Page 82 of Love is a Dance Step
She twisted her lips into a wry smile. “Yeah, well, different is good tonight. Melanie and Piper shoved me into a dress that’s way too revealing so I could look good on Noah Clarke’s arm.”
“You’d look good on his arm no matter what you wore.” Good, sweet, naïve Nora with her ready compliments. Lola wished she was here with her instead of Brooke.
As she looked at Asher, her secrets rested on the tip of her tongue.I kissed your brother,she wanted to scream.See? You have no hold over me.And yet, she knew those words would hurt him, that he may not love her, but he wanted to be loved by her.
How twisted was it she couldn’t take that away from him?
Nora shoved Asher away. “She called to talk to me, doofus.” A door slammed, and Nora flipped on a light. “We’re in my room now. So, why did you really call? You didn’t need me to tell you how good you looked.”
Lola sat on the corner of her bed. “I don’t really know.” Everything on this tour was moving too fast, as if life wouldn’t slow down long enough for her to understand any of it.
“Uh oh.” Nora grinned. “I know that look. There’s a guy, isn’t there? Please tell me it’s Noah Clarke.”
Lola glanced toward the bathroom to make sure Brooke was still in there. She tried to run a hand through her hair before remembering the ungodly amounts of hairspray. Pulling the phone closer, she dropped her voice. “I may have kissed someone.”
Nora’s squeal could have woken the dead.
Brooke walked into the room, her permanent scowl in place. She glanced at the phone. “Who just yelled?”
Trying to paste a calm look on her face, Lola held up the phone. “My friend from home.” She didn’t say Nora’s name because Brooke would know she meant Drew’s sister, and Lola didn’t need the dancers claiming she had any more advantage than she did.
But did she have an advantage?
When she’d shown up at Drew’s door, she’d known he’d kiss her back, that she was giving them something they both wanted. Wasn’t that the definition of unfair advantage?
Brooke pursed her lips. “Well, say goodbye. We need to get down to the lobby for our dates. I’ll meet you in the hall.” With that, she walked away.
“Ugh, was that Brooke?” Nora asked. “I’ve never met her, but from what Drew says, I don’t want to.”
“She’s my roommate.” Lola mimed puking.
Nora giggled. “Well, I’ll let you get to your date. Kiss Noah again so I can live through you.” She flashed a final grin before hanging up.
Lola released a breath. She hadn’t lied to Nora exactly. But what would Nora have said if Lola admitted it was her brother she’d kissed? Would she have been as excited?
Would she have told Asher?
Lola didn’t have a purse she could use with the dress, so she left her phone on the table and slipped a room key into the pocket of her coat before sliding her arms through the sleeves. With one final glance, she shut the door behind her. Brooke, surprisingly, waited by the elevators.
Maybe even girls like her didn’t want to arrive alone.
They rode the elevator down in silence. When it dinged, and the door slid open, Lola sucked in a deep breath and met Brooke’s eyes. For once, they were in this together, two girls who had no business going to a senator’s fundraising ball wearing gowns they couldn’t have afforded themselves.
They walked across the soft white marble to where a mahogany table sat under the weight of a giant vase filled with white and pink roses. Noah and Drew wore matching tuxedos that somehow made them both seem taller, broader, as if they held more authority.
Jo stood beside them in a white dress that didn’t look altogether odd with her pink tipped hair. It billowed out at the waist. Beside her, Nolan adjusted the sleeves of his tux, looking wholly uncomfortable.
Noah saw Lola first, and a grin spread across his handsome face. He pulled a long-stemmed rose from the vase and approached. “Ladies.” The soft purr of his accent was enough to make anyone’s blood rise. Lola knew what Nora saw in him with his contradictory soft eyes and wicked smile. He bowed, extending the rose to Lola. “A rose for a rose.”
Brooke giggled as Lola took the rose and uttered a soft “thank you.” Fear coursed through her, keeping her from lifting her eyes to the man she was sure had seen her by now. They hadn’t spoken since she left him sleeping. Tension sizzled around them, but no one else seemed to notice.
Noah pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand before offering her his arm. “Our chariot awaits.”
Without looking at him, Lola sensed Drew near. He reached Brooke. “Shall we?”
Lola let her eyes drink him in. The tuxedo fit him like he’d been born to wear it, the stark black matching the darkness in his gaze when his eyes met hers.
The air sparked between them, but that was probably just her overactive imagination. She couldn’t keep the thoughts from her expression as her eyes shot to his lips, lips she now knew the feel of. His hands, hands that had held her.
