Celie laughs. “Vannah, I know you. You never said no to him in sixteen years.”
I was a child when I last spoke to him or saw him. A kid.
And now I’m supposed to be a woman. I’m supposed to be past all of this.
So his textshouldn’tbother me.
Except that it does.
I glance at the clock for the first time.Shit.I have dance class in forty minutes. It’s a dress rehearsal for our next performance, so I need to wear my costume.
“Let’s talk about this later, okay?” I say to her. “I’ll see you tonight.”
* * *
Clarissa’s already started warm-ups when I drag myself into the dance studio. I scoot into the back row and join the group of dancers.
Fifteen minutes in, I’m dying. The more I sweat, the worse I feel. I thought exercise was supposed to help a hangover, but my headache’s just growing by the second.
By the time class mercifully ends, all I want is a shower and my bed.
I walk over to the bench to grab my bag, and then I step back in shock as I make eye contact with Cam. His eyes darken as his gaze slides down my body and back up.
I flush with heat. “What the…”
I take a closer look at him. Wow, Cam looks nice. Almost like he tried to look nice. I mean, he always looks hot, but his blue shirt is collared, his dark jeans fit him perfectly, and his damp hair is combed.
He swallows. “You told me where you’d be. You said to meet you here for coffee afterward. On a date.”
Oh, God.Last night. So drunk. What else happened that I don’t remember?
Half the class has stopped packing up to watch us. I take Cam’s arm and walk with him out of the studio and into the front hallway.
“I didn’t want to interrupt,” he says as we stop outside the door.
“Really?” I smile. “Then why’d you walk in and do just that?”
“I don’t honestly know.” His gaze travels down my body again. “I was just so surprised to see you like this.”
“Yeah, well. This is my costume for an upcoming performance.” Unable to hide my hip-hugging stretch pants, I cross my arms over my silver-bead studded bra top self-consciously.
“You look amazing,” he says. “I mean, not that you don’t always; you just look so…”
I bite. “So…what?”
“Sexy.” He grins that adorable, amazing smile at me. “Bet you didn’t expect that, huh?”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Not really.”
He reaches out and rubs my arm. “I feel bad about last night.”
“You didn’t make me drink that vodka. In fact, I’m pretty sure you tried to stop me at several points.”
His expression turns to concern. “You told me some guy grabbed your ass when you were performing.”
Oh, no. I did not tell him that. I just hope I didn’t mention the text from my father.
“Cam. Please let’s not talk about that. I took care of him.”
