Page 100 of Take the Lead
He’d made the wrong choice.
If he told her the truth now, it would very likely crush whatever was budding between them. But if he lied, it would be crushed anyway.
Truth, then.
“When I spotted the camera, it was already too late. I didn’t want to upset you.”
She didn’t reply. Just covered her eyes with her hands and took a step away from him.
“Gina—”
“Don’t.” She held up a hand to stop him. The other remained over her eyes, shielding her from him. “Don’t say anything. I need a second.”
His heart twisted, calling out for hers even as he held himself back, giving her the space she requested.
One of the stage managers approached tentatively. “Um… it’s time.”
Gina dropped her hands. Her eyes were clear, her face wiped clean of expression. She took Stone’s hand and met his eyes briefly. “Let’s kick this dance’s ass.”
They took their marks.
The music started, melancholy and dark. A man’s voice, haunting and compelling, rose over it. Gina danced in the spotlight until Stone strode toward her and hauled her against him. She struggled in his arms. It was part of the choreography, but with every move they made, his heart sank further.
Gina slipped a piece of rope over his arm and threw herself outof his grasp. When they came together again, it was the same. Throughout the dance, they came together and fell apart, and each time Gina added another piece of the harness that would lift him into the air. Each rope felt like the weight of familial expectations.
Each time she ran away from him, it felt like the end.
More dancers appeared from the shadows, throwing more loops of rope around his arms and legs. They pulled, tugging him backward as he strained toward Gina, who danced in the light.
The music began its crescendo. Stone took a step with his right leg. The ropes fell away. Another step. His legs were free. When the music reached its peak, he flexed his arms and all the ropes not attached to his harness snapped.
Running across the dance floor, he leaped, and the harness lifted him. He hit his moves in midair, spinning and swinging. When his feet touched the floor, he pulled Gina to him. The ropes lifted them, and they performed the midair routine they hadn’t gotten to practice as much as he would have liked.
During camera blocking, when he’d voiced his concerns—namely that Gina wouldn’t be wearing a harness, and he was the only thing keeping her suspended—she had smiled warmly at him and told him three words that struck him to the core.
“I trust you.”
He held her now, as they struggle-danced in the air. As close as they were physically, there was a new distance between them that hadn’t been there before.
He wanted to speak, to say, “Gina, I’m sorry,” but he was worried about dropping her. She was a professional and she hadn’t done a step wrong through the whole dance. If he spoke, it might break the spell. It might break the brittle concentration evident in the strain around her eyes.
After all this time, and as close as they’d become, he’d gotten to know her well. She was holding it together because it was her job, because she took dance more seriously than anything else, and because this was the semifinals.
Inside, she was breaking.
I trust you,she’d said.
Not anymore.
He didn’t drop her. They performed the sequence perfectly. When the ropes lowered them, the music slowed. Crouching together on the floor, Gina turned to him and undid the harness. The ropes rose into the air and disappeared.
The dance told a story of breaking free of the bonds that tied you to the person you used to be. For Stone, during rehearsal, it symbolized his feelings about his family. After visiting them with Gina, he could no longer ignore the dissatisfaction and suffocation of being part ofLiving Wild.Of being stuck as one of nine. Of being labeled the quiet one.
He’d found his voice with Gina. He’d remembered who he was.
When the ropes were gone, Gina scurried out of the spotlight. Stone got to his feet, head tucked and arms pulled in tight. As the last bars played, he threw out his arms in triumph. The spotlight winked out, leaving the entire ballroom in darkness.
He held the pose for a second, breathing hard. The dance was over. They’d sold it. But after the footage earlier, there’d be consequences.
