Page 153 of The Failed Audition

The Calloways are infamous. This show will be all over the news…in a good way.Amour needs the publicity, but what if the magazines are littered with bad reviews? “This is worse than having the cast ofThe Vampire Diarieshere,” I realize.

“They were here last week,” Nikolai tells me.

I gape. “What?” I missed them? What was I doing?God, what if you were washing your hair. How lame.I look up and Nikolai is close to laughing.

“Joking,” he says. “I don’t even know whatThe Vampire Diariesis.”

I scowl. “It’s a show, agreatshow.”

With a more charming smile, he pulls me closer. My arms swoop around his waist, the heat of his skin warming me.

“When you’re on stage, stay in the moment,” he says, more encouraging. “Nothing else matters.”

Loud, coarse Russian infiltrates our conversation, the voice familiar by now. Dimitri stands close with a water bottle in hand, passing our apparatus to reach the teeterboard. He speaks straight to Nikolai, but he’s gesturing to me.

After hanging around the Kotovas nearly every single day, I can pick apart certain words. “What’s not a good idea?” I ask Dimitri.

He glances over his shoulder, as though to make sure no one listens in, and then he nears us. My eyes widen as I crane my neck to look up between them, inadvertently being sandwiched between two of the tallest Russian men here.

“Tell Thora,” Dimitri says.

Nikolai marbleizes. “We promised her that we wouldn’t tell anyone.” For some reason, I know that the “her” is not referring to me.

Dimitri rests a hand on my head and speaks in Russian. Um…

Nikolai smacks his hand away and replies, “It’s not the same.”

“No one wants the show to suffer again because of a break up.”Suffer again.He’s referring to Nikolai’s last partner. His last girlfriend. Tatyana. Hisit’s complicated.I’m beginning to think Dimitri is afraid of history repeating itself.

I didn’t even think of that. “We won’t…” I can’t finish the words. Both guys areglaringat each other, seemingly speaking through their eyes.

And Dimitri is the first to crack. “Go ahead and tell her what happened with Tatyana.”

Nikolai’s jaw muscles clench. “I wish she hadn’t told you anything.”

“We’re friends. The way we’re friends.” He motions to his chest to Nikolai’s, back and forth.

“Bullshit,” Nikolai says. “You loved her. She didn’t love you.”

He snorts. “What are you talking about love? I just wanted to fuck her.”

I cringe at the crudeness of Dimitri Kotova. I will never become used to it. Maybe that’s a good thing. “Nikolai,” I cut in while he throws daggers into Dimitri. “What’s going on?”

He won’t meet my gaze. He’s still fixated on his friend. “I broke up with Tatyana a couple months before her injury.”

He’s telling you the whole story, Thora.

I inhale strongly, waiting for him to release the truth.

Nikolai continues, “I just didn’t love her the way that she loved me, and it wasn’t fair to her—to be in a one-sided relationship. She deserved more than me.”

Dimitri points at himself.

Nikolai retorts, “Definitely not you.”

Dimitri extends his arms. “I’m a great motherfucking catch. Right, Thora?” He winks at me.

My insides curdle. “Uh…”

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