Page 84 of Ice Rebel

Her wry smiles were almost as bad as everything else. “You just did.”

As Samantha backed away, she winked.

It was good to have a friend, even if maybe one day I’d see her turning all furry. I had wondered what witnessing a transformation would be like. What would Cole be like au naturel? I pressed my fingers across my mouth to keep from laughing while the images of him with claws and canines refused to leave my mind. Evidently, I had no fear of a wild animal living inside my bestie and her brothers, yet I was utterly terrified of a four-minute dance. Go figure.

For some reason, I’d never felt so alone in my life as well as nervous. My stomach was doing flipflops.

My dance was near the end, which gave me ample time to suffer. I did that remarkably well all by myself and without the extreme pressure. As the music cued silence in the audience, I returned to the shadows, hoping for a little quiet time and anonymity.

While I paced the floor.

In the world of dance, I’d learned to find peace. Both in myself and whatever was happening around me.

While I’d learned later my parents had insisted I take dance lessons for entirely selfish reasons, the gangly kid with almost no friends had found a wayward family in the students in the dance school. As children, there had been almost no competition. We’d never had solos, just team routines where no one was the star.

That had all changed as we’d gotten older, roles within The Nutcracker and Swan Lake coveted. That had led to backstabbing and lies, parents who had money able to encourage their kid into receiving the most sought-after roles.

I’d been oblivious until I’d turned fourteen, catching my father threatening my favorite dance teacher if I wasn’t awarded the starring role. By that point, cliques had been formed and I’d rarely if ever been included.

I’d been the ugly kid with braces and long, unshapely legs.

Those had been the moments when I’d learned the power of beauty.

I’d worked through self-doubts that tonight’s performance should feel freeing, but the added pressure was on. I was stiff, which wasn’t like me, unable to find my center. Since Cole had found his way into the theater, I’d been off. Days of feeling uncertain of myself and what I was doing.

Then I’d gotten my stride, ignoring the naysayers and practicing every chance I’d gotten. I’d been the kid to find space to dance anywhere I went. My parents had finally relented, creating a dance studio inside our house in LA. I’d never wanted to leave, creating dances for various genres of music.

That’s why I’d been so insistent about how the piece I was dancing tonight was supposed to go. Now that I’d put my foot into my mouth, the performance had to be flawless.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tori and Sienna approaching from the corridor leading to the dressing rooms. They were dancing together with a male dancer, one of the macho dudes in the troupe who truly believed he was the hottest man in the city.

The rumor mill had it all three were sleeping together.

Cozy.

As I’d experienced at the bar a few nights before, they stopped far enough away I couldn’t hear what they were saying. But I knew they were talking about me.

There was a particular way people pretended like they weren’t looking at you when in fact, they were using their x-ray vision so they could criticize your choice of underwear. I felt a nasty comment coming on.

The two girls were hot or cold with me, likely because I’d been the same. But if there was something juicy to gossip about, they were smack in the middle of the discussion. Which was why when they headed in my direction, I not only braced myself but began doing a few stretching exercises.

“Is your hot boyfriend in the audience?” Tori asked the question as if she was really interested.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I was trying to be polite.

“That’s right. He’s your fiancé,” Sienna added. Because the competition was stiff, more so with the thought of a talent scout in the audience, on this night they’d decided to drag out their claws.

Only they didn’t have the excuse of being wolves.

“Not my fiancé either.” I had no emotion in my tone, just stating facts.

“Oh, honey. I’m sorry. He realized you were beneath him?” There it was. Tori could sling it with the best of them. Maybe she was just pissed at me because I pushed her away from my brother.

“That’s where she wishes she could be. He’s too hot for her.” With Sienna laughing, they’d made their point in hopes of rattling me.

Their ridiculous behavior did just the opposite. I planned on knocking them dead just like I’d wished for Cole. He’d taken my advice. It was time I took my own.

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