Breaking Away (Assassins, #5)(62)

But an hour later, Reese found out that it was a ligament tear. Mallory was out for the rest of the season. Maybe longer. Reese was heartbroken for her because there was a good chance she was going to lose her scholarship to NYC but, instead of telling Mallory that, she guaranteed her that she would be dancing in no time. Sliding down the wall, she closed her eyes, her elbows resting on her knees and her hand falling between her legs, holding her phone. She was insanely worried about Mallory, she was, but ever since opening her studio, she had always had each category at the competitions filled and this time, she might not. This wasn’t that big of a deal but, at the same time, it was. This was Brian’s senior year. He wanted to go into college with the best competition record possible and having a win in the couple’s category meant he was a team player.

Fuck.

When her phone dinged, she looked at the screen to see that it was Phillip.

Busy?

She smiled as she typed back.

No, can I call you?

Before she could call him, her phone rang, signaling that it was him.

“Hey.”

“Hey, I am on break after a very long meeting,” he said. He sounded tired, and she had no doubt that he was. A flutter tickled deep in her stomach as he said, “What are you doing?”

“Sitting against the wall of my big studio, worried sick about one of my dancers. She tore the muscle in her knee.”

“Oh shit, that sucks.”

“Yeah, so now I am freaking out because my senior dancer, Brian, won’t compete but once, his solo, and I didn’t put him in the group because I felt his duet was so strong. Now I am freaking out, and I sound crazy, don’t I? Do you even care? I’m sorry,” she said, ending with a laugh before covering her face.

“No, not at all. This is important, and it sucks. I’m sorry that happened.”

“Yeah, it blows. I am having a hard time trying to make a decision on what’s right. I guess I could throw him in with the group, or maybe let him do it as a solo.”

“Yeah, or can’t you put him with someone else? Have them learn the dance and hope for the best? I mean, you’re pretty amazing and can probably teach a whole team of hockey players how to dance, so it should be cake for you.”

Why didn’t she think of that? And wasn’t that sweet of him?

“When did you get so smart?”

He laughed, and it made her smile. It felt good to have someone to talk to. Usually she talked to Piper, but she had been so busy with her new family and moving into their new house. Reese felt horrible bothering her with her issues.

“The only problem is that the only girl that could step up is Claire. She is doing a group, a duet with Skylar, and a solo. I don’t know if she could handle another dance.”

“Yeah, I don’t know, ask her. I haven’t even seen the girl dance yet, except when I catch her dancing in her room, but then she screams at me and I run and hide.”

Reese snorted with laughter as he laughed. “I’ll call her, and why don’t I try to convince her to let you see her dance since you helped me? She had mentioned it a while back, but I haven’t heard anything since.”

“That would be great, thanks,” he said. She could tell that this meant a lot to him, and she wanted to make it happen.

“Okay, well, let me let you go. I’m gonna call Claire.”

“All right, I’m about to go take a nap.”

“Sweet dreams,” she said, wishing that she could nap with him, which was completely against everything she believed in. She hadn’t slept, like go to sleep, with a guy in years. So weird, that must have come from him being there for her.

“They will be if they’re about your sweet ass.”

She giggled as she shook her head. “Bye.”

“Bye,” he said.

She hung up, dialing Claire’s number. Claire answered on the fourth ring and after explaining what happened, Claire was all for doing it.

“Are you sure you have the time?” Reese asked. “Can you handle it all?”

“Yeah, no problem. The only thing is… don’t take this wrong, okay?”

“Ok,” Reese said wearily, not sure what was going to be said.

“But, the dance isn’t challenging enough for me. I’ve seen it, and I know that you did it that way for Mallory, but I am better than Mallory. I need better stuff.”

God, she was well past her years. This girl was going to blow people away one day.

“Claire, Chicago is in three weeks. I have a lot going on, and it would be hard for me to make up an award-winning dance and teach it in that amount of time. I could do it, but it wouldn’t be my best work.”

“I get that, but Brian and I actually have something.”

“What?” she asked, confused. When did they see each other but in rec? Even in that class, they didn’t even talk.

“I did a dance for us. We hang out sometimes and we were messing around. I came up with this dance. It’s amazing, really. I bet he’ll come in. I can call him. He’ll come get me, and we can come up there.”

“Y’all hang out? Huh, I’m so confused. I didn’t even know you two talked.”

“Yeah, we are kind of dating, I guess.”

What. The. Fuck. When did this happen? Did Phillip know? But, wait…