Page 63 of One Short Summer

But right now, this amazing man in front of me has my full attention.

He kisses me back with a fervor that surprises the hell out of me, making me gasp into his mouth as he gets up from the chair and carries me inside like I weigh nothing.

I hang on for dear life, and for the first time, a spark of fear ignites inside me that this will end badly, like everyone had warned me before.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Monica

“Okay, okay. Time-out.”Charlie’s sitting next to me on the shiny new wooden floor at the academy, the mirrors reflecting all around us.

Both she and Mira stopped by to bring me lunch since Charlie is apparently concerned about me losing too much weight with all my dancing and working out. In reality, I think she just likes to eat in company these days. I don’t know why some women feel so bad about eating more when they’re pregnant. I’m not saying everyone should eat for two, but all this freaking out over it is just sad.

I might totally be talking out of my butt though because what do I know about pregnancies?

Well...I just walked straight into that one. Didn’t even need anyone else’s help.

Regardless, I’m glad she’s here. They stayed the night in London after the festival, and Charlie already gave me an earful because I didn’t call or text her about everything that happened. Somehow, it felt right to wait and tell her in person though.

Leaning over to Charlie, I steal another piece of watermelon from her bowl, licking my fingers after shoving it in my mouth.

“Mira, please stop driving your car on the mirror, or I’ll take it away. Okay?”

“Okay, Momma.” Her bell-like voice carries across the room, making me grin.

We all know it’s just a matter of time before she does it again. So far, she’s mostly been good though, sitting on the other side of the room in front of the mirror with a little basket of toys. I’ll probably need to clean the mirrors later, but at least she’s having fun.

“Thanks, sweetie.” Charlie turns to me, her focus back on me. “So, let me get this straight. Ivan called to not only tell you the dance company wants you back, but also that you’ll be offered a solo? And then he apologized for his total dick behavior last year?”

I burst out laughing despite the topic. Listening to Charlie use any kind of bad language never gets old. She’s the absolute sweetest person, so it’s hilarious coming from her.

“Stop laughing, Mo. He was a total dick. Dickwad. Douchebag. Whatever you want to call him.” She gives my shoulder a push but can’t hold back the grin either.

I amuse her and nod. “You’re right. About everything you said.”

“Wow. That is so cool. The solo part, not Ivan. Even though I am glad he apologized. It was obviously long overdue.” She spears a piece of strawberry with her plastic fork. “Did the director call you then?”

“He did. I don’t know what Ivan told him, but he was thrilled nonetheless to offer me the solo and to officially welcome me back on the team as a dancer. And not just as a part of the behind-the-scenes crew like I’d talked to him about before.” It still seems surreal all of that happened less than twenty-four hours ago.

My dream—the one I’ve been working toward my whole dance career—has finally been offered to me.

This is huge. Really, really huge. The biggest accomplishment in my career.

Charlie lowers her head, staring intently at her bowl. “Does that mean you have to leave even sooner now?”

I’m about to open my mouth when I hear her sniffle. “Oh, come on, don’t do that to me. Are you crying?”

She wipes at her eyes furiously before peeking over at me. “Sorry, it’s the hormones. Sad dog commercials are the worst.”

I can’t help myself and chuckle. “Are you comparing me to a dog commercial now?”

Shaking her head, she sticks her tongue out at me. “No. The dog commercials are way worse than you. Back to the topic. How much longer do you have?”

“Around two weeks, depending on when I can get a flight.”

Her lower lips juts out as she nods. “So soon.” After a deep breath, she goes back to her fruit bowl. “Are you going to be okay working with Ivan?”

My hand flies to her elbow, startling her so much she almost drops the grape she picked up. “Oh, I haven’t gotten to that part yet. When I woke up this morning, I had a few text messages from him on my phone. He said there was more he’d wanted to tell me when I hung up on him, but that he understood why I did it, blah blah blah. Anyway, he wanted to tell me that he took some sort of consulting-slash-trainer job for a major musical movie that’s going to be filmed next year, so I won’t have to worry about seeing or dancing with him anytime soon.”

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