Three Guilty Pleasures (Blindfold Club 6)

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Tara

Grant had told me one session, and I’d just wasted it with the wrong song choice. All the highs I experienced while dancing only made the crash to reality worse. I turned away from Elena and Grant and stared at the floor, not wanting them to see how upset I was. What the fuck was I going to do?

He rose from the folding chair, his voice soft. “It’s all right. We’ll figure it out.”

I hated how my eyes burned with tears. Three years ago, I’d closed the door on my dream, and with this audition I’d allowed myself to nudge it back open. I had one shot to prove I hadn’t wasted my life foolishly chasing after it.

I was supposed to stand on the stage and show my family that success wasn’t always judged by a paycheck or a job title. That art had just as much value as math and science.

I could feel Grant’s gaze burning into me, and I turned to meet it.

His expression was determination. “I can learn a new song.”

A breath burst from my body, making space for hope. “You’d do that?”

“Yeah.” His lips lifted in a soft smile. “Of course I would.”

My heart tripped over itself, and my knees went weak. I could barely stay upright in the onslaught of him. My words were a whisper. “Thank you.”

He nodded.

The noise in the front room grew as more students came in, and it pulled us from the moment we’d shared. I scrambled to come up with a plan.

“Pizza,” I announced abruptly. He looked at me like I was a crazy woman, and he wasn’t wrong. “Come to my place,” I said, “I’ll order pizza, and we can talk about it. I mean, pizza solves everything.”

“It does,” he opened his case and gently lowered the cello in, “but I have training from five to seven.”

For rugby. Like I needed a reminder of how insanely sexy he was. I readjusted. “After, then.”

He considered it and smiled. “I’ll be there around eight.”

I wasn’t a neat person. I didn’t always make my bed in the morning, sometimes I left dirty dishes to soak in the sink overnight, and I didn’t vacuum as often as I should. But it didn’t take me too long to tidy up before Grant’s arrival.

I had a laundry basket of clean clothes that never got folded, and as I hid it in the closet, I listened to Brad and Hector above me as they discussed their day. There’d been drama at Hector’s job—two of his coworkers had been caught screwing in a vacant office behind a stack of old desktop computers. He told it like it was scandalous, and it made me giggle.

If only they knew what I did for a living.

I frowned. I still needed to tell Grant.

And I had no idea how he was going to react. What if I told him and he freaked? I liked him and didn’t want him to vanish on me. Thinking about it made me nauseated.

While I waited for his arrival, I flopped down on the couch in my living room, tucking my legs underneath myself, and searched YouTube for new song ideas. Elena had been right. The Coldplay song was beautiful, but it didn’t show off my personality, and that was just as important as dance technique if I wanted to make it as a contestant on Dance Dreams.

It was just after eight when Grant arrived. He must have showered after his practice because his hair was styled, and he had on jeans and a nicer sweater. Like he’d made an effort.

I’d touched up my makeup, but my clothes were casual. My jeans hugged low across my hips and rolled at the ankles, and I wore a tight black tank top. It ended below my waist and showed off a band of skin above my jeans, and as he stepped into my apartment, his gaze went from it to my cleavage. I quirked my mouth into a half-smile. Was I showing too much skin for him, or just the right amount?

“Hi,” I said. “Come on in.”

“Hey.” He stepped across the threshold.

“How was training?”

“It was fine.”

He turned his attention to my place. The living area was just my couch and an old steamer trunk I used as a coffee table. Beyond was the dining table and a wall with a built-in bookcase. The apartment was old. It had creaking floorboards and knocking pipes, but high ceilings and gorgeous woodwork. It had so much character, I gladly paid the steep rent and put up with having to call the super when things needed repair, which happened often.