“What makes you think I wouldn’t say yes?”
His mouth pulls up at the side as he shrugs. “I think you need the reassurance that I don’t only want you for sex, that I’m in this for the long haul, so I’m gonna wait it out. Make sure you’re happy with us before I ask to make you mine.”
My eyes are locked with his because he hit that nail right on the head. “You’re completely right.”
“I know. I usually am,” he says with a goofy grin, his seriousness long gone and replaced with a grin. He then leans toward me, pressing his lips to my cheek before hugging me tight to his side, and I know right then that it’s gonna be completely easy to fall for this guy.
When we reach the rink, he kisses me long and sweetly before making me promise to text him once I’m done. As I watch him walk away, my heart feels like it’s coming out of my chest, and everything inside me is so warm and fuzzy. I don’t want to go anywhere; I want to stay here and watch him walk away. Knowing that can’t happen, I turn and head inside. Once inside the gym, I drop my bag against the wall and throw off my sweats and tank, watching as some girls stretch and others talk. When Rachael sees me, she gives me a look – not a welcoming one – before turning back to talk with her minions.
Rolling my eyes, I head to where Skylar is stretching and grin as I drop down. “Saw you had a visitor this afternoon. In your bed. With no clothes on.”
I smile as I nod. “Yeah, we took a nap. We had underwear on.”
She waggles her eyebrows at me, and I giggle as she asks, “Did ya get some action?”
Shaking my head, I smack her thigh as I stand to stretch my quads. “No, I told you we’re waiting two weeks before doing that again.”
“And I told you, you are completely insane. If I had Jude Sinclair naked and willing in my bed, I’d be on that like a fat kid on cake.”
“You’re nuts,” I say, laughing as I pull my leg up by my head. She rolls her eyes and continues to stretch until Rachael comes to the middle of the group.
“All right, so glad to see everyone. We’re gonna go over the video some more for our main dances and then learn a new dance that we’ll be doing for the Bullies’ Latin night that’s next Saturday. Old team, it’s the same from last year. New girls, it’s not hard, so you’ll catch on easily.”
“’Cause a five-year-old could do it,” I say under my breath, and Skylar smacks my arm.
“Shh,” she mouths and I roll my eyes.
“Everyone good?” Rachael asks.
Her eyes settle on me, almost challenging me, and I decide that I can’t do this anymore.
“Nope, not at all,” I say, and I hear Skylar groan beside me.
Everyone turns to look at me and Rachael’s hand comes on her hip, her eyes sharp as razors. “Problem, Claire?”
“Just a small one,” I say, holding my finger and thumb a tad bit apart.
“Shut up, Claire,” Skylar whispers, but I ignore her. She agrees with me; she thinks these dances are dumb! Why is she trying to stop me?
“And that is?” Rachael asks.
“That the dances are whack. I swear they were made in 1999, and I refuse to look stupid in front of our campus and peers doing something so easy that the seven-year-olds at my studio could master it in a day’s time.”
Puckering her lips, she says, “I don’t see anything wrong with our dances, and I refuse to use our money to pay for a choreographer just to make you happy. I don’t know how things are done for you at your studio, but you aren’t going to be spoiled here.”
I take a step forward, my blood pressure rising a bit. Oh, the desire to flip the girl the bird and start my own dance team is so tempting, but I’m going to keep my cool. I’m going to make this team better. For what? I have no clue. I don’t even know why I care, but I feel like I need to do this. “For one, I’m not asking to be spoiled, and two, no one said anything about hiring anyone. I am an award-winning choreographer. I can come up with kick-ass dances that will make us look spectacular. We’re all so beautiful, with amazing bodies and talent that is being wasted on crap-ass video dances. This dance team can be more.”
I can see on everyone’s faces that they are all for it, but Rachael’s is twisted in disgust. “So you want to take over my team.”
I shake my head. “No, that’s not what I want. I’m too busy with work and school to do your job, but coming up with dances is second nature to me. I can do it.”
“How surprising since it seems all your time is spent on your boyfriend?”
I glare as everyone looks down at the ground. “I have no clue what that has to do with anything. I want to help make the team better, not talk about my personal life.”
I don’t even think she heard me, because she says, “Do you know how stupid you look with him? We all know it’s a joke. He’s a player. He’s slept with all of us, and he’s probably screwing some dumb freshman behind your back while you stand here right now.”
Taking in a deep breath, I try to count to three as I hear Skylar say, “I told you to shut up.”