I stood and instead of answering said, “Nice of you to show up.”
Colton cleared his throat. “I had work. I told you that already.”
“You could’ve at least washed your hands,” Kyle said, eyeing the oil stains.
“I did,” Colton said. “Three times. Trust me, they’re clean.”
“Whatever you say,” Kyle muttered.
“Hey man, I don’t even want to be here, so if you’re going to give me grief—”
“No,” I said, holding my hands up between them. Our first practice wasn’t going well at all. Time to salvage this. “No, it’s fine. We’re all here now. It’s all good. We’ve got less than two weeks until the video deadline, so let’s get started.”
Colton coughed, shrugged then dropped into the seat next to Kyle. Twins or not, seeing them side-by-side like this really made their differences undeniable. Colton sat slouched, his arms stretched across the top of the sofa, looking unimpressed, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Kyle, on the other hand, was leaning forward, eyes bright and eager to go.
“So, what’s the plan, Sadie?” Kyle asked.
Taking a deep breath, I said, “Well, I feel like the only way I even have a shot at getting picked for Dancer’s Edge is to create something so strong, so edgy, so passionate they can’t deny it. And it has to be unique. That’s where you two come in.”
Colton sniffed, but Kyle nodded for me to continue.
“I figure there’s no way they can overlook the twin aspect,” I said, gesturing between the two of them.
“And the gorgeous aspect,” Colton inserted, turning to Kyle while my cheeks flamed. “She thinks we’re gorgeous. Just thought you should know.”
“Who doesn’t?” Kyle said.
“Exactly,” Colton said with a grin as he and Kyle bumped fists.
“But that’s only the start,” I said quickly. Ugh, they were so full of themselves—and undeniably gorgeous, I thought, cheeks heating again as their attention came back to me. “The main thing is the tug of war between two opposites, light and dark, two men vying over the same woman, not knowing that she is the one in control, the one with all the power.”
“Sounds awesome,” Kyle said.
“Yeah, the song is amazing, and the dance I choreographed relies on passion and emotion. We’ll have to get the feeling just right, but if we do, there’s no way they can say no.”
Kyle was smiling and so was I…right up until Colton decided to open his big mouth.
“And what happens if they do?” he said.
“What?” I asked, my face falling.
He looked at me then. “What happens if they say no again? Let’s be honest, Sadie. You don’t have the best track record with these people.”
“Colt, you are such an ass,” Kyle sighed.
“No, I’m a realist,” he said back. “I just want to know why you’re putting all your faith in them instead of yourself.” My brow scrunched as he pulled something out of his pocket. His copy of my list, I realized. From it, he read aloud, “Number 3 on Sadie’s Naughty List, and I quote, ‘Be featured on Dancer’s Edge—or get a million views LOL whichever comes first.’”
With that, he lowered the paper, his gaze meeting mine.
“I figure we should try for the million views.”
I scoffed, couldn’t help it, but Colton didn’t seem to hear.
“All you have to do is post a video online and go viral,” he said. “Easy, right?”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Oh yeah, super easy. Great idea, Colton. Tell me the part about you being a realist again.”
“Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?”
“More than a hint,” I said. “Do you know how difficult it is to make a video go viral?”
“It can’t be that hard.”
I stared at him. Was he really that oblivious? “I’ve posted exactly five videos of my dances. Do you know how many followers I have?”
Colton shrugged. “I don’t know. 50?”
“Try four,” I said as he flinched. “Do you know how many views those videos have gotten?”
“Under a thousand,” he said.
“Um, under one hundred—” I waited a beat then added “—combined. Kyle back me up.”
Kyle was shaking his head. “She’s not lying, Colt. I’m one of the four followers.”
“Yes, and the others are my mom, dad, and Betty,” I said. “They’ve always been super supportive.”
Colton refolded the paper, put it back in his pocket, then said, “Well, it’s a start. And I bet if you tagged the videos, used the metadata or whatever-you-call-it, and let more people know about it, they would watch, and their friends would watch, and it would all take off from there.”
