Page 44 of Teach Me to Fly

He shrugs, a little too innocently. “Nothing. Just… wondering how long you two plan on pretending you’re not seconds away from combusting in a fit of unresolved sexual tension.”

I stop walking. “Lando?—”

“Oh, don’t Lando me.” He halts too, turning to face me with both hands on his hips. “I’m not blind. I know you two fooled around behind my back years ago. There’s chemistry between you two,” he jabs a finger at me, "he watches you like he’s starving and you’re the last meal on Earth, and you, you blush every time he so much as looks your way.”

“I do not,” I scoff.

He cocks his head. “You’re literally blushing right now just from the mention of him.”

I press my hands to my cheeks feeling the scorching heat for myself.

Damn it.

“It’s nothing. We’re just figuring out how to work together.”

“Uh-huh.” Lando lifts a skeptical brow. “And how do you explain the way he looks at you? Or the way you flinched today, and he just backed off? That’s not the same Reign that I know.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. That moment is still replaying in my mind on a never-ending loop.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,” Lando says, softer now. “I think you make each other better. But babe… this isn’t just artistic chemistry, and you know it.”

I look at him, the lump forming in my throat too familiar. “Even if you’re right, it’s not that simple.”

“Because of what happened?” he asks gently, and I nod.

Lando sighs, stepping closer. “I don’t know what it’s like to carry what you carry, but I know Reign, and I’ve never seen him like this. He’s usually a locked door with a deadbolt. With you… it’s like he’s trying to open.”

That hits something inside me I didn’t expect. I glance away, my voice quiet. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“You don’t have to be,” he says. “But maybe just… try to open your mind to the idea that he could be another safe person in your life.”

I exhale slowly, staring out over the lawn. The sun catches on the dew still clinging to the grass and suddenly, everything feels too alive.

“I’m scared,” I admit.

Lando nods. “I know.”

He bumps his shoulder into mine as we start walking again.

“But just so we’re clear,” he adds, grinning again. “If this turns into some epic tortured romance where I have to watch my brother pine tragically for you while you pine back in silence, I’m staging an intervention. With snacks and possibly a slideshow.”

I snort. “You’re the worst.”

He flashes me a wink and for the first time in days, I smile without effort.

Chapter 14

Reign

At exactly two in the morning on Saturday, while watching the end of a surf tournament for my favourite surf team, The Saltwater Shredders, my phone pings with an email notification from Terry.

I almost text the bastard and ask why he’s still awake but when I open the email, I find several video attachments of the new choreography along with his request that Angelique and I look them over together and come prepared on Monday to rehearse with him and Volkov. Knowing Terry, he’s barely slept all week to complete the choreo in time.

Angelique went to bed hours ago, so I forward the email to her inbox so she can take a look in the morning, but minutes later I hear her room door creak open. I glance over my shoulder and see her walking down the hallway in another oversized T-shirt.

“Lord, help me,” I mumble, my eyes burning a path along her perfect bare legs. I turn around and hit the mute button just as my favourite surfer, Koa, comes onto the television for a post-race interview.

“I think we’re going to need to add a dress code to our rule list,” I say with a smirk, turning to face her again, but the words die on my lips when I see her.

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