I quit to join the show.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Why does that sound so hot? Maybe because I’m picturing you in a toolbelt and nothing else.”
He touched his forehead to hers. “That can be arranged. I do own a few toolbelts.”
He kissed her, tasting passion and heat. Telling her the truth eased the weight he’d been carrying since Living Wild hit TV. They were still from different worlds, and they still had a dance competition to win, but maybe they could figure out the mess reality TV had made of their lives and find some kind of happy ending.
And maybe his mother’s nosy question wouldn’t end up in the behind-the-scenes package.
The truth seemed to have unlocked something in Gina, too. She clung to him, kissing him hungrily and gripping handfuls of his hair. Her mouth was warm and tasted of ginger. She was desperate for him and he couldn’t deny her anything. He grabbed her ass, molding her tight against him, and she moaned.
A soft noise had his eyes flicking open just in time to see the lens of a camera disappearing before the door to the ballroom shut without a sound.
His body tensed, but Gina was still kissing him. She hadn’t noticed.
In the split-second that followed, Stone decided not to tell her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Donna’s office was tiny. Stone sat on the folding chair and hunched his shoulders, trying to take up less space.
Tapping a pen on the edge of her desk, Donna raised her dark eyebrows in invitation.
Stone fought the urge to fidget. Donna’s direct gaze and silence unnerved him. But he was here for a reason. He had to know if she knew about the kiss.
“Have you gone over the footage from Alaska yet?” he asked.
Without taking her eyes off him, she nodded. “Most of it, anyway.”
Stone scratched the back of his head. A nervous tell, but he couldn’t help it. “I guess you saw our rehearsal at the inn.”
Again, Donna nodded. Her expression didn’t change.
“Are you planning to air it?”
Now, a cold, calculating smile spread across Donna’s face. “Of course I am. Jordy interfered the last time you two gave me something good.”
Fuck. “Is there anything I could say to persuade you not to air it?”
“No.”
“It will really upset Gina.”
“Gina knows this business. Nothing stays secret here.” Donna tilted her head. “Are you going to tell her?”
That was the big question, wasn’t it? The one he’d been grappling with since they’d left Alaska. There had been plenty of opportunities to come clean, but he’d convinced himself that he was wrong about what he’d seen. No point in upsetting Gina over something unconfirmed.
Now he knew the truth. Donna knew, and she was going to air the footage.
If he told Gina, she’d be hurt. Sad. She’d pull away from him again. It might affect their dancing, and they were so close to the end. Gina had to make it to the finals. And he wanted them to win.
“You told Gina you’ll fire her if she doesn’t make it to the finals.”
“I did.” Donna shrugged. “I like Gina. She’s been assigned to me since she joined the show. I want her to win. But even if she makes the finals, nothing is guaranteed.”
Stone narrowed his eyes. “What would guarantee her spot next season?”
“I think you know.”
“First place.” He asked the question he didn’t want to know the answer to. “Do you really think this footage, this storyline, will help Gina win?”
“I’ve thought that since the beginning. It’s why we paired her with you.” She dropped the pen onto her desk and folded her hands. “Look. I’m not the enemy here. You, Dwayne, and Twyla were my charges. I’d hoped Natasha and Dwayne would be the showmance backup if Gina refused, but Natasha’s screwing someone else on the cast, and Dwayne was never a good enough dancer to take the trophy. You’re the only one left. I want you to win, to beat Lauren and Kevin. I’ll never hear the end of it from Kevin’s producer if he wins again.”
“And you think showing a clip of me kissing Gina will make us win?”
“I know it will. The viewers love a story with a happy ending. You have four dances left in the entire show. The data proves you could screw up at least one and still win, provided you have the viewer votes.”
It wasn’t how Gina wanted to win. But at this point, wasn’t it more important to make sure she did? Her career was on the line, and it meant more to her than anything else.
He’d started this journey for the money, and while he stood to take home a good chunk of change for winning, the money meant less to him than Gina getting what she wanted. What she deserved.
Gina deserved to win.
Besides, Donna had the footage, and she’d already been thwarted once. She wasn’t the kind of person to let it happen again.
His options were to either tell Gina about it, or not.
They still had a week left to perfect two high-intensity dances. There was nothing they could do to stop Donna, and Gina didn’t need the extra pressure. She was already stressed. If a few minor paparazzi photos had thrown her into a frenzy, he couldn’t imagine how actual kiss footage would affect her.
That settled it. He wouldn’t tell her. Besides, she’d gone to Donna about the tabloid photos on her own, without involving him. This was the same thing.
