Page 27 of Changed By You

It’d absolutely be you.

I force myself to focus on Misty and Dom, who are talking about music. Dom likes a wide variety of music, which I wouldn’t have guessed. He got his start playing a drum set that was in the back room of a Laundromat his parents bought. While they worked, he played.

“How about you?” he asks Misty. “What made you start gymnastics?”

“I watched the Olympics on TV and knew I wanted to be there someday. I was the only Black girl in my class and the more the other girls made fun of me, the harder I worked.”

Dom holds her gaze, something passing between the two of them.

“That’s badass,” he says. “And look at you now.”

“It took a lot of hard work to get here. It takes even harder work tostayhere.”

“Gotta make some time for fun, too, though. You’re too young and beautiful to work all the time.”

Giana pokes me and we exchange a look. I sneak a glance at Dalton and our eyes lock.

Holy shit. He is looking at me.

This is starting to feel dangerous. I can’t pursue a man Farrah’s interested in. Just the thought is laughable.

I look away again, reminding myself what’s at stake.

Everything.

My dad’s care, my parents’ home, even my brother’s career. If I can’t make enough to support our parents, he’ll drop out of medical school so he can help me support them.

I can’t let that happen. There’s too much on the line. A man like Dalton is just a dream for me. Maybe someday I can have that, but not right now.

ten

Dalton

“What’s up with you?”JP asks me over breakfast the next day. “You’re normally a lot chattier than this.”

I shrug and push the last bite of my omelet around on my plate. “Just tired.”

“Did Farrah go back to your room last night? You can tell me if she did.”

“No, she didn’t.”

The sunset cruise sucked. Alice wouldn’t even look at me for most of it. I shouldn’t have hoped for time alone with her while the entire cast and crew were packed onto a sailboat, but I did.

She looked so damn cute in those jean shorts and that T-shirt. The shorts fit her round ass perfectly and I couldn’t stop looking at it.

The female contestants on the show were all made up and wearing dresses, and the guys all had to wear nice pants and collared shirts. But as the sun was setting and the boat was cutting through the waves, I was wishing I could be walking on the beach with Alice, wearing shorts and a T-shirt myself.

Maybe we’d walk to a beachfront restaurant for dinner. Spend hours talking and laughing over a bottle of wine.

It’s fucking maddening, falling for a woman so hard and fast and instead having to pretend I want someone else.

I’m over the show. Faking shit isn’t for me. But I can’t leave. Not only because of Rita and the league but because then I wouldn’t get to see Alice anymore. I’ll pretend to be interested inanyoneif it means I can stay here.

Alice wasn’t at sunrise yoga this morning. Farrah said she was feeling run down and needed some extra rest. I was disappointed, because even though I couldn’t have had a real conversation with her, at least I could’ve seen her.

“What are you looking for here?” I ask JP. “Are you hoping to find a wife?”

He shrugs. “I wouldn’t mind it. I’m thirty, you know? I want to be in a relationship with someone for at least a couple of years before I pop the question, so I know it’s right.”

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