Page 35 of Knot For A Moment

“Yeah.” I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. “I am.”

She smirked. “Then I don’t have to play watchdog?”

“No,” I laughed before stepping back.

Class next to Asher was distracting. Waves of his scent kept hitting me, and I wanted to step closer to him. But in the end, it didn’t matter. His eyes were on me and mine on him the entire time, no matter what. At least if we were next to each other, we wouldn’t be eye-fucking each other from across the room.

Today was act two. Which, arguably, was worse than act one. At least for the principals. I lovedGiselle, but it wasn’t an easy ballet.

The bright spot was the break for lunch, when we walked into the break room and found a huge catered spread waiting for us. I still ate my Indian, but the gesture brought everyone’s energy up. It wasn’t as big a struggle to get to the end of the day.

But when Ian finally declared us finished, I sank to the floor immediately, thankful I’d had the presence of mind to throw some extra fluffy socks in my bag.

Ash knelt beside me. “You’re coming home with me tonight.”

“Ash—”

He gripped my wrist gently. “We’re not savage animals, blue. They know what’s happening here. We’re not going to pounce on you. But Jace is a physio. He’s already gone home for the day, and I want you to see him.”

Gabriel had mentioned it, and in the haze of everything, I’d forgotten. I stared at him, feeling struck dumb by too many hours of dancing. “I don’t have clothes.”

“I can go get your clothes. Please, blue.”

I nodded and looked around. It was a shitty thing to be grateful for, but I wasn’t the only one who was struggling. Claire’s head leaned back against the wall, everything about her claiming exhaustion. Skylar, Isabelle, and Chloe, the other Giselles were exhausted too. And we were supposed to have a dress rehearsal in four days? This was impossible.

“I don’t think I can do this,” I whispered. “I don’t think any of us can.”

Asher’s mouth was a grim line. “Let me get you out of here, okay? We’ll talk about it.”

He went to lift me into his arms, and I stopped him, instead letting him help me to my feet. “I don’t want him to see.”

The glare he shot Ian made me wonder if he could set things on fire at will. “What the hell happened?”

“I was late to my meeting with him. Even though I had no idea he was going to be there, he was pissed. Went off on me for being disrespectful. Along with the comment about me being on time yesterday, I don’t think he has the best impression of me, and I’m not wanting to add to that by being carried out of the studio.” I touched Asher’s arm. “Even if I would like that.”

“Let’s go,” he said, clearly holding himself back from saying anything else.

I followed him out, not fighting him when he lifted me into his arms as soon as we left the theater. He took care of everything. The helmet, our bags, and putting me on the bike. I leaned against him and closed my eyes, holding on.

We’d been through rough rehearsal periods before. When you were doing three different shows and dancing pieces in all of them. Why was I so tiredthistime? I’d always been able to hold myself together.

The engine revved, and we sped away from the plaza. A little piece of me whispered the truth. For the first time in forever, I had someone to help take care of me. This was more than just exhaustion from rehearsal. It was exhaustion fromyearsof being alone. From going home and having to bandage my own feet, make sure I ate, make sure I woke up.

I wasn’t going to roll over and suddenly let someone else do all the work and make all my decisions, but it was nice to know someone had my back. For a while, I could relax and let someone hold me while I breathed.

My hands tightened around Ash’s waist.

CHAPTER TWELVE

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SLOANE

“You live here?” I asked when Ash lifted off my helmet and I could see more clearly.

The street was lined with big, shady trees that scattered the streetlights into fractured shimmers that washed over everything. Townhomes stretched in front of us, down each block. But not what people thought of when you said a townhouse. These were essentially tall mansions.

All the way on the north side of the city, we weren’t too far from where my grandmother lived. And very far away from where I did.

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