Page 24 of The Unraveling

“Hey, guys,” she says, popping up like a tight rubber band as we approach.

She and Arabella kiss briefly right on the lips, and I wonder again if she has a relationship with her, or if this is just how they are.

“Jocelyn, right?” she asks.

“Yeah, and you’re…Cynthia?”

“Yes, good job!” She gives me two air kisses. “The other American.”

This part she says with an eye roll as she looks back to Arabella.

“Hang here a minute,” Arabella says. “I’m going to see if there are any good spots at the barre.”

“You know the guys don’t care as much about spots at the barre as we do,” says Cynthia.

“I know, but I still have to ask!”

Cynthia, who has one leg stretched up on the ballet barre, says, “Fair enough, fair enough,” as Arabella walks away. Then to me, as she lowers her leg, “I’ll keep you company.”

“I appreciate that,” I say.

“It’s so great you got an opportunity to take class so quickly. Arabella said you were a principal at NAB?”

“Yep,” I say, stretching my own legs.

“That’s a pretty big deal. Why did you leave?”

I search for a short answer. While I do, she watches me and then says, “Ah, for love, then.”

I blush. “Yep.”

“Someone in the company?”

“No. An artist.”

“Ah, very sexy,” she says.

“So you’re taken,” she says. “That’s good, that’s at least one ballerina who won’t sleep with Luca, then.”

“Luca?”

She laughs. “Luca is”—she points—“that.”

Across the studio is a guy who is so ridiculously fucking hot that it almost seems like a joke.

“Jesus,” I say.

“I know. Italian. Luca Salerno. He literally looks like a Roman statue of, like, a…warrior or something, I don’t know.”

“He’s straight?” Guys that good-looking never are.

“Yep,” she says. “And I’m not. But even so, I think that is one of the sexiest guys I’ve ever met. If not the.”

“What’s his deal?” I ask, stretching my calves.

“His deal is that he’s super fucking nice, he’s very, very talented, and every woman loves him. But I mean, rightfully so. He always says he’s looking for love, which is very nice and romantic. That doesn’t stop him from sleeping with any of the many, many girls who throw themselves at him.”

“And he’s not a dick?” I ask.

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