Page 21 of Plunge into Obsession

Piama left us to make sure the music would be right, and I turned to Kaia. “Gabriel?”

Her brows furrowed. “Are you asking me if he’s here?”

I nodded.

She shook her head.

I let out a small sigh of relief. The last thing I wanted was for Gabriel to witness me like this. I could tell myself how bad it was to have a crush on a man like Gabriel.

It didn’t matter.

I still did.

And though I was disappointed that I hadn’t seen him all week—ever since that night Coreyaskedme to fill in for Jessica—there was a part of me that didn’t know how I would react if he saw me here tonight.

I blinked when the music stopped and applause rang out through the building as Izzy, another dancer, finished her number.

She bowed, her tan skin glittering in the light, before moving off the stage.

The smile she wore disappeared as soon as she was no longer in sight.

“Good luck, Bianca,” she said.

I would have thought she was sincere if I didn’t know she had taken an instant dislike to me since she started working here three months ago.

I didn’t know what I had done to have warranted such a response from her, and I didn’t care enough to find out.

Corey met my eyes from the other end of the stage, pointing to the center.

I squeezed Kaia’s hand before letting go and walking slowly out to center stage.

It felt like a hush had come on throughout the entire building, and I felt all eyes on me, making me feel so uncomfortable it took everything in me not to run out of there.

I resisted the urge to lick my parched lips, afraid I might mess up my lipstick. I tried to look out into the audience.

I couldn’t make out anything clearly, not with the bright spotlight on me.

It was nothing more than black shadows, faces indistinguishable from one person to the next.

Vaguely, I thought I heard the front door open and close, but I couldn’t bring myself to worry about having more people in the audience right now.

My hand clutched the silver pole in front of me, feeling cold to touch on my palm, and goose bumps rose over my exposed skin.

I shivered.

“What the fuck?” someone yelled in the audience just as the music started.

I frowned slightly before I remembered there were eyes on me, and I schooled my expression once more.

I hadn’t even started dancing yet, and already there were complaints.

I closed my eyes and tried to push that away, waiting for the exact beat in the song to hit, cueing the start of my dance.

It never came.

The music turned off, and the overhead lights came on.

I looked around, confused, before turning to Kaia and Piama.

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