Page 93 of The Roommate Remodel

Every guy looks at the ice.

Brendan shakes his head. “That’s why I’m going to simplify the routine and cut the middle section. Instead, you’ll come up with your own dance break.”

“What?” Vale and I say in unison. That sounds scarier than doing a choreographed routine.

Brendan holds up his hand. “You each get about five seconds to do whatever you want. The robot. The moonwalk. The Macarena. You’re in skates, so keep that in mind. But the crowd will love it, because it’syou. The idea isn’t to look good; it’s making these kids smile. Can you do that?”

He glances around at the team. Lucian raises his eyebrows. Leo mutters to himself. Tate is already googling dance moves. Even Dawson, our eternal optimist, is noticeably silent.

Vale steps forward. “I’ll do it.” Then he glances at me and flicks his thumb for me to follow.

I reluctantly take a step to the front. “Me too.”

Dawson follows. Then a few more guys. Finally, Rourke joins us. “Guess if Big Mac thinks he can dance, then I can too.”

After simplifying the routine and adding individual dance breaks, it somehow comes together even better than before.

We might not be the most coordinated, but what we do have is personality. That’s the magic ingredient we’ve been missing for this event. A chance to show our community that we’re good sports, even if it means looking like dancing fools.

After running through the opening number a few more times, we call it quits and head for home.

Before I leave the Ice House, I get a message from Jaz asking me to pick up a hard drive in her office for Brendan to use.

As I head up the dark staircase to her office, a strip of light escapes from under Alex’s office door. The low rumble of a man’s voice comes from the other side.Why would Alex have a meeting this late?I lean in closer, knowing if I get caught, I’ll have some explaining to do.

A strange voice asks, “Why not sell the team?”

I freeze, while every bone in my body goes cold.

“If I got a good enough offer, I’d consider it,” Alex answers. “But I’m not sure I can wait that long. We need to move forward with this sports complex.”

“And the fundraiser?” another man asks. “Are you actually going through with it?”

“For now,” Alex says, hesitating slightly.

Tom’s voice rumbles, “We need to make this as hard as possible for Jaz. If she succeeds with this fundraiser, then it makes us look bad when we shut down the team and build a new sports complex. Those guys are becoming heroes in the community. Have you seen the attendance numbers?”

Alex pauses. “It’s never that simple, Tom. It’s a fundraiser for charity. We’re splitting the proceeds. I can hardly see howsabotaging a charitable event works to our advantage. She’s already got the sympathy vote.”

Tom speaks up, “I can make sure that the money raised disappears... and we fire her for the mistake.”

Alex hesitates. “You’ll throw Jaz under the bus?”

“Would you rather be the one?” Tom asks.

Alex is noticeably silent, and my fists curl in rage. I want to bust down this door, grab Tom by the collar, and shove him against the wall hard enough to knock some sense into the man.

But anger and fighting have never solved my problems. Just look at Felipe.

If I take my anger out on Tom now, it’ll only leave a black smear on my reputation. He might be a slimy weasel, but I have to outsmart him and Alex with something better than fists.

I take a deep breath and back away from the door.If only I knew how to protect Jaz.

TWENTY-ONE

Jaz

Igrab Sloan’s hand and squeeze it as she gets hooked up to another IV. “You feel anything yet?” I ask hopefully, looking at the liquid drug that I’m hoping is her miracle cure.

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