“She’s been teaching me to dance.” Freddie wasn’t looking at us. “It means she touches me and I touch her.”
Made sense.
“How is that going?” Damn, sometimes I forgot how easy Jasper could be and how gentle.
“Good, I think.” Freddie paused, then shook his head. “No, I know it’s good. Sometimes it feels like my chest is gonna explode, but she always seems to know and backs off.”
She probably did know. Her reaction the first time I’d teased her ass. Yeah, she had her own triggers. Her own wounds to heal.
“I hate that she knows and at the same time…” Freddie blew out a breath. “I’m so goddamn grateful for her.”
“Agreed,” I echoed the same sentiment as Kellan and Jasper. Then, Hellspawn fired and the arrow landed inside the second ring, but it thwocked into the target neatly.
I put two fingers to my lips and wolf-whistled. She laughed but Rome was already bringing her another arrow.
“How do I know though?” Freddie said abruptly, facing us. “Like dancing is great. Touching her is great, but—how do I know when I’ll be okay with the touching and the naked?”
None of us could answer that. None of us had Freddie’s experiences. The fact it happened to him long before we’d everknown him didn’t make me hate what happened to him any less. Or wish we’d been introduced sooner.
I’d love a list of names. I’d love to scratch them off.
“Shrike,” I said when Kellan and Jasper both seemed to be taking their time. “The only one who can answer that is you. But the one piece of advice I can give you is trust her. No matter how fast or slow you want to go, let her be your partner. She can do it.” Then because I needed the reminder as much as they did, even as she let the second arrow fly and it hit the bullseye. “She’s a hell of a lot tougher than she looks.”
“I know she is,” Freddie said before he whistled and applauded. But instead of taking a break, Hellspawn had Rome bring her another arrow.
We were going to be here all night.
It was fine, nowhere else I’d rather be.
CHAPTER 17
FREDDIE
“Are you serious?” I could not have heard that correctly, but Boo-Boo just grinned at me.
“Yes, I’m serious. I told you about the water jet that Rome took me on.” At the moment, she was going through different items she’d had delivered today. There were batons and boots. Some of it looked like costumes, but…
“You want to set yourself on fire?” How was I supposed to wrap my head around that?
Pivoting, Boo-Boo faced me. “Yes.” Then she tilted her head to the side before adding, “And no.”
“Thanks for clearing that up for me.” I folded my arms as I stared at her. It kept me from indulging in my urge to take the stuff out of her hands until she explained this to me.
“I want to fire dance,” she said. “It’s not about setting myself on fire, it’s about dancingwiththe fire. While I get that it probably sounds like a lot, if you do it properly, it’s very safe.”
Eyes narrowed, I studied her. Was she yanking my chain right now? “Most of the things you do have to be done properly, but if you make a mistake with fire—you get burned.”
“Yes.” The response wasn’t flippant nor was she ignoring me. She set the boots and baton aside before closing the distance between us. “Freddie, if I miss a twist or I lose my grip on the silks, I can fall. I’ll get hurt that way too.”
“Except you know how to fall,” I said, not that I cared for the idea that much. She rarely used a net when she practiced or performed. The stronger and more confident she became, the less inclined she was to ask for the net, even when testing a new routine. “Then again, depending on how high you are…”
“Exactly,” she said, then held her hands out to me. I gripped her hands in mine. “Freddie, I get it, all the new routines are a little scary. The bow and arrow is still a little clunky. I need to work on that. But the fire dance? That could add a little magic to the performances. I wouldn’t want to do it inside, probably safer to reserve it for outdoor performances.”
“You don’t do many of those.” I squeezed her hands. I couldn’t quite shake the nightmare of her getting burned or worse, actually catching on fire. “Have you actually talked to the others? Doc?”
Maybe throwing Doc out there was a bit of a low blow.
No, definitely a low blow.