Page 18 of Dance Omega Dance
“Oh, my God, honey, you made it!” she gasped, bending down and hugging me. I smiled, my eyes watering. “When I saw the stage, I thought you were gone!”
I squeezed her harder, gripping her clothes as salty tears cushioned my lips. She even smelled like ash and pain. Pulling back from her, I looked down, everything was intact. Damn. She was lucky. I could see she was doing the same to me. Her brow furrowed when she saw the injury to my leg.
“But what about your dancing?” she asked, tears streaming down her face. I couldn’t help but shed a few myself; the trauma of the day so far was too much.
“I've been through worse.”
Blake walked over and wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb. “Everything alright?” he asked, looking from me to Maddie.
I nodded, wiping my face now that the tears had finally stopped. “This is Maddie, my best friend.”
He smiled and greeted her.
“Maddie, this is Blake. He saved me.”
“Aww!” she said, welling up some more. I rolled my eyes. “A real knight in shining armor!”
Blake frowned.
“Oh, he’s not one of those love,” Zach said, greeting Maddie.
Blake grabbed Zach's arm and pulled him away. “How about we leave the ladies to talk?”
Zach groaned and left with Blake to help Anders.
When they were out of earshot, Maddie said, “Looks like you’ve been busy!”
I smirked. “He’s just taking me home.”
“Oh, I bet he is!” Then her face dropped. I frowned. “But honey, you can't go home!”
“What? Why?”
She shook her head and placed her hand on my shoulder. “I'm sorry, but it's not there anymore. The entire apartment block collapsed in the earthquake.”
My jaw dropped. “But...” I took a deep breath. “But what am I going to do?”
She sighed, “I'd offer to stay with me, but as you can see, my apartment is just the same,” she said, waving to the apocalyptic street before me.
I looked around. I hadn't realized where we were. Maddie’s apartment was in the center of the city. She was lucky she hadn’t been home when it happened.
“Shit,” I said, “What are you going to do? “
“Looks like I'm moving back to my family's home.” The corners of her mouth edged downward. I nodded. “So, where will you go?”
I hadn't realized, but Zach was close by. He grinned and bounded over. “Come stay with us!” He smiled. “We've got plenty of room.”
My eyes widened as the scent of cedarwood took over my body.
“I, erm...” His scent took over my words, absorbing me into them, playing with me, teasing, taunting. It was the temptation of something more, a promise of a future, a life, free and secure.
Zach placed his arm around my shoulder. “There’s no erm about it, princess. You need a place to nest, and we need you.”
Maddie frowned. “You need her?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
He grinned. “Well, of course we do. She’s ours now.”
“I, erm...” I repeated.
