Page 23 of Dancing on Air

His eyes narrowed, then he nodded slightly. “I’m calling it,” he said, pulling out his cell phone.

“No.” She frowned. “I’m good.” She followed him off the stage, but he was already on his phone.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she waited until he hung up the phone call. By then, everyone else had left. Including Luc.

“Do you know that every time you cancel practice, I get blamed for it?” she said, feeling her temper spike.

Max’s eyebrows rose slowly. “Why?”

“Because everyone…” She dropped off. She hadn’t thought before she’d started talking.

“Everyone…?”

“Fine.” She threw her hands up. “There’s a rumor going around that you have a thing for me.”

“Thing?” he asked slowly.

She waved her hands, mortified that she’d even said anything.

Max’s frown increased. “Why would anyone think that?”

“Because of Cora Jenkins,” she answered as she started pacing. This whole thing made her feel… uncomfortable. Not only had she never been in a relationship before, at twenty-one she’d never officially been on a date.

It wasn’t her fault boys hadn’t asked her out. When she’d been at school, she had only one friend. There hadn’t been dances or sports outside of the dance classes that she’d attended.

With the added stress of trying to keep her sick mother away from her personal and professional dance life, she’d been too busy and too focused to even try to date.

Then she’d escaped to JT’s place and had literally lived on a secluded island. Since being in New York, she’d once more been too focused to try.

Reece had been giving her special attention since they’d won the leads together, but up until that point, the guy had been a complete ass to her on many occasions.

Reece Tyler was by far the most popular male dancer at BAC. The more Reece gave her attention, the more she received backlash from Cora Jenkins.

A few months after she’d arrived, everyone had started calling her C2. They’d meant it as a stab, but to be honest, she didn’t mind. She’d been called worst things.

Up until she’d gotten the lead alongside Reece, he’d called her that too.

“I’m not following you.” Max picked up his bag.

“She saw us last week at the café.” Cora was beginning to feel really stupid.

“So, I have dinner with loads of dancers,” Max replied.

“Don’t worry,” Cora said, suddenly feeling angry and hurt. It was obvious that Max had zero feelings for her. Which somehow pissed her off and hurt her at the same time. “I’ll set them straight.” She turned and marched back onstage to gather her things and change.

It wasn’t as if she’d expected him to fall at her feet. Hell, she didn’t even know if she liked him. Actually, she didn’t really know anything about him, outside of who his parents were.

Elizabeth and Gerald Sharpe were high up on her list of favorite dancers. She’d watched every single one of their dances that were available at least a dozen times over the years.

There was little about Max or his sister online. Only that they had both danced in their youth and had chosen different paths for their lives. She’d watched a few videos of Max dancing. His Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake was amazing and the last time he’d danced professionally.

After pulling off her toe shoes and tossing them in her bag, she yanked on her sweats and coat and headed out.

Since they’d been let out early, she decided to take a walk to clear her mind. The moment she stepped outside, however, she frowned at the snow falling.

It was almost summer. Damn it. She was so over the snow and cold. She stomped her foot and spun around when she heard a chuckle.

“Upset at the snow?” Max asked as he leaned against the outer wall of the building.