‘I’m so sorry,’ I say, beaming at their matching white singlets, red sweatpants and black baseball caps. They look adorable. ‘How are you guys feeling?’
‘Like I’m going to be sick,’ chokes Mayday. Snuggles slips an arm around him.
‘I’mpumped,’ says Bliss, rocking from foot to foot.
‘I forget which beat we start on,’ moans Avalanche.
‘It’s one round of eight, and then go on theone,’ Usher explains, and I nod in confirmation.
‘Just follow the others,’ I add, giving Avalanche a reassuring grin. I count out the beats to familiarise him with the song’s intro until the Latin dance track that’s been thumping through the stage wall comes to an end. My dancers share wild-eyed glances—even Bliss and Usher look nervous now.
‘Everyone hold hands and take a deep breath,’ I say, quickly guiding them into a circle. I eyeball each dancer, passing them a relaxed smile. ‘Team Evie: you’vegot this. You have all worked so hard—now it’s time to go out there and shine bright!’ As I speak, the boulder in my stomach begins to shift and loosen. If there’s anything that can take my mind off Gabriel Dean, it’s this crew and this music.
After we raise our arms in a group cheer, I help the dancers line up in the wings. On stage, I see Austin standing within the glow of the spotlight, clutching a microphone and talking about the human rights charity our showcase is supporting.
Austin then introduces my awesome squad, and the opening bars of the ‘Not Like Us’ radio edit burst through the speakers. One by one, my panicked dancers groove onto the stage, nice and low, like I taught them.
From the first knee spin, Ushernailsthe routine, and even though I can’t make out the spectators’ faces through the blazing stage lights, I’m willing to bet they can’t take their eyes off him.
Mayday is struggling even more than Avalanche, and Snuggles appears to be locked in a silent scream. But together, the group makes it through the foot-pivots, shoulder-pops, slide-steps and body-rolls. When Usher breaks into his solo, doing a smooth dolphin dive and rise-up combo, the crowd’s cheers and wolf-whistles momentarily smother the music.
On the track’s final beat, the dancers freeze in a series of cool, attitude-filled poses, and the crowd goes ballistic. My smile almost splits my face. I hold up two fists in the air while the dancers pile off the stage towards me, panting and grinning. Snuggles throws both arms around me and squeezes the breath from my chest.
‘I can’t believe I survived!’ gasps Avalanche.
Bliss laughs. ‘When can we do it again?’ she says, strangling my wrists.
Mayday groans. ‘Never!’ He bends to grip his knees. ‘I ain’t got no nerves left.’
Austin jogs onto the stage from the opposite side to introduce the next celebrity act, and I invite my dancers over to the bar so I can shout them all a well-deserved drink.
I order a virgin mojito, as I’m driving, and cast my gaze around the buzzy nightclub. Now that the performance is over and I’m no longer distracted, my eyes are hunting for him everywhere, even though I wish they wouldn’t.
My stomach twists tight.
There he is.
He’s sitting on one of the navy velvet couches behind the VIP rope across the room, a beer bottle hanging loosely from his fingers. When he fails to look in my direction, I blink down at my cocktail, a sea of uncomfortable emotions welling up in my throat. After what Kye told me at the photo shoot, I understand why he doesn’t want to pursue anything romantic with me. Still, the blatant rejection, the walking away without a backwards glance, hits a little too close to home.
A palm captures my elbow and I’m tugged into a spin, nearly colliding with Rafael’s silky black shirt and red suspenders.
‘Hey, you,’ I say, laughing as I step back.
‘I justhadto spin you in that dress,’ he says, kissing my cheek. ‘You look drop-dead.’
‘Thank you. I’m so sorry I missed your dance.’ I pout over the rim of my glass. The reason I was late to theshowcase flares in my mind—I heard my father’s voice; he said my name—and I set my cocktail on the bar, suddenly nauseated.
‘Don’t be silly; you’ve seen me shake my butt a million times.’ Rafael snatches up my drink and takes my fingers in his other hand. ‘Come on, gorgeous—your boys are up here.’
My boys?
He leads me through clusters of guests chattering around high tables and across to the other side of the venue, where he unclips the VIP rope.
Kye’s eyes jump to mine as Rafael sets my glass on his table. I don’t expect much more out of Kye than a curt greeting, but I’m braced for some sort of reaction from Austin; my figure-hugging salsa dress is not the sort of clothing I usually wear unless Buzz is acting as my stylist. Austin does offer me a wide-eyed whistle and a brief hug, but through it all, he barely looks at me.
Rafael grins down at Austin. ‘Sorry to get you up and down like a yoyo, but the next celebrity act is ready to rock.’
‘I’m always ready for showtiiime,’ Austin replies with a cheesy grin.
