Rian shifts from one foot to the other with a wary look on her face. “Do you think you could show me one of your routines? Or something?”
The earnestness in her voice makes it hard to tell her no. But I also don’t want to overstep.
I glance at the door, wondering if Everton—Cowboy—is going to walk through the door. And then there are the questions I have about her mom. Just thinking about it threatens to break me, even though I don’t have a right to be hurt.
Still, my chest aches.
“Uh,” I glance at the door again. “Are you sure it would be okay? I haven’t been around here very long and I’m not sure how everything works.”
Rian flashes me a lopsided grin. “Considering the way my dad was looking at you the other day, you don’t need to worry about much around here.”
I blink at her a few times before swallowing hard and looking away. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The giggle she lets out tells me she’s not buying it. And she shouldn’t. Even if I weren’t paying attention, I could feel the way he was looking at me.
But there are far too many questions left unanswered for me to assume anything.
I wave my hand dismissively and take another drink of water. “How about I teach you some steps?”
Rian jumps up and down while doing a little shimmy, every movement full of excitement and pure joy. I can’t help but smile and chuckle at her reaction.
With a grimace, I tell her, “It might not seem exciting at first, but we’re going to start with some basics. One thing to always remember is you’re using your body as an instrument. You have to take care of it. That means hydrating, wrapping joints if you need to, and working on conditioning and cardio to ensure your body can do what you want it to do. And stretching. Never forget about stretching.”
The look on her face is so serious that I can’t help but smile. She’s all in. It reminds me of how I felt about dancing when I first started. I wish I could have a whole classroom full of girls just like Rian.
Right now, I’m good with her looking at me with sparkling eyes just like her father’s. For a moment, I’m not even worried about who her mother is.
“Okay.” She nods solemnly. “Should we stretch now?”
My laughter fills the room before I take her through some basic stretches. Then I start in on the steps. Even though I keep it simple, she picks it up quickly with concentration written all over her face.
When we take a beat to drink some water, she shoots me a shy look. “You’re a good teacher.”
I find myself staring into space for a moment, the warmth of her words filling me in a way I’m not used to anymore. “When Iwas young, my dream was to go and dance. To take New York by storm and fill my life with music and movement.”
“Did you live your dream?”
My eyes snap to hers and I have to swallow hard. “Yeah,” I croak before clearing my throat, my voice steadier, “I did. It was everything I wanted it to be, but along the way my dream started to change. That happens with time, but I fought against it and denied it.”
“What did it change to?”
Rian is hanging on every word, and it feels like she deserves my honesty. Or maybe it’s me who does.
“A school for girls just like you. Girls with dreams who can use dance to make them come true or teach them how to find their center when everything else feels too wild in their lives. But New York is expensive and it was hard to save and even harder to have enough money to make it happen. Then I started working less because new dancers are always arriving. More dancers with dreams,” my voice is wistful.
“Is that why you moved here?” There’s something like hope in her voice which I’m not sure I completely understand.
“I did. I hoped to find a job, dance, and maybe it would be possible for me to open a studio,” I admit with a shrug.
“You should talk to Daddy,” she chirps and I freeze.
“I-I-I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” she shoots back, her voice sly.
“Anyway,” I hold out the word, and it makes her giggle. The look she gives me tells me she’s letting me off the hook but hasn’t been deterred.
Great.
