Page 10 of Love is a Dance Step
“No.” Their mom shot Lizzy a disapproving look. “Asher and Lola are just friends.”
“But they’re totally getting married one day.” Nora grinned. “Then, she can be our sister too.”
Penny nodded in agreement. “They love each other. They’re just too oblivious to smooch.”
“What does a twelve year old know about smooching?” Nora crossed her arms.
Drew pulled back to look down at her. “You better not know much about smooching either.”
“I’m seventeen, Drew.”
Drew’s jaw clenched.
“Smooching!” Lizzy yelled.
“Uh.” Piper stood in the now open doorway. Drew didn’t know when she’d gotten there. He was used to his family’s crazy, but he wondered how many people had heard Lizzy yelling.
Standing with a laugh, he lifted Lizzy with him and set her on the floor. “What’s up, Pipes?”
She looked down at her clipboard, her cheeks reddened. “The opener just went on. You’re up next.” She looked up to catch his eye. “Noah wanted me to remind you not to go over your time.”
He grinned. “No, he didn’t. Noah wouldn’t care. That comes from Jo, but she thought it would sound better coming from Noah. Well, let her know I’m more likely to listen to her than him, anyway.”
“Why, Drew?” Lizzy slipped her hand into his.
He bent down to whisper into his sister’s ear. “She scares me.”
Lizzy giggled.
Drew turned back to his family. “Piper can escort you guys out to your seats. Tell Ash… just tell him I asked about him, okay?”
His dad put a hand on his arm. “We will.”
They filed out, and Drew watched them go before shutting the door to his dressing room and following a security guard back to where his dancers were now warmed up and ready to go.
He bent for some last minute stretches as he waited to prove to his parents that all his sacrifices were worth it.
Because each time he stepped out on stage, he had to prove it to himself.
4
Lola
The opening act was good.
Drew Stone would be better.
Lola hadn’t been able to sleep last night in anticipation of seeing him up close on stage. Their seats were in the second row, so close they’d be able to see the sweat glistening on his skin.
But she couldn’t react. She couldn’t cheer or sing along to the songs she knew by heart. Not while Asher sat stewing silently beside her. He didn’t want to be there, but more importantly, he didn’t want her to be there with him.
Because this, her fandom, wasn’t something he could control. He couldn’t make her stop idolizing his brother, and if she knew Asher, that infuriated him.
It was times like these she did everything she could to turn off the thoughts in her mind that wanted to reach out to him, the small part of her she worried would never be free of these feelings. She wasn’t an idiot. Asher Stone wasn’t someone she should love, not like that. He cared little for anyone else’s feelings, was a major control freak, and could be callous in his own desires.
She wanted to hate him despite their history together, but if she didn’t have Asher, what would she have? A college path she hated? A job she didn’t want?
A mom who was never around?
