Page 32 of In Too Deep

Only when they found themselves alone in the locker room did Kiara risk a kiss, Stephanie massaging the nape of her neck as she sat down tiredly on one of the benches.

They sat down together for what seemed like forever, pressed close, neither talking, hand in hand as they stared at the floor.

“How does this work?” Kiara finally asked.

Stephanie shook her head, looking up at Kiara, almost immediately lost in the eyes observing her.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I’ve never been in this position before. It’s new territory.”

Kiara smiled and kissed her cheek. “Would it be strange if I told you it was pretty new to me, too?” Stephanie gave her a look that made Kiara laugh. “Not that new. Just quite recent.”

Stephanie nodded and squeezed her hand. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about this, that’s all.”

“What do you mean?”

Stephanie saw the look on Kiara’s face and immediately felt guilty for not wording her thoughts properly. “Oh, God, no, not like that,” she reassured her. “I know I feel a lot towards you. At least I think I do.”

Kiara frowned and cocked her head. “You’re not making it better,” she smiled awkwardly.

“Please don’t misunderstand me,” Stephanie begged, turning and holding both of Kiara’s hands in her own. “I’m not an open person. Honestly, everything about yesterday was new. The bar, the studio, you. Everything. I just feel a little overwhelmed, that’s all. I feel incredible, too. I don’t understand it, and I don’t think I will for a while.”

Stephanie sighed, looking away as she tried to process what she wanted to say. “I don’t want space, I don’t want time to think, I want this. It’s just I don’t know how to do this.”

“Then let me help,” Kiara suggested.

Stephanie squeezed the other girl’s hands. “I will, but how we handle this, how we handle us, has to be done right. I’m only just discovering a part of me I had never known existed before.”

Kiara stood up and smiled. “How about we change, find ourselves a nice little café where I could help you with that overdue paper, and we can talk about whatever you want to talk about?”

Stephanie wanted to kiss her right there and then. “Sounds good to me.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Stephanie Adams danced.

The stage was empty, a spotlight on her as the blue lights created an ambiance that mixed gently with the sounds of violins playing.

The auditorium was completely silent, every member of the audience holding their breath as they watched her move gracefully across the stage.

Their eyes followed her every turn, every kick, every extension, transfixed on the beauty they were watching in front of her.

Stephanie was in her own world, enveloped in her emotions, the smile on her face wide as she let the music wash over her.

She could almost hear her aunt counting in the back of her head, her movements precise with every scream of the violins.

She was ecstatic, every inch of her lost in the moment as she felt her feet rise and fall off the stage, her body turn and t

wirl in the soft lights.

She let it all loose. She let every feeling she had felt over the past three weeks scream out in joy, the world witnessing the dance of a girl on fire.

Her eyes were closed as she breathed in steadily, the movements becoming more of a natural occurrence than a rehearsed routine.

She could feel her heart beating in her chest, threatening to explode, laughing and crying with her as she danced.

When she was done, when it was all out in the open, with her soul bared to the world and her body lying motionless on the ground as the music faded out, the applause was thunderous.

She rolled onto her knees and looked out into the audience as they gave her the most spectacular standing ovation she had ever seen.

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