Page 16 of Love is a Dance Step
He released her. “Nah.” The events of the last hour weighed him down, and he rubbed the back of his head in frustration. “I just really needed a hug.”
Piper’s eyes softened, and she tugged on his hand. “That’s a very Drew thing to say, and I kind of love that about you. Leah is going to be okay, and then we’re going to continue this tour and let the rest of the country see why they’ve fallen in love with you too.”
“Aww, Pipes. Should Ben be worried?”
She elbowed him with a laugh. “Not a chance.”
6
Lola
The more accounting classes Lola had to sit through, the more she forgot what the point of this business degree was. Her mom thought it was a good idea, but Lola? She’d never really chosen it. Instead, she felt herself falling deeper and deeper into debt for a future career she couldn’t even imagine. Just thinking of offices and fancy clothes squeezed the air from her lungs.
She wasn’t meant for a nine to five, she wasn’t meant for the American dream. Even as a little girl, she’d never wished for a family, children of her own. She’d never seen white picket fences or a life where money made up for unhappiness.
Yet, here she was in another class meant to give her just that.
The spreadsheet on her laptop in front of her taunted her with numbers she couldn’t decipher.
Her foot tapped against the worn blue carpeting as a beat rolled through her mind. Three days since the concert, and there’d been no news. She couldn’t stop thinking of that dancer and the look on Drew’s face as he’d held her.
But when she closed her eyes, she saw only him sitting on a stool with a dark stage at his back. His voice was richer, purer than she’d ever heard him sing, as if the emotions swirling through him poured out onto the stage.
A beautiful man making beautiful music.
When it ended, she sat back in her chair next to a stunned Nora. They barely noticed Mrs. Stone leave them.
“My brother is incredible,” Nora had said.
And he was.
Drew Stone had already had her heart as much as any star can own a fan’s heart, but after that night, he had her faith too. If he could do that, sing through the worry and heartache, she too could get through anything.
“Ms. Ramirez.” Someone rapped their knuckles against her desk, snapping her out of her daze.
“Yes?” She looked up into the middle-aged face of Professor Stein.
“Class is over.”
“Oh.” She looked around at the empty desks, embarrassment flooding her. “Okay.” Shutting her laptop, she slid it into her bag and stood.
“Lola?”
“Hm?” Lola stopped at the door and turned back to her.
“You don’t seem invested in my class.”
“Oh.” She didn’t have a response. “I’m sorry.”
“I take it from that answer that I’m right in thinking you don’t want to be here.” She crossed the room to her desk and started straightening papers. “I teach accounting, Lola. I’m not oblivious to the fact that half my students would rather be in bed. But I’ve spoken to a few other professors in the department about you. You don’t seem overly interested in business.”
“I…” A lie was on the tip of her tongue, but her shoulders dropped. “I’m not.”
Professor Stein nodded. “Well, I won’t tell you I know the best path for you, but college is an expensive decision, and it can shape the rest of your life. I don’t want to see you embark on a career you don’t want, only for you to get so far down the line you lose sight of what you do want.”
Lola didn’t want that either. The problem was she didn’t know another path to take. “Thank you, Professor.”
“Have a good evening, Lola.”
