Page 19 of The Wildcat

She brings our pinkies up between us. “Anything.”

Famous last words.

“What are you doing here, honey?” Mom asks from the front desk as I push through the door of Hart & Soul the next morning. “I thought your sister was teaching this class.”

I shoulder my dance bag and move through the lobby we’ve affectionately dubbedthe fishbowlbecause the parents can sit and watch their kids dance in the studio through a window in the room. Once I’m next to Mom, she kisses my cheek and fixes my bun. I hand her one of the two coffees I picked up next door at Maddox’s mom’s bakery, Sweet Temptations.

“Bless you,” she mumbles as she greedily grabs her favorite coffee from me and sips. Annabelle Sinclair is a beautiful woman. She may be in her early forties, but she doesn’t look a day over thirty, and I thank God for her good genetics often. A former prima ballerina who came back to town when her parents died, she became my Uncle Tommy’s legal guardian, and lucky for my brothers, Grace, and me, she fell in love with our dad. She’s also a saint.

Grace and I were never easy.

Well... I wasn’t. Grace just got lumped in because of the whole twin thing. But my three younger brothers made us look like angels. They’re hell on skates. All three of them. Much to my father’s disappointment. Everyone always joked that Mom and Dad would end up with their very own football team. Instead, all three boys play hockey. Poor Dad.

Mom cups my cheek. “Go get changed, Evie. The girls should start arriving soon.”

“What’s the age range?” I call back as I head back to her office.

“Three and four today. Babies,” I hear her answer before I shut her door and kick off my Uggs and sweats. I slip on my black skirt over my tights and adjust my pink sweater. Gotta look the part. A few bobby pins jammed into my bun or moreaccurately, my skull, later—because if it doesn’t hurt, that sucker isn’t staying put—and I’m ready to go. Or as ready as I’m going to be this early on a Saturday.

The sound of excited little girls greets me as I open the office door and step into the hallway, and I reach back into the office and grab my coffee. It’s going to be a long day.

I walk out front and into the first studio, then turn on Mom’s playlist for the baby ballerinas and stretch out a little. Not like I’m going to really be dancing, but muscle memory insists on it. I chug the final sip of my coffee and paste a smile on my face before shoving my shoulders back and walking into the fishbowl to greet the babies.

But when a tall, dark, and handsome man is standing there holding the hand of a baby ballerina, my words get stuck in my throat.

That handsome man holding the hand of a little girl in a pink tutu, who looks horrifically nervous, hasn’t noticed me because he’s squatting down in front of the little girl. Her blonde curls are already breaking free from her bun, and she’s clutching a pink bunny to her chest. I stand there, entranced, watching Cross whisper something to the girl and then kiss her forehead as she nods in agreement.

Her little eyes move to me when he stands, and I smile and squat the way he just was. “Hi. My name is Miss Everly. What’s your name?”

Big blue eyes look from me to her father, who stares at me like he just saw a ghost before he places his big palm on her small back. “Go ahead, baby. Tell her your name.”

Oh. My. Goodness.

Can an ovary explode?

And if so, why the fuck did mine?

I’ve never had a daddy fetish.

The little girl looks at him again, and he nods, prompting her.

“Kerrigan,” she whispers and grabs hold of Cross’s leg.

I offer her my hand, and she takes it hesitantly. “Are you ready to have some fun, Kerrigan?”

She nods her little head, and her bun bobbles in place as Cross’s eyes finally lock with mine. “You’re welcome to have a seat over there and watch the class, Mr....” Guess I should have asked Cross his last name before today.

“Wilder,” he offers, and I smile.

“See you after class, Mr. Wilder.”

Kerrigan turns around and hands the pink bunny to Cross. “Bye, Daddy.”

Guess that answers that question.

I really should have asked more questions.

CROSS

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