The clock was winding down. Their time as partners would soon come to an end. Maybe having their relationship out in the open would help them be honest about it themselves, and they could figure out where they were going.
Gina would get it. She’d understand he was sparing her the stress, and trying to
help them win.
Still, he left Donna’s office with a sick feeling in his gut.
* * *
Stone paced during the behind-the-scenes package playing before their pro’s-choice contemporary dance. After two weeks of practicing for the semi-finals, he wanted them over with.
“We’ve never danced first before,” he said in a low voice.
Gina grinned. “Sometimes it’s nice to get it out of the way and enjoy watching everyone else. But we still have another dance tonight, if you want to obsess over that.”
He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The stripper dance.”
She covered her mouth to suppress a giggle. “It’s boylesque. Based on a movie. It’s burlesque, but done by dudes.”
“I take my clothes off for the delight of a room full of people. It’s stripping.”
“Ain’t nothing wrong with some honest work.”
On the large screen above them, they relived Gina meeting the Nielsons. Then his mother’s voice echoed through the ballroom.
“What’s going on with you and Gina?”
Next to him, Gina froze.
His answer, spoken by his image on the giant screen. “We’re dance partners.”
Maybe they’d leave it at that. Please, god, let it be left at that.
In his arms, Gina began to tremble.
The image changed: his mother, indoors at the Glacier Valley Inn, in the room where Living Wild filmed their interviews.
“I think there’s something going on there.” She touched the side of her nose and gave the camera a knowing nod. “I’m his mother. I can always tell.”
Gina gasped. “What—?”
“Shh. Don’t watch.”
Her eyes flickered in the reflected light from the screen as she stared at him. “Don’t watch?”
On the screen, his worst nightmare unfolded, the one he’d been expecting for the last two weeks. He and Gina, in the makeshift rehearsal room in the Glacier Valley Inn. Kissing.
Now, she shook in his arms, eyes glued to the screen. When she turned to him, devastation was written all over her face.
“Stone?” Her voice was a hoarse rasp. “Did you know?”
A chill settled into his bones, and a cold sweat broke out over his skin.
He’d made the wrong choice.
If he told her the truth now, it would very likely crush whatever was budding between them. But if he lied, it would be crushed anyway.
Truth, then.
“When I spotted the camera, it was already too late. I didn’t want to upset you.”
She didn’t reply. Just covered her eyes with her hands and took a step away from him.
“Gina—”
“Don’t.” She held up a hand to stop him. The other remained over her eyes, shielding her from him. “Don’t say anything. I need a second.”
His heart twisted, calling out for hers even as he held himself back, giving her the space she requested.
One of the stage managers approached tentatively. “Um . . . it’s time.”
Gina dropped her hands. Her eyes were clear, her face wiped clean of expression. She took Stone’s hand and met his eyes briefly. “Let’s kick this dance’s ass.”
They took their marks.
The music started, melancholy and dark. A man’s voice, haunting and compelling, rose over it. Gina danced in the spotlight until Stone strode toward her and hauled her against him. She struggled in his arms. It was part of the choreography, but with every move they made, his heart sank further.
Gina slipped a piece of rope over his arm and threw herself out of his grasp. When they came together again, it was the same. Throughout the dance, they came together and fell apart, and each time Gina added another piece of the harness that would lift him into the air. Each rope felt like the weight of familial expectations.
Each time she ran away from him, it felt like the end.
More dancers appeared from the shadows, throwing more loops of rope around his arms and legs. They pulled, tugging him backward as he strained toward Gina, who danced in the light.
The music began its crescendo. Stone took a step with his right leg. The ropes fell away. Another step. His legs were free. When the music reached its peak, he flexed his arms and all the ropes not attached to his harness snapped.
Running across the dance floor, he leaped, and the harness lifted him. He hit his moves in midair, spinning and swinging. When his feet touched the floor, he pulled Gina against him. The ropes lifted them, and they performed the midair routine they hadn’t gotten to practice as much as he would have liked.
During camera blocking, when he’d voiced his concerns—namely that Gina wouldn’t be wearing a harness, and he was the only thing keeping her suspended—she had smiled warmly at him and told him three words that struck him to the core.
“I trust you.”
He held her now, as they struggle-danced in the air. As close as they were physically, there was a new distance between them that hadn’t been there before.
He wanted to speak, to say, “Gina, I’m sorry,” but he was worried about dropping her. She was a professional and she hadn’t done a step wrong through the whole dance. If he spoke, it might break the spell. It might break the brittle concentration evident in the strain around her eyes.
