Page 65 of Falling With a Spin

“No, no, I haven’t. I have been wanting to, but each time I attempt, my body locks up. It’s like I have lost this part of me, and I don’t know how to find it.” She sighs and leans back against the booth.

“It’s still a part of you, Emma. You danced for the majority of your life, that's something that can’t be taken from you. Will it be hard going back and learning something after two years of not doing it? Yeah. But will it come back to you like you never stopped? Yes, it will.” She smiles at me and nods her head.

“Yeah, but I think it’s best that I just keep doing what I'm doing. I don’t want to get my hopes up on this wild idea that I could dance again.” She says, picking at the baby pink nail polish that started to chip.

I pull into Emma’s complex, nerves racking through my body as I wait for her to come out of her apartment building. I texted her a few days ago to be ready by nine am on her birthday and that I have a surprise for her. Since then, she’s been relentlessly asking what it is; I told her, “It’s staying a surprise no matter how many times you ask.” to say the least, she wasn’t thrilled with that answer. She then went out of her way to ask one of the guys. They shot her down after I gave them a very strict warning that if they told her - and I would find out if they did- I would torture them with their weaknesses. I was even surprised with myself at how well I stuck it out.

I check in the back to make sure that the second part of her birthday surprise is tucked away nicely behind my seat to where she won’t be able to see it.

As I turn around, I see Emma coming out of her building, and all the breath from my lungs is knocked from me. She is wearing a navy blue knitted long sleeve that’s tucked into tight black ripped jeans that hug her hips so fucking nicely, her hair is down in soft curls, and she has very little makeup. Emma didn’t need much.

She is effortlessly beautiful and doesn’t even know it.

I get out of the car, leaning on the hood. When she reaches me, I pull her into a hug. “Happy birthday, beautiful,” I whisper into her ear.

A breathy laugh comes from her and she pulls away, raising on her tiptoes to give me a quick kiss. “Thank you,” She says, hitting me with a breathtaking smile that's contagious.

“Come on, we need to get going.” I walk over to her door opening it for her.

She stays standing at the front of the car, with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised, “Are you going to tell me what the surprise is, or are you going to continue being stubborn?”

“I'm going to continue to tell you it's a surprise until it’s not.” I gave her a smirk. “Now, will you please get in the car?” I ask. She rolls her eyes and gets in the car, mumbling some nonsense.

“I do have a favor that I need from you,” I tell her once I'm in the driver's seat. “I need you to wear this.” In my hand is black silk cloth.

She looks at the cloth and then back at me, a burning fire showing in her eyes. She nods her head, and I reach over, tying it to make sure she can’t see anything.

“Okay, it's a pretty short drive, so we will be there shortly.” I plug in my phone, mapping out the directions, making sure the sound is off so it won’t give away where we are headed. Pulling up Spotify, I scroll through my songs and press play on the Taylor Swift playlist I made specifically for today..

As I drive out of her complex, she hums to the music with a smile on her face. I chuckle at her silly dance moves as Shake It Off plays. She deserves the absolute best in life. The fact that she hasn’t been given that from the start baffles me. Her mom did everything that she could to give her the best, but Emma still got the short end of the stick. Her Dad hasn’t been there for the majority of her life, her dreams were stolen from her in a matter of seconds, and she had an asshole boyfriend who should be rotting in hell right now.

My goal is to give her everything she deserves from here on out.

When she mentioned her love for dancing and how it brought this whole other part of her alive, there was this brightness in her eyes. But the brightness quickly vanished when she explained to me what happened at her last recital. I could feel the pain and hurt in her voice.

After dropping Emma off, I called my little sister to see if there were any openings where she was currently taking classes. It was relatively close by, so I know Emma can go there after school or work when she wants to.

The conversation with Aubrey went less than stellar. She assumed I was asking for myself, and when I couldn’t stop laughing, she threatened to hang up. I told her it was for someone special, and she shot off rapid-fire questions: Who is she? What is her name? Is she a dancer, too? What is she like? Do you have classes with her? Can I follow her on social media? Laughter broke through me. When I told her Emma's name, she then reluctantly gave me the information. The next day, I called up the studio and got Emma a spot. She will be able to sign up for any classes whenever she wants.

As we get closer, my hands become sweaty, and my heart starts racing. I’m hoping Emma will be as excited about this as I am to show her.

I pull into a parking spot in front of Callie’s Dance Studio. Taking a deep breath, “You have to keep the blindfold on until we are inside.” She gives me a sigh, and even though I can’t see it, I know she rolls those hazel eyes. Chuckling, I turn off the car, grabbing the bag that’s apart of her surprise, before coming around the car to open the door.

I gently take her hand in mine and bring her out of the car. “I'm getting a little nervous about what this could be.” She laughs from my side as I guide her towards the front door.

“Don’t be nervous. You are going to love it.” I squeeze her hand, reassuring her.

Opening the door to the dance studio, I quickly turn her around before bringing her to one of the rooms. I made sure that nobody was coming in today, so I was able to do this. I didn’t want anyone around to see her reaction; I wanted it for myself.

I walk us to the center of the room, turning us to face the mirrors. It’s the biggest room the studio has, with ceiling-to-floor mirrors lining the walls, stopping before it reaches the opposite side with a barre stretching out across it. Posters of dancers hang on the walls, and a stereo on the far right where you can plug in the music that will play from the surround sound is in installed.

“Okay, I'm going to let go so I can take off the blindfold, okay?” I ask, my voice shaking towards the end.

“Okay.” She whispers

I untie the blindfold and hold my breath as I watch her in the mirror. Her eyes open, taking in her surroundings. I hear her breathing hitch as her eyes roam over every inch of the room.

“Surprise,” I whisper behind her.

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