Defiant Princess (Boys of Oak Park Prep 2)

I hesitated for another several seconds, torn between walking out, trying to shove him out, and just saying fuck it so I could dance.

The urge to practice won out, and I slipped inside the room and crossed toward the barre, keeping my gaze purposefully averted from Finn. I did notice a small pink smear on the floor where Cole had whaled on Oliver the day before, and I stopped to scuff at it with my shoe.

“Yeah, sorry.” Finn’s voice came from behind me, but I still refused to look at him. “I tried to wipe it up, but it was all dried out. Cole’s not really great at cleaning up the shit he breaks.”

I didn’t answer. Finn had told me to pretend he wasn’t there, and that was exactly what I intended to do.

Leaving the patch of stained floor behind, I found my way into first position at the barre and then did a quick warm-up. I’d been slowly starting to choreograph a piece to use for my audition, so I planned to spend the period working on that.

Finn sat silently against the wall, and when I cast a few furtive glances at him out of the corner of my eye as I began dancing, I always found his gaze focused like a laser on his phone. It was almost like he was consciously trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, to make himself invisible by stoically ignoring me. Like he really did want me to forget he was here, to be able to practice in peace.

A thought occurred to me that was so stupid and insane I immediately pushed it down.

Is Finn here to make sure nobody else tries to fuck with me while I practice?

I was angry at myself for even considering it. Old Talia might’ve thought that, but Old Talia had gotten her ass kicked and her heart broken. New Talia needed to be smarter. Needed to stop assuming things, stop creating good intentions where there were none.

So I just threw myself into dancing.

Or I tried to, anyway.

I kept falling out of step, missing counts, and forgetting bits I’d added to the choreography. Finn wasn’t doing shit, but he still took up too much space in the room, flooding my head with memories I didn’t want.

Finally, after twenty minutes of attempting to work through my routine, I missed the same step for the third time and whirled on him, my foot coming down hard on the wooden floor.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Finn?”

His gaze flicked up to mine and then back to his phone. “Nothing. I’m serious, Tal. There’s no thing going on here. Just ignore me.”

“Well, if you’re not doing anything, go not do it somewhere else.”

“Can’t. Sorry.” His gaze was still on his phone, but I could tell it was taking him extreme effort not to look at me.

“Why the hell not?”

I stalked toward him, enjoying being the one standing while he sat for once. When my feet were next to his, Finn finally looked away from his screen, his gaze trailing up my legs and torso to my face.

“I think you know why,” he said softly.

My jaw clenched. “Because of Oliver.”

He dipped his head once, a flash of some strong emotion flaring hot behind his brown eyes.

“Jesus. Why? Are you pissed because he fucked with what was yours?” My lips twisted on the last word, and I spit it out like a poison dart.

“No. I’m here because you should be able to do the one thing you love without someone trying to attack you.”

My throat tightened. “That’s rich, coming from you. Did you forget all of last year? What you did last semester?”

Keeping his gaze locked on mine, he rose to his feet until we were standing a foot apart.

“No, I didn’t forget. It wasn’t all a lie, Talia.” His voice was low. “Not for me.”

“What?” The word scraped past my vocal cords, my whole body tensing like a piano wire.

“I know you think we made it all up. And that was what we meant to do. But it didn’t work that way. What I felt for you was real.”

“Fuck. You.”