Page 114 of Take the Lead
Gina’s first thought was to tell Stone that Lauren knew the truth aboutLiving Wild,but she slowed as she reached the door.
Shouldshe tell him? He’d kept something big from her, claiming it would stress her out. This news was almost certain to wreck his week, and maybe then he’d know how she felt.
Her mother’s voice flashed through her mind.Don’t be petty.She’d said it every time Gina or her siblings had complained about something the others had or hadn’t done.
No. Her first impulse was the right one. He needed to know.
Opening the rehearsal room door, Gina stuck her head in. “Stone, can you step outside for a second?”
He gave her a dark look, but handed his lav mic back to Jordy. Good, he hadn’t put it on yet.
Gina glanced over her shoulder to make sure Lauren was gone, then pulled Stone out when he joined her at the door. She shut it and spoke quickly and softly.
“I think Lauren knows about your family. The truth about them.”
“Christ.” Stone shut his eyes, scrunching up his face in annoyance. “What am I supposed to do about it?”
“I don’t know. But I wanted to tell you, so you weren’t blindsided by it.” She gave him a pointed look.
He rubbed his eyes. “Okay. You’re right. I should call my producers, just in case. Can I borrow your phone? I left mine at the hotel.”
Gina handed her phone to him. “I’ll work on the choreography. Take your time.”
As she slipped back into the rehearsal room, her heart rate returned to normal and her nerves settled. The anger was still there, but it was tempered by…
Determination. No matter what happened in her life, focusing on her work got her through. For the next week, she would throw herself into the choreography and the training. She and Stone would go back to their teacher and student partnership. She would show Donna and everybody what she could do, based on her own merit. And then her life would return to normal.
They were done, and that was the end of it.
Thirty-One
Stone paused in the act of toweling off when someone knocked on his door. It was too much to hope it would be Gina. He stuck his head out of the hotel bathroom and called, “Who is it?”
“Room service.”
Huh. He hadn’t ordered anything yet. Jackson and Alan had invited him out, but since the finals were filming live the next day, he figured he’d be better off going home to his lonely hotel room.
Wrapping a towel around his waist, Stone stood to the side and opened the door a crack to peer out.
“Surprise!”
Instead of a bored bellhop, his family stood in the hallway. Half of them, anyway.
Stone’s stomach jumped, and his hand clenched on the door. It would be rude to slam it in their faces, but their unexpected arrival was the absolute last thing he needed right now.
“Wow. Um, hi.” He cleared his throat. “What are you all doing here?”
“Aren’t you going to let us in?” his mother asked.
Stone took a quick head count. Pepper, Reed, Violet, Lark, and Wolf, plus a small camera crew.
“I’m not dressed,” he said. “And you have cameras.”
Pepper gestured for the cameras to wait. “Stone, let me in.”
Since she was his mother, he did.
Once they were alone, Pepper took a seat in the armchair on the other side of the bed. “This is a nice room,” she said, taking it all in. “Bigger than the ones at the inn back home.”
