Page 4 of Love is a Dance Step
Lola Ramirez couldn’t recall the day she’d fallen in love with her best friend.
But she did remember the exact moment she realized he didn’t love her back, at least, not the way she wanted him to. Asher Stone, the beautiful boy she’d known since she was four years old, had been sitting on the player’s bench at the Gulf City ice rink after hockey practice. Even at sixteen, he’d been so sure of himself both on and off the ice.
Lola had rushed out of work at the Beach Club resort—a job Asher’s dad got her renting cabanas at the beach—worried she’d be late to pick him up. Asher failed his first driver’s test, but Lola had never minded driving him around when it meant spending time with him. They’d been inseparable since they were kids.
When she arrived at the rink, she found Asher sitting with a girl from their class, the flirty grin Lola recognized plastered across his face.
She’d watched them before walking closer. That was when she heard them.
“Are you and Lola like together?” The girl leaned in as if the answer wouldn’t have changed her intentions.
Asher’s answering laughter sliced through Lola. “Me and Lo? No. No, no, no. She’s like a sister to me, if anything. Or like one of the guys. I could never…” The girl cut off his words with a kiss.
Lola wasn’t proud of her next moments. She’d rushed away, wanting to leave but stopping herself. She couldn’t leave Asher without a ride. So, instead, she sat in the parking lot, waiting half an hour before he came through the doors with a satisfied grin on his face.
Lola vowed right then she would get over her feelings for Asher, that she’d put him in the sibling category just like he’d done to her.
But that was the thing about feelings… they only left when they wanted to.
Now, three years later, that girl he kissed was nothing but a memory, and Lola was the same girl in love with her best friend.
She lifted her eyes to the marketing professor writing on the blackboard at the front of the room. Seriously, who used chalk and blackboards anymore? But he was ancient. Maybe he hadn’t yet realized they’d left the Stone Age.
“You’re not just marketing a product,” he said. “You must sell yourself.”
Business wasn’t all that different from love. She traced the doodles in her notebook, knowing she’d regret not taking notes later. She’d spent years trying to make Asher see what was right in front of him. Was she pathetic? Yes. But did she care? Also, yes.
She couldn’t seem to snap out of this cycle of pining and falling over and over. She’d dated over the years but never for long. Asher hated every guy she kissed, and they never stuck around to duel it out with him. Part of her gleaned some kind of hope from his reactions, but the other part hated him for it.
He didn’t want her.
But no one else could get close either.
It left her in a perpetual state of loneliness, watching Asher go from one relationship to the next and hanging out with her in between.
She stabbed her pencil into the page as anger raced through her. Anger at Asher. At herself.
Professor Warren turned to the class. “That’s it for today. Don’t forget to do the reading. I’ll have study guides for the test next week.”
Lola shoved her notebook into her messenger bag and pulled it onto her shoulder. She followed the rest of the students from the room and checked her phone for the time. The professor let them out early. If she hurried, she could make it to the library before Asher finished his tutoring session—he was the tutor, not the tutee.
She hightailed it out of there and pushed through the double doors into the cloudy Florida day. The University of Southern Florida was about an hour north of Gulf City, yet both Asher and Lola lived at home. It was the only way they could afford college. They’d have a heck of a drive back if the brewing storm erupted.
She ran toward the library, her bag slapping against her leg. By the time she reached the glass doors, rain spritzed down on her. She yanked them open and ducked inside, ignoring the glare from the student working the front desk as water dripped onto the floor.
“Perdón.” Lola shrugged. She used her Spanish when she didn’t want anyone stopping her or talking to her. Her mom would be proud of her for using it for something, even though she wouldn’t like the reason. Her eyes scanned the expansive lower level for the telltale mop of blond hair. The entire Stone clan sported golden locks just like their mother. It was a joke in their house that their darker haired father wasn’t their dad after all. “Gotcha.” She found Asher hunched over a book at a table in the back.
The girl sitting next to him stared at him in fascination.Join the party.There was something entrancing about Asher, a charm beneath the surface. Add in his tanned skin, athletic build, and intense chocolate eyes, and most girls were goners.
Asher looked up from the book, his gaze finding Lola. A smile curved his lips. “We’re done for today, Tessa. My ride is here.”
Disappointment flashed across Tessa’s face, followed by annoyance when she saw Lola. She didn’t realize yet that few women captured Asher’s attention for long. Except Lola. That was why she’d never revealed her feelings. She was the one constant friend in his life, and she didn’t want to lose him.
Asher stood, gathered his belongings, and held them out to Lola.
She raised a brow. “When are you going to start carrying your own bag?” She slipped his book and notebook into her already heavy messenger bag.
“Why would I do that when you have one?”