I shook my head, arms crossed. “You’re crazy.”
“It’s worth a shot, right?” he said and stood up. “So, which am I? The light or the dark?”
Kyle followed his lead and got to his feet while I gulped. So…we were really doing this. Wonderful.
“You’re dark, and Kyle’s light,” I said and despite my nervousness, I laughed. “Seemed to fit your personalities pretty well.”
“Okay, Colt, broody, no fun, dark,” Kyle said while his brother rolled his eyes. “Me, awesome, the best, and light. Got it. What next?”
“Well, next you have to get the look down.”
“Huh?”
Both guys tilted their head exactly the same way at the same time, and it was so stinking cute, I barely held in a sigh. Getting it back together, I tried to put my thoughts into words.
“The dynamics between us is all about UST,” I said, then seeing their blank expressions, I tried again. “You know, unresolved sexual tension? Anyway, the way you look at me needs to convey wanting and aggression. It is a tango after all. And maybe even a hint of frustration.”
I finished with a quick intake of breath as Colton took a step closer, his eyes giving me everything I’d just asked for and more. I felt his stare down to my toes.
“That won’t be a problem,” he said.
“Wanting, aggression, frustration,” Kyle repeated. “Got it. What else?”
Rolling my shoulders back, I said, “Then we need to work on the actual choreography and telling the story, of course. A lot of it has to do with proximity. We need to get comfortable being close to each other.”
Without me giving them direction, Colton erased the distance between us, stopping inches away from my face, and Kyle moved around to my back.
“This close enough?” Colton murmured, still giving me that look.
“Mmhmm,” I breathed. “Now, Kyle put your right hand on my waist.”
“Like this?” Kyle asked.
“Yes, and Colton, put your left hand on the other side.” I’d had no reaction to Kyle’s touch, but I nearly jolted out of my skin as Colton’s palm brushed against the curve of my waist. “And I’ll take your other hand with my left, put my right hand on your shoulder. Kyle, you put your left hand on my shoulder. And this is—” I cleared my suddenly dry throat “—our starting position. How do you guys feel?”
“Awesome,” Kyle said.
Colton’s fingers pressed into my side. “It’s not awful,” he said. “What happens now?”
And so it went.
Our first practice went well despite the rough start. Better than well. It was great actually. Besides Colton’s gruff complaints now and again, Kyle’s struggle to keep a straight face when he had to give me “the look,” and me almost having an asthma attack every time Colton touched me, everything went much better than expected. We spent about three hours learning the first minute of the piece, but the guys were getting it. With their natural rhythm, they caught on quicker than I could’ve hoped. We’d need a few more practices, but I left feeling good.
Before I went to bed, I checked Dancer’s Edge to see if they’d added any new videos (they hadn’t) then went to check my YouTube Channel. I wasn’t expecting anything—it was done completely out of habit—but I
noticed something right away.
I had a new follower.
After months and months of being stuck at four, my follower count now read five.
Eyes widening, I checked my notifications and was surprised to see that “Colton247” was now following my videos. It shouldn’t have made me smile the way that it did. It definitely shouldn’t have had any effect on my chest which felt all fluttery and warm. The conversation I’d had with Kyle before Colton joined us in the studio replayed in my mind, and recalling my words from earlier, I shook my head.
It would be really stupid of me to fall for Colton Bishop.
Yeah, I thought, I would be pretty stupid to fall for Colton Bishop. Unfortunately, my head and heart were not on the same page where he was concerned.
And my heart was a fool.
“How’s the life makeover going, Sadie?”
Betty was sitting across from me at one of the many tables here at Shady Grove. We were having our five o’clock tea. Cora was there, too, sipping her Earl Grey. So much had happened that I didn’t really know where to start, but I gave it a shot anyway.
“It’s going,” I said. “There are only four more items left to do, but they won’t be easy.”