After all this time, and as close as they’d become, he’d gotten to know her well. She was holding it together because it was her job, because she took dance more seriously than anything else, and because this was the semi-finals.
Inside, she was breaking.
I trust you, she’d said.
Not anymore.
He didn’t drop her. They performed the sequence perfectly. When the ropes lowered them, the music slowed. Crouching together on the floor, Gina turned to him and undid every piece of the harness. The ropes rose into the air and disappeared.
The dance told a story of breaking free of the bonds that tied you to the person you used to be. For Stone, during rehearsal, it symbolized his feelings about his family. After visiting them with Gina, he could no longer ignore the dissatisfaction and suffocation of being part of Living Wild. Of being stuck as one of nine. Of being labeled the quiet one.
He’d found his voice with Gina. He’d remembered who he was.
When the ropes were gone, Gina scurried out of the spotlight. Stone got to his feet, head tucked and arms pulled in tight. As the last bars played, he threw his arms out in triumph. The spotlight winked out, leaving the entire ballroom in darkness.
He held the pose for a second, breathing hard. The dance was over. They’d sold it. But after the footage earlier, there’d be consequences to pay.
The lights came back on and Gina joined him to walk to the judges’ table. She said, “Good job,” but wouldn’t meet his eyes.
A sick feeling spread through his belly and compressed his chest. When they finished a dance, it usually left him energized and elated, and they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.
Tonight, nerves conquered every other feeling. He’d fucked up. Royally.
Juan Carlos was waiting for them. He was smiling, but there was a flicker of apprehension in his eyes.
“That was intense,” Juan Carlos said once they’d joined him. “Stone, I’m surprised you’re not suffering from rope burn.”
Stone shrugged and swiped a hand over his bare chest. “A little.”
“All right, let’s hear from the judges.” Juan Carlos turned to the judges without any more jokes. “Mariah, we’ll start with you.”
The judges’ comments washed over him. Next to him, Gina nodded and smiled, so the critique must have been positive. It was all he could do not to interrupt the entire broadcast by dropping to his knees and begging her forgiveness.
Backstage, Reggie waited for them in the Sparkle Parlor. Natasha was there, having been one of the dancers to assist during their number. She grabbed Gina and gave her a big hug. A few of the other pros gathered around to compliment them on the dance.
It was customary, to congratulate and hug right after a couple came off the dance floor. Still, it was hard to miss the way Gina’s smile turned brittle at the attention. Stone made eye contact with Jackson, who raised an eyebrow. Kevin sent him a hard look before turning away.
“Gina, Stone, over here,” Reggie called, gesturing for them to join her in front of the camera. Screens behind her replayed their dance without sound. “Come on over.”
They moved to their places. When Stone put his arm around Gina, she let him. That was something, at least.
Reggie leaned in with her microphone and a big smile. The blue streaks in her hair glimmered in the bright lights. “That was some interesting footage, huh? Anything you two want to tell us?”
Gina tensed, but kept up her easy smile. “Nothing to tell. It was part of the choreography we decided to scrap.”
“Stone, how about you? Any juicy gossip you want to share?”
He shrugged. “When in Alaska, do as the Alaskans do.”
Reggie blinked. “I don’t even know what that means, but I believe you. Let’s get your scores.”
A giant ninety-four percent flashed on the screen. Backstage, everyone clapped. Reggie turned back to the camera. “Gina and Stone have a ninety-four. They have another chance tonight to earn more points with their combo dance, but they still need your votes. Don’t forget to visit our website.” She gave the rest of the info, and a few seconds later, the stage manager indicated they were done.
Tucking the microphone under her arm, Reggie took Gina’s hands in hers. “I’m so sorry. They told me I had to ask that.”
“I know.” Gina squeezed Reggie’s hands. “It’s okay.”
Natasha appeared behind them. “I’m stealing her for a minute.” She put her arm around Gina and hustled her out of the Sparkle Parlor.
Kevin sidled up to Stone once the women were gone. “You’ve got Donna, right?”
“Yeah, and Jordy.”
“Jordy’s good, but he doesn’t have as much power. Donna, though.” Kevin shook his head. “Fucking Donna. I used to have her. After I won the second time, I requested a switch. They let me have it, since I threatened to quit otherwise.”
Stone didn’t say anything. Someone called Kevin’s name. He slapped Stone on the back in a good-natured way. “Just get through the next dance, man. Only one more episode left.”
