Before things got messy.
Before the heartbreak.
Before all the... grown-up stuff that made everything complicated.
And God, it feels good. Like for one second, we're us again.
"So, how about you, sugarplum—how's your capstone going?" Zach asks a few minutes later.
"Draining..." I laugh under my breath, shaking my head. "Rehearsals left and right. My afternoons are basically a game of Tetris—classes, rehearsals, repeat. And now it's about to get even busier because we just added something new."
"Really?" His head tilts, interest sharpening. "What is it?"
"Ballet lessons."
For a second, his whole face lights up. His silver eyes practically spark, excitement breaking through like I'd just told him the best news he could ever hear. "You're gonna dance ballet again? And as the Sugarplum Princess, no less?" His grin widens, like this means as much to him as it does to me.
The warmth in my chest blooms before I can stop it.
Of course he remembered. My lips curve as I nod, unable to hide my own excitement.
"Yeah. Honestly? I'm really excited about it, even if the schedule might kill me." I joke, then add, "Two senior ballet students are helping us with the choreography."
Zach's brows knit. "Us? Who's us?"
Before I can answer, Sam pipes up around her forkful of pancakes. "Who else? Adam, duh."
And just like that, Zach's whole face glitches. The brightness vanishes, replaced by a twitch in his jaw and the kind of stiff blink that screams he doesnotlike that answer one bit.
Sam's eyes light up like she's beenwaitingfor this moment.
She stabs a piece of pancake, chews, then leans in with her best conspiratorial grin.
"Oh, you should've seen them the other night," she gushes. "Their very first ballet lesson—and they nailed it. I didn't know ballet could be so... intimate." She wiggles her brows, giggling.
"Sam!" I whisper-yell, heat flying to my face.
If I'd known she was gonna run her mouth like this, I never would've made her come to the studio last Tuesday. But she'd locked herself out—left her dorm keys inside like a genius—so yeah, I had no choice but to let her meet me there. Ugh!
"And the best part? They're gonna be doing this every night for the next eight weeks. Just. The. Two. Of. Them."
Her grin is way too wide, way too gleeful, and it's aimed directly at her brother like she's deliberately lighting the fuse.
And oh, does it go off.
Zach's whole face shifts—darkens—like someone flipped the switch from sunshine to thunderstorm. The bright excitement from before drains right out of him, and in its place is a scowl so sharp it could cut glass.
His aura? Black smoke. He's gripping the fork in his so tight it looks one second away from snapping in half.
He doesn't even try to hide it. Not from Sam. Not from me.
CHAPTER thirty
ZACH
When my afternoon classes end, I still have two hours before I need to head back to the rink for practice. So, I decide to swing by the Performing Arts Center—totallyjust to give Caroline her hockey jersey.
That's the plan, at least.