Cora took another sip of tea then said, “Only four? Well, that’s just wonderful. And your coach? How’s he doing?”
“Yes, dear sweet Colton,” Betty smiled. “How is our boy?”
“He’s good,” I said, trying not to blush. I didn’t think Colton would appreciate being called “dear” or “sweet” since he was neither. But Colton could fight his own battles, as he’d proven once again today. “He got into another fight at school, punched a boy right in the face, nearly knocked his teeth out. Though the guy deserved it,” I muttered.
“Well now,” Betty said, leaning forward, “I must hear more. What was this fight about?”
“Did the other boy get any hits in?” Cora asked.
I shrugged. “He tried. But Colton was upset—and absolutely in the right this time.”
Remembering the scene I’d walked in on, I grimaced. Kyle and Zayne were at Kyle’s locker—where I’d been headed—and Billy was there, too. He’d apparently seen something, some sign of affection, between the other two guys and couldn’t resist being a jerk.
“Damn Z,” Billy said. “If I’d known you swung that way, I would’ve covered myself up in the shower.”
Zayne for his part rolled his eyes. “Not much to cover, my friend.”
Kyle grinned at this, but Billy was not amused.
“What are you smiling about queer?” he said to Kyle. “Your brother’s not here now. I could jack you up, and even your boyfriend here wouldn’t say a word. It’s against team policy. Never rat out a teammate.”
Zayne slowly shook his head. “I don’t know about that. Pretty sure bullying’s against team policy, too.”
“So, you’re taking his side over mine?” Billy scoffed.
“Yeah,” Zayne said. “I am.”
“You don’t have to stick up for me,” Kyle said. “I can handle him.”
“But you shouldn’t have to.”
Billy hooted out a laugh, and it wasn’t a pretty sound. “You’re just gonna stand there and pretend like you didn’t make fun of him and his uptight girlfriend along with the rest of us? Wow, Z. That’s real big of you.”
“Some of us evolve,” Zayne said. “And some of us stay assholes forever. Guess which camp you’re in, Billy.”
“Yeah right.” Billy looked to Kyle who seemed to be bracing himself. “Do you know what we used to say about you?”
That was my cue to step in, but before I could make it, Colton said “I got this, Sadie,” shot past me and into the fray, placing himself between Billy and the other two.
“What’s going on here?” he asked.
“It was a running team joke,” Billy said, ignoring Colton, not taking his eyes off Kyle. “If your brother wasn’t always there to defend you, we would’ve settled it a hundred times over.”
“Maybe you need another warning, Billy boy,” Colton said menacingly.
Billy either didn’t hear or didn’t care at this point.
“We always wondered,” he said, taking a step forward, “why you two hung out with a girl like Sadie. I mean, she’s no prize to look at. She doesn’t party or mess around. But then we figured, you and your brother must be hitting that. It was the only thing that made sense.”
I gasped, couldn’t help it. His words were so vile. Billy glanced from me to Colton, who looked like his head was about to explode. But my mind was having trouble processing it all. So, people had actually been saying this behind our backs? Colton knew, and that was why he… This was why he got in fights all the time? And what did Billy mean first saying I was uptight then implying I would…with both… God, some people really were disgusting.
With a hateful smirk, Billy said, “You want to settle this for us, Colton? You guys take turns or what?”
Colton went at him then, and it was as if someone threw a switch. He wasn’t holding back. Billy was on the floor, his mouth a bloody mess, before I could draw my next breath. Colton looked like he wanted to kill him, and I wasn’t sure what to do. Kyle and Zayne were frozen, looking on as if they couldn’t believe what was happening, watching as the two boys punched and rolled. So, I did the only thing I knew would break up the fight.
“You pulled the fire alarm?” Betty said.
I nodded, taking a much needed and welcome sip of my tea. “It seemed like the only thing I could do.”
“Good girl,” Betty praised. “That was some quick thinking on your part. I’m sure Colton would’ve beaten the daylights out of that despicable Billy, but you did the right thing.”
