“Before the break, Stone and Gina delivered a scorching hot Red Riding Hood–themed paso doble for Fairy Tale Night. The judges praised their energy and content, but said Stone needs to work on his knees. Let’s see how the comments translate into scores.”
Gina gripped Stone’s fingers tighter under the onslaught ofnerves. It was a good dance. The judges had to see how much he’d improved. Stone slipped his hand out of hers and hugged her against him instead. After a beat, their score flashed on the screen.
“Ninety-four percent.” Reggie put the mic in front of Gina. “After last week, that has to feel amazing. How proud are you of Stone right now?”
“I’msoproud of him,” Gina said into the mic. “We’ve worked so hard, week after week, to turn out performances we think our fans will enjoy. Stone is doing a fantastic job, especially when you consider he’s not a dancer. I couldn’t be prouder.”
“And how about you, Stone?” Reggie raised the mic so Stone wouldn’t have to lean down. “What was it like practicing after last week’s stumble and then receiving this score?”
With Gina’s coaching, Stone’s answers to Reggie’s backstage questions had gotten smoother. “When we started, I didn’t think I’d ever score that high, so it feels pretty great. And we’re grateful to all our fans who keep voting for Team Stone Cold to stay on the show. We’ll do our best to keep delivering great dances.”
Reggie turned to the camera to recite all the voting info. Stone and Gina stepped to the side, awaiting their turn in the makeup chair.
“You were right,” he said. “I apologize for doubting your storytelling concepts. What’s our theme for next week?”
Gina blinked. “Oh, you don’t know?”
“Know what?”
She sucked in a breath as a hollow chasm opened in her chest, leaving her feeling empty at the thought of the week to come. “It’s Shake It Up Week.”
His brow creased. “Is that a dance style?”
She swallowed hard and shook her head. “It means we switch partners. The audience votes to decide the new pairings. We’ll find out tomorrow morning when we show up for rehearsal.”
He went still, his eyes like cold shards of ice, his voice a low rumble. “What are you saying?”
“Stone, we’re not dancing together next week.”
Seventeen
The next morning, Stone’s driver took him to a different rehearsal space. He was hooked up with a lav mic before he even went into the room, and a field producer with a camera followed him in.
Inside, he found Natasha waiting for him.
“Hey, guapo.” Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she went over to give him a hug. “This is going to be fun.”
“The way you said that makes me nervous.”
She laughed like a cartoon villain. “You should be. I won’t go easy on you.”
“What’s our dance?”
“We’re doing the salsa. Lucky for you, you have some experience with that one.” She winked.
“Yeah, a little.” Memories of dancing in the salsa club with Gina flashed through his mind. He’d almost kissed her that night. How different would things be now if he had?
It didn’t matter. He’d still be here with Natasha for Shake It Up Week.
“We’re going to do a very traditional, very sexy ballroom salsa,” Natasha said. “And no shirt for you. I don’t know why Gina’s been waiting to give the viewers what they want.” She snappedher fingers and pointed to the center of the room. “We’re going to do a lot of lifts, too, and those require a ton of practice to make them look smooth. Let’s get to work.”
For the rest of the day, Natasha ran him ragged, ordering him to go over every move repeatedly until he had it right. She was a strict teacher, but he was surprised by how much fun they had together. Natasha joked and teased, keeping his spirits up even as she wore his body down.
By the end of the day, Stone was exhausted, and he missed Gina with a keenness that scared him. Not only that, he liked dancing with Gina, and had thought she was the root of his enjoyment. Natasha had showed him that dance could be fun even without Gina, which was a strange realization.
Of course, he missed Gina for reasons that had nothing to do with dancing, but it wasn’t wise to think about those with her roommate present.
Donna showed up right at the end of their rehearsal, after they’d removed their mics. She dismissed the field producer and story assistant, then took a seat on a folding chair while Stone wiped his face with a towel. Donna’s expression was far too calm. He didn’t trust it.
