Page 70 of Kissing the Debutant
“Can I make a last minute change?” she asked.
“Send me the track on Spotify, and I’ll make the switch.” The guy gave her an email address and walked away.
Lillian scrolled through the playlists on her phone and hesitated only a moment before she sent the link to the tech guy.
“You’re up in five,” the guy said, showing her to the edge of the stage. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” She sighed. “I’m going to need it.” Lillian craned her neck, looking through the crowd for a sign of Jack. She found him toward the back, standing against a wall with Mia at his side.
As she locked eyes with him, her decision solidified in her mind. It was the right choice. She only hoped it wasn’t too late for them.
25
Jack
Jack held his breath as the announcer said Lillian’s name. He wanted her to do well, to succeed in whatever she tried. Even if their paths diverged, he wanted that for her.
Her words rolled through his mind. Was it possible? Could they create a new world with the best of each of theirs? Mia seemed to think it was possible, but she was an eternal optimist. Jack’s life had never allowed for anything but realism.
“Would you calm down?” Jack glanced at Mia who bounced on her toes beside him.
“I’m just so nervous for her.” She chewed on her lip. “I want her to kill it.”
“So do I, but you don’t see me flailing around like a weirdo.”
She ignored his weirdo comment, keeping her eyes on the stage. “There she is.” She gripped his arm so tightly he wondered if it would bruise.
But he didn’t care. The moment Lillian stepped out onto the stage, everything else faded away until it was just her. She had her long blond hair wrapped into a bun. A blue dress reached the top of her thighs, her long legs clad in nude tights. “She’s beautiful.” His whispered words didn’t do her justice. Beautiful felt too small, too inconsequential. Lillian Preston was breathtaking.
Mia shot him a know-it-all smile as if she could read the thoughts spinning out of control.
It was in that moment he knew he’d made the right decision to come. While traveling with Mia, driving all the way from Twin Rivers, he’d wondered if she’d be happy to see him there after he’d basically abandoned her. He was her choreographer, and he’d left her to do the final preparations on her own.
What a chump.
Yet, there she was taking up the first position and preparing to make every person in this room fall hopelessly in love.
Like he had.
The music began, but Lillian didn’t move. It took Jack a moment to realize the song they’d practiced her solo dance to wasn’t the one playing over the speakers. His chest tightened.
“Jack.” Mia elbowed him. Hard. “Jack, she’s playing your song.”
His song. His song with Lillian. The one they’d done their duet to.
Lillian’s eyes found his as if she was waiting for something.
“What is she doing?” he hissed. “She’s messing up her competition.”
Mia shoved him forward. “Maybe she’s just saying there’s something more important than a competition. Go.”
His feet moved, but he wasn’t aware of his steps until he reached the side of the stage.
Lillian walked forward as the crowd waited for her to start dancing, to show them why she should win. She bent down, a shy smile coming to her lips. “Hey.”
Jack glanced at the audience before looking back to her. “What are you doing?”
“I want you to dance with me.”
