He narrows his eyes at me, dubious. "Why are you hiding all of a sudden?" He scrutinises my face. "It's Max, isn’t it?"
My mouth drops open. "Oh my God, does the whole District know I have a crush on him?”
"Yes." He grimaces. "Because he carried you up to your room last night, Cassidy."
I look at him wide-eyed. "Were you there?"
He scoffs and shakes his head in utter disbelief. "At your birthday? Yes. And we danced. But, even if I wasn't, there's a picture of you in his arms circulating socials."
I hate the internet.
Slapping myself on the forehead, I exclaim, "Yes, of course! I remember seeing you at the beginning. I'm so sorry, Dillion!" I reach out for him, but he takes a defensive step back. His emotional response completely throws me because we are not even good friends.
His brows draw tightly together. "We danced for like anhour and you were kinda... flirty. I dunno... you were sorta... sexy."
As I stare apologetically at him, my cheeks burn. "I'm so sorry. That's so unprofessional. I swear, it'll never happen again."
He glances at the ground and frowns, before turning to collect his things from the bench. "Okay."
"Dillion?"
"You have your head in the sand, Cassidy. Max and his brothers are trouble."
"You need to stop listening to rumours."
"Go onto Google. Check out some articles. Literally, I'm not kidding. Just google Butcher and you'll see."
"I'm not interested in what The District News has to say about them." That seems to annoy him even more, but before I can press him for an explanation, my studio door swings open and Flick struts in.
"Hey, my little love, how are you feeling?" She glances at Dillion. "Dillion, looking toned in those tights. Hot."
He continues to grab his things and then walks towards the door. I think he is probably feeling patronised, but I'm sure she'd only meant what she'd said as a compliment. Flick is so confident, she's often oblivious to how she can make people feel uncomfortable.
"Yeah, do they make them for men?" I hear a voice say from outside the door.
Well, that definitely wasn't a compliment.
Annoyed by the comment and how comfortable everyone is invading my studio space, I walk out onto the patio. Xander is chuckling to himself, and Max is standing staunchly behind him. I freeze.
My eyes meet Max's momentarily, and I'm again consumed by insecurities.Frick.I'm only wearing a skin-tight leotard and stockings. Nothing is left to the imagination. That might be the intent in ballet—visible and obvious lines—but in the real world, I might as well be wearing lingerie.
And I have no tits.
So now he knows I have no tits.
Flick stops Dillion in the doorway. "Come for a swim with us? Cassidy, you coming?"
Dillion halts and then turns to me. Enveloping my shoulders with his arms, he whispers in my ear. "We okay?"
I squeeze his waist. I'm not happy, but I still feel a sense of relief. "Of course. We'll talk soon."
His breath hits my ear as he says, "Don’t go there, Cassidy." He grips me tighter. "He'll destroy you."
The relief is replaced by discomfort.
My arms flop to the side and Dillion leaves, walking past the boys and straight to his car. I glare at the brick wall for a moment, confusion and irritation both wrestling for first place in my mind.
He'll destroy me? Like destroy my reputation or does he mean emotionally?
