I glanced at my phone, reading the notification, my heart skipping a beat as Daisy’s name appeared.
Daisy
I’m sorry I was mean. I was just very stressed and worried about the whole Jer thing. I shouldn’t have said what I said. You’ve been an amazing friend to me. I love you.
Emotions clogged my throat from her message, and some of the heavy weight lifted off my shoulders as I showed Dex the message. “Look.”
“That’s great! I’m glad you girls made up.” Derek knelt beside me, his hands gentle as they pressed around my hip joint. “Does this hurt?”
“A little. But it always does.”
“And this?” He rotated my leg slightly.
I winced. “More than a little.”
He let out a slow breath. “You need to ice it. And rest.”
“I'm fine.”
“Rosie.” He cupped my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. “I get it. I get the need to push, needing to prove you still can. But you can't dance yourself into another injury. You told me that I needed to listen to my body, remember? About knowing the difference between discomfort and pain?”
Damn him for using my own words against me.
“I just...” My voice cracked. “I just need to feel like myself. And dancing is the only time I do.”
“I know.” Derek sat beside me, pulling me against his chest. I melted into him, feeling his heartbeat steady against my back. “But you're not going to lose yourself if you take a break. I promise.”
We sat like that for a long moment, his arms around me, my body finally relaxing.
“How did your morning go?” he asked eventually. “After our call?”
“Good, actually. I texted Nova and Ivy, and made planswith both of them. Apologized to Daisy.” I tilted my head back to look at him. “I'm trying. The whole 'being a better friend' thing.”
“I'm proud of you.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “That took guts.”
“It was just texts.”
“It was more than that. It was you deciding to show up differently.” Another kiss, this time on my temple. “That's huge.”
I shifted in his arms, turning to face him properly. “Thank you. For last night. For not letting me spiral completely.”
“Always.” His thumb traced my cheekbone. “We're a team, remember? You show up for me, I show up for you.”
“A team,” I repeated, liking how that sounded. “Is that what we're calling it?”
“Would you prefer 'couple'? 'Dating'? 'Exclusive situationship'?” He grinned. “I'm open to suggestions.”
I bit my lip, trying not to smile. “What do you want to call it?”
“Honestly?” Derek's expression turned serious. “I want to call you, my girlfriend. But I know we're keeping things quiet right now, so whatever label makes you comfortable works for me.”
My heart did a complete somersault in my chest. “Girlfriend?”
“Too much?” He looked suddenly uncertain, vulnerable in a way I rarely saw. “We can stick with just ‘us’ if you want,”
I kissed him. Cut off his rambling with my lips on his, my hands sliding into his hair. He made a surprised sound but recovered quickly, his arms tightening around me as he kissed me back.
It was different from our first kiss. Less tentative, more certain. Like we'd both stopped questioning whether we should and started just... doing.
