A thought struck him. “Do you miss it? Dancing?”
“Oh. I still dance.” She grabbed the beer bottle from the table and tossed it in the trash.
“Not like you used to,” he said softly.
She was quiet for several moments and he wasn’t sure she would answer.
“I still love to dance,” she said finally. “I still love it more than fighting. But I can’t dance like I did before. He ruined that for me. Timmy asks me to fill in for his classes when one of his other instructors is sick, and I’ll help him out, but I can’t ever do it professionally again.”
“You like teaching the kids, though, right?” He nodded at the long glass window that separated her gym from the garage.
She grinned. “Oh, yeah. Even the kids who act like it’s torture secretly enjoy it.” She looked at her watch. “Speaking of, the after-school class will be here soon, and I need to set up. We’re working on kicks, so I’m going to make them do barre work. Nothing like holding a plié for an entire minute to build those quads.”
“You’re still lead for the event Saturday, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You need any help?”
He shrugged. “Sure. Another person will help. I didn’t schedule you since I thought you’d be training. Your fight’s in three weeks, right?”
“Yeah, but I won’t start working out twice a day until Monday, so I can help out.”
“Cool. I’ll forward you the schedule. I’m on site all day tomorrow, starting around noon. The dad wants us to go through the guest list. Apparently, he has a photo book with headshots of all the people attending.”
Dani frowned. “This is just a sixteenth birthday party, right?”
“That’s what they keep saying.”
“Rich people are so weird.”
“Got that right,” he said.
She paused at the office door. “You should tell Abby the truth, not just what’s in the arrest record.”
“Maybe I should end things.” He put his elbows on his knees and grabbed the back of his head with both hands. “It’ll be easier in the long run.”
The couch dipped as Dani sat back down. “Easier for who?”
He dropped one hand and turned to face her. “Everyone. Abby won’t have to worry about my past affecting her custody case, and I won’t have to worry about?—”
“Getting your heart broken?”
He didn’t say anything.
“Tinker, this is the first time I can remember you ever being with someone for more than a couple of days.”
“I dated Lisa Montgomery for an entire year,” he protested.
“High school doesn’t count,” Dani said dryly. “Look, I like Abby. She’s funny and smart. And I like how you’ve been since you met her. She’s a mom. I think she’ll understand.”
He nodded, hoping she was right. “I don’t want her to look at me differently.”
Dani cocked her head. “Christian, you’re a sexy, tatted, bike riding, former Marine, security guy. How do you think she looks at you now?”
That was…disturbing. “As my sister, could you refrain from using the word sexy to describe me?”
She stood and walked back to the door. “You’re deflecting, but I’m going to let you do it because it’s been an emotional day for you. And how do you think I feel hearing all my friends talk about you? If I hear them say you belong on the cover of a book one more time, I’m going to puke.”
