Holly barely smiled as the audience whooped and cat-called. Nate rubbed a hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh or combust.
Indie grinned as if she was trying to breathe through a paper bag. “Ladies and gentlemen… Holly and Nate, dancing the Paso Doble, but let’s be real, that was less 'Paso' and more 'power play with a side of public foreplay.’” She turned to the judges. “Stan, you still with us? Or do we need to find a fainting couch?”
Stan blinked slowly. Took a breath. Adjusted his collar like it was choking him. “That,” he said, “was not a Paso Doble. Thatwas a revelation in rhinestones. Holly, your command of that floor was nothing short of feral. AndNate…” Stan narrowed his eyes. “I had my doubts when you arrived with seventeen abs and zero awareness. But tonight you danced like you wanted to die for her. And frankly, I’m living for it. 9.”
Muffy was next, flushed and clearly fanning herself under the table.
“Oh my God,”she drawled.“I don’t even know where to begin. Holly, the masculine frame, the strength, the drama! Nate, your ability to switch between bull and cape, submission and fire, it was exquisite.Exquisite.10 from me!”
The studio was absolutely heaving now, their support fully behind Holly and Nate’s campaign to take out the top spot for the week.
By the time Chantreuse was ready to give her score, she was full-blown unhinged.
“I blacked out the moment Nate slid between Holly’s legs and she looked at him like she was deciding whether or not to eat him alive. That wasn’t dance, that was courtship by combat. If this is what we’re doing now, next time I need a warning and a safe word. 10!”
Holly’s breath hitched, and Nate reached for her hand. Their fingers laced like they’d been doing it forever, but the moment pulsed between them like a secret. To the crowd, it was nothing. A romantic gesture from a couple already dating. Cute. Predictable. Expected.
But to them, it was a shift in gravity.
Nate’s thumb brushed a soft, reverent circle into her palm. AndHolly, who never stayed too long, who never let herself hold on… didn’t let go.
The audience members were losing their minds, but the only thing she registered was him. The breath he released. The trembling weight in the space between their joined hands. The silent understanding, as gravity shifted for both of them from something they both wanted to something they bothhad.
@dancebitchdance on Instagram:
Nate dropped to his knees and HOLLY STEPPED OVER HIM like a FINAL BOSS. i am not okay. this dance cured my migraines. #toxicponypaso #hollyandnate
@nhlgoon on Tiktok:
Not to be dramatic but Holly Martinez got a former enforcer to willingly slide between her legs on live TV and surrender. Idk what the league policy is on that but I’m giving her a jersey.
Strictly Scandal Online:
EXCLUSIVE:Sources say the heat in Holly & Nate’s Paso Doble wasn’t ‘acting’—it was ‘unresolved tension with a side of backstagebloodlust.’ We believe it.”
TTFtea Podcast:
“Well apparently Lars made a snide comment about Holly’s past and Nate nearly rearranged his face! Two producers had to pull him off. That’s not dance chemistry, that’s loyalty with teeth.”
35
HOLLY: 1, NATE’S RESTRAINT: 0
Nate
“You ever get spiritually dropkicked by a hot matador in a bodysuit? 10/10 would recommend.”
The lights were dimmer in the press room, but that didn’t necessarily mean they were more forgiving. They wouldn’t bounce off the sweat pouring down his face, which was a small mercy. But the closer they got to being accosted by dozens of reporters all parroting the same fucking questions, the more tense Nate got. He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. What he wanted to do was find somewhere to fuck Holly senseless.
She was an absolute force. He glanced down to where their hands were entwined as she led him like a lamb to the slaughter, striding confidently down the hallway to the press room. Moving in her wake made him feel like a living exhale, as though he just got to exist while she took up space. And he was so wrapped up in it, it wasn’t even funny.
They stood shoulder to shoulder as the first reporter thrust a mic between them. He could feel the heat rolling off her evennow. That residual adrenaline that came in a package deal with dancing like a weapon and ruining half of America at the same damn time.
“That Paso Doble wasinsane.Was it always the plan for Holly to lead?”
A thousand other dancers would’ve laughed. Blushed. Deflected.
But Holly was ready and lifted one sculpted brow. “Was it evernotthe plan?”
