Page 128 of Take the Lead
“And what about Stone?” the interviewer asked Gina. “You two seemed to be very… close, during his time onThe Dance Off.”
Stone grabbed the laptop and stared at it through bleary eyes, all his attention hanging on Gina’s next words.
On the screen, Gina hesitated. Her eyes flicked toward the camera, then down to her lap. She bit her lip.
“Yes,” she finally answered. “We were. Dance partners always get close but this… this was different.”
“What happened?”
Gina straightened her shoulders and shook back her hair. Her lips curved in a tight, closed-mouth smile, and Stone knew whatever she was about to say would be holding back a wealth of feeling.
“Let’s just say letting him go back to Alaska was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” Gina’s hands twisted in her lap. “I feel like…”
“What do you feel like?” the host prompted, when Gina trailed off.
Stone’s spirits fell. There was no way she was going to answer. She was too good at playing the publicity game.
But she continued.
“I feel like… something’s missing.” Gina’s hands broke apart and she tapped her chest, quickly, an involuntary gesture. Then she shook her head and waved it off. “Never mind. I think it’s just a lot of changes all at once and—”
Stone slammed his laptop shut.
He’d seen it. The naked vulnerability had been there for a second before she remembered where she was and shut it down, but he’d spent every day with her for three months, and he knew her tells. He knew how she looked when she was feeling more than she could put into words, more than she wanted to reveal. The lip-biting, the tapping, the compressing of her lips as if to hide what she really felt.
Letting him go back to Alaska was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
He had to get out of his contract.
As soon as Stone had the thought, something closer to real peace descended on him. Yes. That was the answer. WinningThe Dance Offhad solved the financial issues keeping him onLiving Wild.If he could work with the show’s lawyers, maybe hire a good one of his own…
Someone knocked on his door.
He cleared his throat. “Who is it?” It came out as a croak.
“It’s Mom.”
Instead of looking for underwear, Stone dragged the blankets with him as he shuffled to the door. When he opened it, Pepper’s face became a mask of concern.
“Oh, honey. You’re still sick?”
“Mm-hmm.”
He fell back into the bed while she filled a mug of water for him from the bathroom sink.
“Reed said you were, but you know how he is. He likes to joke.”
“Fever’s gone, at least. I think.”
Pepper brought him the water and pulled a chair closer to the bed. After he took the mug, she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. “You still feel a little clammy, but not warm.”
“I should be okay tomorrow,” he rasped. “Maybe.”
She dropped her hand. “Stone… I came to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Apparently, that figure skater poked around too much.” Her shoulders slumped. “Your father and I just had a meeting. They’re canceling the next season.”