“I don’t know,” I muttered.
“And then,” Cora said, her eyes expectant. “What happened after that?”
What happened after was what made me uncertain.
“They both got written up and sent home,” I said. “But it wasn’t Colton’s fault. He was just defending Kyle and me.”
Betty sighed. “I knew I liked him.”
“Me, too,” Cora agreed.
They weren’t the only ones, I thought. The way something inside my chest fluttered whenever I thought of Colton indicated some serious like-age on my part.
“And those four leftover things,” Cora asked, shooting Betty a conspiratorial glance, “do they by chance include any of the kissing items, or are those all complete?”
I pretended to be very interested in my tea, and Betty laughed.
“Oh, I’d say by the silent treatment, those were done well indeed,” she said knowingly. “I can’t even remember the last time I blushed like that. It must’ve been back when I dated Dean Deville. He was Old Hollywood, Sadie, the up-and-coming director at the time, and oh, one heck of a kisser. Ooh, the lips on that boy. They were full and lush—much like your Colton’s.”
“Holy smokes,” I mumbled, trying desperately not to think of Colton’s mouth—and failing. “Can we not talk about this, please?”
“Whatever you’d like, dear.”
Cora and Betty tittered while I gathered my wits. Brows furrowed, I said, “Did you say up-and-coming director? Betty, I haven’t heard this story yet.”
“Oh, I’d wager there’s a lot you haven’t heard,” Cora said. “Betty had a string of beaus back in the day, and they were all well-known, award-winning, something-or-others. And she helped each and every one of them get there. Her makeup skills were the things of Hollywood legend.”
“Really?” I said, intrigued.
Cora nodded. “She basically had her own fan club back then. Bet a lot of them still remember.”
“I have kept in touch and do have several of their numbers,” Betty said coyly. “It’s nice to reminisce with good friends.”
“Or past lovers,” Cora mumbled to which Betty nudged her side.
“I just loved making whoever it was look their best on camera.” Betty held up her tea to me in a
toast. “It was my delight.”
The conversation made an idea bloom fully in my head. Before I gave it much thought, I heard myself say, “Hey, Betty?”
“Yes, dear?”
“I was hoping to ask you for a favor.”
Betty nodded. “Well, go right ahead. Is this about your list? Because you know I would do anything to help you.”
“It is,” I said. “We’re going to be shooting a video, probably next week, of one of my dances, and I was wondering…well, if you wouldn’t mind, I know it’s not the Oscars or anything…but would you be willing to do my makeup for me?”
Betty put her cup aside, one hand going to her chest, suddenly slumping over in her chair. Not going to lie, I freaked. I was up and beside her in two seconds flat.
“Betty,” I said urgently, “are you okay? Should I call a nurse?”
Cora seemed to be holding her breath as well.
But when Betty looked up, she was smiling as bright as the sun.
“Sadie, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that very question?” she said, voice quivering with elation.
“Geez,” I said, “don’t scare us like that.”
“I wasn’t scared,” Cora said and took another quick sip of her tea. “I’ve just been waiting for the old hag to croak so I could finally get a crack at her dress collection.”
Betty sniffed. “As if they would fit your tiny frame.”
“Oh, I’d make them fit.”
“Oh Sadie.” Betty’s eyes were on me once more. “I’ll start drawing up a color palette tonight. Do you know what you’re going to wear yet?”
I shook my head.
“Well, let me know when you do. Though with your coloring I’d definitely go with something in the red family. It would look so divine. I’ll have to get out all my brushes and eyeshadows, lipsticks, foundations and concealers for sure—”
“Betty, you really don’t have to do all that,” I said. “I think some blush and a little darker gloss would be just fine.”
Betty cut me a swift glance. Her smile was sweet as sugar, but her eyes were steel.
“Sadie, now don’t you worry about a thing,” she said and gave my hand a pat. “You just leave all the makeup concerns to me, and everything will go right with your production. It will be my finest hour.”
The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad Page 19
