Brutal Obsession (133)

“I love you. I don’t think I’ve ever said it out loud, but I do.” She cups my face. “I love you, I love you—”

I kiss her, swallowing the words. Something in my chest unlocks. Not fear, like I expected, but acceptance. I can love her, and I won’t lose her. I’m not a child, afraid of my parents disappearing if I cared too hard. Warmth follows a second later, and I wrap her in my arms.

We’re going to be together forever.





VIOLET





TWO YEARS LATER


“Ready?” the stage manager asks me.

I nod. The curtain falls to thunderous applause, and my heart soars. The corps de ballet flood past me. The curtain rises, sweeping upward, and the lights come on full force. The dancers separate by scenes, going down stage for their final bows.

They soak in the applause, the appreciation, then turn and take their positions farther back. Making room for others.

Across the way, in the opposite wing, is my partner.

“You deserve this,” the stage manager says. “Go ahead.”

I take a deep breath and raise my arms. I walk gracefully out onto the stage, meeting my partner in the center. His hand comes around my waist, and his other cradles my outstretched hand. He motions to me, stepping back, and I curtsey. Then he bows. We come together and repeat, then glide backward.

It’s only then that I can focus on the audience.

And how they’re all standing.

Tears burn the backs of my eyes. This is my first show as a principal dancer with the Boston Ballet. Months of hard work, summer intensives, training. Struggling to balance the last year of school with my role in Crown Point Ballet.

Due to Mia’s abrupt exit, CPB ended up withdrawing from doing a national tour and just produced a home season with Sleeping Beauty. It turned out, there was a lot more going on under the surface. She was abusing funds, adjusting the books. With her rotting in prison, there was a lot of things the board of directors had to fix.

I signed a contract as a soloist and danced through the season… and then I was done. I joined Boston Ballet the following season as a soloist and then was promoted to principal this year.

The curtain closes, and we all come forward. We’ll do one final bow, and then it’ll be time to celebrate.

Well. Even as I say that, I’m aware that I’m lying to myself. Grey had an away game with the Bruins, so I’ll be returning to our empty apartment after a drink at the local bar.

When the curtain reopens, the audience is still on their feet. We all take a final bow.

A murmur sweeps through the room. I crane my head to see where it’s coming from, and my heart skips a beat.

Grey walks up the stairs with a bouquet in his arms. He smiles, his gaze locked on me, as he comes down the stage and stops before me.

“Really?” I murmur, leaning in to kiss him.

He winks. “You think I was going to miss your first performance as lead? Absolutely not. Plus…” He hands the bouquet off and pulls something even better from his pocket.

In front of everyone, he goes down on one knee.

“Violet Reece, will you marry me?” He tilts his head. “This is the only time I’ll make it a question, love.”

Those tears that had been burning behind my eyes spill out. Of all the places, he chooses here. Cementing this memory even more impressively in my mind.

A night I’ll never forget.

“Vi?”

“Yes, yes.” I grin and give him my hand.

He slips the ring on my finger—a perfect fit, of course—and rises. I throw my arms around his neck and press my lips to his.

We got our dreams and each other.

Perfect, right?



THE END

Get ready for more Crown Point University hockey boys in 2023! Pre-order Devious Obsession:

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS





The way this story came about is wild, and I don’t think a book ever coalesced so perfectly for me as an author.

Greyson and Violet were born from the lovely members of my Facebook group, SMassery Squad. That sounds a little weird, but bear with me.

Almost a year ago, I made a slight little mention of Caleb (from Fallen Royals) getting some competition in the form of an even darker, college bully. From that point on, well… Greyson took over. Before I even knew his name, he was in my head.

But because my readers had been there cheering for him since the beginning, I wanted to involve them at the inception level.

I created a series of polls. I thought it would be a refreshing twist to let my readers pick my characters’ first names, some major tropes and sub tropes. (Did someone say spit kink? Helloooo, my new friend! Although this wasn’t actually voted on, it just… happened. Whoops.)

Let me just say: Best. Idea. Ever.

I love getting readers involved. I loved seeing what they wanted in a story from me, and the ideas it invoked from what they were excited about. And, quite meanly, I wrote the dang thing and then kept it a secret for 9 months.

My bad.

Another fun little tidbit: in the book, the CPU Hawks play the Pac North Wolves. That’s a real fictional team from my friend Daniela Romero’s The Savage. She let me include them because I was sitting beside her when I was writing that scene. Thanks, Danielle!