Page 33 of Dirty Dancer

“He said ‘hey,’” I said. “Then I told him ‘not interested’. He didn’t say much after I bent his thumb backwards.”

The word bitch really wasn’t much and I didn’t care what he thought. Freddie scowled and I squeezed his hand.

“I’mfine,” I stressed the last syllable. “We’re still having fun, right?”

He blew out a long breath then switched his attention back to me. “I don’t like anyone grabbing you.”

“Then good thing for him I didn’t let him grab me. I was pretty badass about it.” I raised my chin, inviting the compliment and some of the anger bled out of his expression.

“You’re always badass, Boo-Boo.” He shifted his grip on my hand and then turned us back toward the cart. A lady waved us back to his spot. Apparently, she’d seen everything and she gave us a friendly smile.

Freddie still put me on his other side and I caught him checking the square regularly. I didn’t doubt he was looking for that guy but here was to hoping he was hell and gone. Then it was our turn and we got three huge steak on sticks for me, and two for Freddie. He also got us some sweet and sticky soy-glazed potatoes.

Treasures in hand, we found a spot on the steps near some shade and settled in to eat. Life hummed around us. There were moms out walking with strollers. Businessmen and women hurrying between buildings like they had appointments—to be fair, they probably did.

There were students reading or studying. Others, just like us, had grabbed a comfortable spot in the sun and shade as the fountain switched between the single spray in the middle and the multitude of smaller ones around the edges.

All they really needed was… Before I could even complete the thought, I saw the musician pulling out a violin and left the case at his feet.

“Music,” I said to Freddie. “Perfect.”

He chuckled as I took a bite out of my steak. Thankfully, he’d gotten a couple of bottles of water to wash down our lunch. Theviolinist started out classical, but he didn’t stay there. When he switched to more modern songs, I was impressed.

Tummy full, I leaned my head against Freddie’s shoulder. “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” he said, and the lack of any stress in his voice promised me it really was okay. Someone with a guitar had moved out to join the violinist and there was someone else with a saxophone. Whether they played together before or it was their first time, they gave us an amazing impromptu concert.

We lingered there for almost an hour, just soaking up the atmosphere and the music. When the musicians started packing up, so did we. After we tossed our trash, we swung by the musicians and gave them some bills for their performance.

Hand-in-hand once more, we began the walk back. “You know, when I was younger, I thought it would be so cool to be a street performer.”

“Dancing or doing tricks?”

“Probably doing tricks. I could dance, but I never see much of that out here. Musicians yes, singers and painters… occasionally a sketch artist. So maybe I could have cornered the market. There’s just something freeing about doing what you want when you want.”

“Yep, that freedom also comes with a tight budget and not a lot of food.”

“Don’t rain on my fantasy with your practicality.”

He snorted. “I’m not that practical. Remember, I’ve had a lot of different jobs, from convenience stores, to janitorial, to dishwasher in a restaurant. The jobs all sucked, but they paid. The guys were always making sure there was enough, but I needed to do my part.”

“Did you ever want to do anything specific?”

“Like Milo wanting to be a lawyer or Jasper just wanted to work for himself?”

I shrugged. “Something like that. Kel loves his shop and Vaughn used to love doing tattoos.”

“He will again,” Freddie said, soothing me. “Just takes time.”

It would. Trauma fucked us all up in different ways. “Yeah.” I sighed. “But yes, like them. Did you ever have something you wanted to be?”

Freddie didn’t answer right away, we passed a couple of blocks in silence before he finally said, “I don’t know. I never really thought about tomorrow much less next week, next month, or next year.”

That made my chest hurt.

“Didn’t think I’d ever have much of a future when I let myself think about it. Getting high helped with that, I could get blitzed and all that just falls away.” He gave me a small smile. “Being clean is a lot harder, but it’s all about one day at a time.”

Another block passed in quiet, then he gave my hand a squeeze.

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