The first lash stings.
The second is like fire.
The third, and the two dozen that follow, are like razor blades flaying our skin open to the bone.
We keep counting.
We remain still.
We take it.
Because we deserve this.
We need this.
We are this.
And when it’s over, and we’re on our knees with blood trickling down our back and arms, our gaze falls to the riding crop gripped tightly in our fist.
She’s a bug in the system.
A flaw in the design.
A soft breeze, threatening to destroy the house of cards.
So why thefuckcan’t we stay away from her?
23
VAUGHN
When she risesup on the toes of one foot and kicks up her other leg toward the ceiling, my breath catches. My gaze cuts through the darkness of the theater, watching unblinkingly as her body spins effortlessly one hundred and eighty degrees as she moves her raised leg to the back before landing with the grace of a feather coming to rest.
Fuck.
She’s good.
Ballet isn’t exactly something I’ve spent time studying. I mean, yes, I’ve probably watched more performances than the average person. But that was from a distance, when I was keeping tabs on my brother while he was growing up, not even knowing I existed.
But those times that I’d watch Val, it wasn’t so much because I wanted to watchballetso much as it was that I wanted to watchhim.
So even though I’ve seen maybe a hundred ballet performances over the last ten or twelve years, I still wouldn’t claim to know a thing about it.
That said, Ihaveseen enough to know that Evelina is fuckingincredible.
Up on the stage of the Fonteyn Theater on the Knightsblood campus, Evelina smiles, a blush creeping up her neck as the younger dancers gush over the maneuver she just freakingnailed.
“Thanks,” Evelina grins, that blush still on her face. “Now, let’s break down the individual beats of Italianfouetté à la seconde.” She rolls her neck as she nods to the students lined up in front of her.
“So, that worked because I didn’t rush it. The standing leg does the work. Push down before you go up. If your plié is late, everythingafterit is late, too. Right?” She glances around the group, making sure they understand. “Don’t throw the leg. Place it. Let it arrive,thenrotate. The turn only comes after you’re stable.” She grins. “Well, and in time with the music. Any questions?”
One girl raises her hand, and Evelina points to her.
“Yeah, I’m just wondering about how you get into the turn from thedéveloppé?”
“Ahh,” Evelina grins. “Yeah, that’s wherefouetté à la secondecan get fucky.”
I can’t help but smile to myself in the shadows.
