Page 59 of Love You Still

I told Selina of my plans to go with her to New York when we were younger, how I just wanted her to ask me to go with her, but how is that fair? Selina doesn’t know me from Adam any longer. Neither one of us is the same person we were in high school. How can I expect her to blindly trust someone she barely knows anymore?

“Fuck,” I groan, my shoulders sagging.

“I see you get it now, don’t you?” he questions before motioning to get Beckett’s attention. “You need to show her youmean everything you say. That she isn’t the only one having to sacrifice something for you to be together.”

If I want different results, I have to try an alternate approach. I let my pride get in the way when we were younger, but not this time.

“I have to go.” I jump off the barstool and head for the front door without a backward glance. I barely make it out the door before I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Connor’s number again.

“Can you handle the proposal for Finn? I can be in Magnolia in a few days,” I blurt out, not even bothering to say hello.

“I already told you I’d go with you to get things started. Mrs. Buckley only expects one of us to come tomorrow anyway,” he tells me. “What’s going on?”

I ignore his question. “Great. I need to head out of town for a few days or more. I’m not sure.”

“Where are you going?” he asks, but it sounds like he already knows the answer.

“New York.” I hang up the phone and pull out of the spot, pointing my truck toward the airport.

I lost Selina once. I don’t plan on letting it happen again.

Chapter 21

Selina

“I’ll have the chef’s salad with Italian dressing on the side and no onions, please,” Brittany tells the server before looking over in my direction.

Brittany Hayden and I have been friends since I joined the dance company right after graduation. After I got the call to come in for an audition, she was the first person I called. Having had to give up my space in company housing after my injury, I needed a place to bunk while I was in town for my audition. Thankfully, she had her own apartment here in the city and a guest room for me to stay in. Not only did she give me a place to stay, but she made a point of filling me in on everything that had happened here in New York since I headed home.

As soon as I arrived, she whisked me off to the practice room to show me the audition piece. Luckily, it was a piece fromSwan Lakethat I have been dancing throughout my rehabilitation, knowing that if I could land the jump that caused my injury, my fear of being hurt again would be nonexistent. By the end of the night, Brittany said I was dancing like I never left, with a grace she had never seen in anyone before. She has been here for me every step of the way, running through the audition piece with me yesterday afternoon and this morning until my audition.After my audition, she immediately whisked me off to lunch at her favorite restaurant in hopes of occupying my mind while I waited for the call to let me know if I got the part.

The server clears her throat loudly, bringing me back to the present. “I’ll have the same.” I give her an apologetic smile as I hand her my menu.

She flashes us both a smile before striding toward the front of the café. I glance at my reflection in the mirror, noticing the minor changes in my appearance.

“Are you nervous about the audition?” Brittany asks, giving me a reassuring smile.

“Of course. Who wouldn’t be? I haven’t danced professionally in months. I still can’t believe they called me in for an audition. It should have been you dancing up there today instead.”

She reaches across the table and grips my hand, giving it a small squeeze. “Nonsense. Don’t think anything of it. The director specifically asked for you to audition before she decided. The part could go to any of us.”

“Let’s just hope I have the spark she’s looking for.”

Memories of my audition filter through my mind as I pick apart every moment, wondering if what I put forth was enough. If I’m finally going to make it to center stage like I’ve always dreamed of.

“Of course, you do. They wouldn’t have called you if no one believed you would be the perfect person for this role.” Brittany gives me a small smile before she picks at the piece of bread on her plate. “How have things been for the last few months, Selina?”

“Rehab was hard, but I made it through,” I respond quickly before taking a sip of my water.

“Rehab and getting through the audition are all you’ve talked about since you arrived, which I understood. But now that the audition is over, spill the beans, girl.”

I give her a small smile. “There’s nothing to tell. I bought the dance studio in town from my old dance instructor and have been teaching ever since.”

“It must be amazing watching all those young girls grow as dancers.”

“You have no idea.”

I regale her with stories of all the girls that come through my studio. I tell her about teaching them how to pirouette and the excitement I felt the first time one of them completed a sauté without falling. Brittany listens to all my stories, not once interrupting me or making light of all the accomplishments my students have made since I started teaching. As our server arrives with our food, I finally pause.

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