Page 1 of Love is a Dance Step
1
Drew
There was nothing better than a rock tour. Crowds of screaming fans. Music. Fancy hotels.
Yet, it was the quiet time between concerts Drew Stone craved. The hours on his bus hanging out with his people, the sleepy afternoons in hotel suites.
The days off spent in the dance studio preparing for the next spectacle. That’s what the media called his shows. He wasn’t merely a rock star who could dance, more like a dancer with a set of pipes.
Drew bent to crank the music up louder. His voice filled the room. No, he wasn’t one of those people who got off listening to their own songs, but today had a purpose.
One month. That was how long he’d been on the road, and already, his mind ached for something new, something exciting. Not the same old parties, the same old people.
He took up his stance in front of the mirror at the small dance studio in Tennessee. The owner had been beside herself when Drew’s assistant called to arrange some practice time. He paid for the entire studio, not wanting to be interrupted by interested dancers.
Normally, he enjoyed meeting fans. But today, he just wanted to dance.
He lowered his head as the beat started. His feet moved of their own accord, going through the dance steps he’d performed a million times by now.
Muscles aching from sitting too long on the bus, he pushed through it, not stopping as his lungs cried out for breath or his legs begged for reprieve.
This, right here, gave him life.
One song changed into the next, and he launched into more familiar steps, following the heavy beat like it had been written for him. He supposed it had.
He didn’t notice when the music stopped until a slow clap ripped him from the trance he’d entered. He turned on his heel to find Leah Baker leaning against the back wall.
Drew wiped sweaty blond hair off his forehead and sucked in a long breath. “When did you come in?”
Leah pushed away from the wall and dropped a duffel at her feet. “I’ve been here long enough to see the show.” She waggled her eyebrows, her eyes skimming down his bare chest.
“Stop it. You’re creeping me out.” He laughed.
“Just because I’m taken doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate.”
“It does when it’s me.” He bent to grab his water bottle and squirted it over his face before taking a gulp.
“If you had a shirt on, you’d be a walking wet t-shirt contest right now.”
“I’m telling Amy you were ogling me.” He lowered himself to the ground and leaned against the wall, still trying to catch his breath.
“She’d probably just tell me I have good taste.” Amy was Leah’s girlfriend, but she wasn’t on tour with them. They weren’t the only long distance relationship this tour created. His assistant Piper was away from her rock star boyfriend, Ben Evans, lead singer of the bandFate. “Okay, serious time, why did you rent out an entire dance studio today? Something on your mind?”
“Did Piper tell you I was here?” His assistant had a big mouth when she thought she was helping.
Leah lowered herself to the floor at his side. “Spill.”
He sighed. How did he explain his restlessness? That he was on one of the biggest tours of his life—and would be for almost a year—yet, something didn’t fit. It wasn’t enough. If he voiced the words, he’d sound like a spoiled rock star, and no one wanted to hear things had gotten too good.
So, instead of spilling his guts to his best friend, he shrugged. “Just feeling antsy. I needed to move.”
She laughed. “You always need to move, Drew. It’s one of the things that makes you perfect for this life.” She pushed to her feet and extended a hand down. “That’s why we’re friends. You and I aren’t so different. Well, except for the fact that I can walk down a street without getting assaulted by screaming pre-teen girls.” She winked.
Drew took her hand and let her help him up. “My fans aren’t all pre-teen girls,” he grumbled.
Leah flashed him a grin. She wasn’t completely wrong. Drew heard the young feminine cries when he took the stage for each concert. Not all of them were young, of course. He’d been performing since he was eighteen. Now, eleven years later, many of the original fans were still with him.
“Come on.” Leah walked to where his phone lay on the ground and switched the song.
