Page 5 of Grunt: A Marine Romance

Selena glanced down at his left hand. No ring. The breath she’d been holding escaped. But it bothered her that she was happy he wasn’t married.

“I almost didn’t recognize you, blondie. You look great, Sel. In the magazines, your face is always painted and you look fake.”

Selena shuddered. She was in her sweats without so much as a tinted moisturizer or lip-gloss. He thought she looked great? If Dima saw her now, he would scold her about her image.

Though Bret kept his distance, his minty scent filled the air.

She glanced down for a moment, before meeting his gaze with renewed confidence. “Nationals are here tomorrow. Are you sticking around?”

“Wasn’t planning on it.” He gave a half smile. “You’ve been to one competition, you’ve been to them all.”

Selena nodded, despite feeling a tad bit hurt by his response. She cleared her throat. “Maybe we can grab a drink tonight? To catch up.”

Bret took out his phone, thumbs moving across the virtual keyboard. “I’d love to Sel, but I have plans.”

Was he still upset after all these years about the way she had ended their engagement? Her cheeks burned with guilt. A hollow pain radiated in her chest. Ten years of wondering, imagining, dreaming of their reunion, and all she got was a weak hug? She couldn’t even get her first love to have a casual drink with her. Selena bit her lips and shrugged her shoulders. Yes, she had ended it, but she hadn’t been given a choice. Her mother had sacrificed so much for Selena’s career. Selena couldn’t just give it all up to become some teenage bride on a military base. She had to support her family, especially after her father died. Bret was the one who decided to quit dancing and join the Marines. They could’ve stayed together and been partners on and off the floor.

Benny Brooks snuck up behind them. “Bret m’boy. Great to see you again. I see you’ve reacquainted yourself with Selena—why don’t you both come inside and we can get started.”

Get started? What was going on?

Bret fidgeted. “I have to dance . . . with her?”

Benny’s lips turned upwards into a devilish grin. He opened the doors to the ballroom. “Selena, I want you to partner Bret for his tryout.”

A thud echoed against the floor. Selena’s purse lay at her feet, and she scrambled to pick it up again. “Benny, uhm, you never said it was a tryout. You said you just needed to borrow me to run through choreography?”

“Sorry, lassie. I thought it would be best if you dance with Bret for his audition. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors that we’re hiring a new professional this season. A true blue United States Marine. The audience will love him. They’re sick of seeing all the foreign wankers. And since you used to be his Sheila, I thought it would be easier for him to dance with you.”

Bret clenched his face. “Whatever you say, Benny.” Bret walked into the ballroom, sat on a chair and took some dancing shoes out of the box.

Selena looked over at Bret. “Tryout? Uhm, of course, Benny. No problem. I didn't know Bret was,”—Selena’s gaze darted over to Bret only for a moment, while her cheeks burned—“I mean, I thought he was still in the Marine Corps. But of course, you’d be lucky to have him on the show. He is, I mean, was, an amazing dancer.”

She picked up her bag, sat on a chair on the opposite side of the room from Bret, and started attacking the soles of her shoes with her shoe brush, pieces of suede flying in the air.

Despite her childhood dream of her and Bret making a life together, she hadn’t been able to turn down Dima’s partnership offer. She had made an agonizingly difficult decision. Now, Selena was exactly where she'd hoped to be in her career. But she never expected Bret would be sitting in the same room, waiting to dance with her again.