Page 30 of Dancing on Air

In truth, the reason Reece had been upset at her was because she’d called him out about the situation and he’d gotten pissed at her.

Up until this point, Reece had either ignored her or had joined in Jynx and her gang’s hurtful antics and made fun of her.

A handful of times he’d cornered her and had tried to flirt, she supposed, but then when anyone else was around, he’d revert to his asshole ways.

Even though he was by far the best-looking dancer in the BAC, she was so disgusted by his attitude she couldn’t imagine herself being even slightly attracted to him.

She’d assumed he was a manipulator and a narcissist. Never had she assumed he’d be a physical abuser. Now she knew better.

There had been a few seconds she’d really feared he’d harm her.

Then again, she had really pushed his buttons.

“I know that look,” Max said, breaking into her thoughts.

He moved slowly until she was almost in his arms.

“Whatever you said or did, trust me, he should have never laid a finger on you,” he said gently as his hands moved up and down her arms.

Suddenly, she realized she was chilled. She’d left her sweater in the hallway where she’d removed it to start warming up.

“I know,” she agreed while taking a cleansing breath. “Somewhere in the rational part of my brain, I know that. Still, I did push him farther than I should have.”

Max’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh?”

She tried to hide the smile. “I called him an exploiter and an asshole.”

Max nodded. “He’s both.”

“He actually tried to ask me out on a date,” she added, and Max’s smile slipped.

“And?”

“I laughed at him and told him there was nothing he could do at this point to convince me to spend a moment of my free time with him outside of dancing.” She looked down at Max’s chest. “Which is when he got angry.”

Max lifted her face with his fingers under her chin until their eyes locked. “He should have never laid a finger on you.”

“What are you going to do now? We’re a couple months away from opening night,” she asked.

He smiled. “That’s why we always have understudies.” He shrugged. “Come on, we’d better get out there.” He motioned towards the door. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

She nodded. “How’s the shoulder where Reece hit you?”

Max chuckled. “He punches like a ten-year-old.”

Cora laughed.

The practice proceeded with Cora dancing with Mal Rico, Reece’s understudy. Mal was a fair enough dancer, but he was stiff and not completely up to date on the dance.

They moved more slowly and stopped more often.

Halfway through practice, they were interrupted when Gerald Sharpe marched onto the stage and asked to speak to Max.

Max clapped his hands and yelled for everyone to take fifteen. Then Max and his father disappeared, no doubt into the office Max was using.

When he came back, Reece was there, taking over the rest of the practice from Mal.

She wanted to ask Max what was up, but figured she’d corner him after practice and ask.