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Sean stared at the screen. Maybe he could get Aleksandra’s number and ask her to tell Jaime he was being confusing as hell. She seemed to like him enough.

I have no idea what you want me to think about that. I’m not awake enough to react well to this.

And now he wasn’t going to be able to sleep anymore. Sean pushed back the blankets and climbed out of bed as his phone buzzed again. At least there would be the coffee Travis always made. The shower was running when he slipped into the living room, so he hurried to pour a cup of coffee and sneak back to his room before Travis could come out and ask why he was awake and complain that the coffee was just going to make him jittery and annoying. He took a sip before reading the next message.

Sorry. You don’t have to answer. Or say yes.

The phone buzzed again in his hand as he finished reading.

I miss you.

Sean put the phone down and finished half the cup of coffee, and the message was still there when he picked the phone up again. When he couldn’t come up with anything to type back for five minutes, he gave up and hit the call button.

“Hey,” Jaime said, and then nothing.

“You never say hi when you answer the phone.”

“I didn’t know what else to say.”

“Okay. How about you just tell me what’s going on. How am I supposed to take this? That you miss your
friend
?”

“No.”

Jaime paused, but Sean decided to wait him out instead of answering.

“No. I was stupid, and I’m sorry it took Lexi pointing it out five times a day for me to realize that. The guy at the club was just my friend. He was really just my friend, and I haven’t been thinking about him at all for a week except that I was stupid to think you were the same when all I can do is miss you. I miss you telling me that I’m talented and I’m wasting it. I miss making a serving at dinner that isn’t spicy, because you can’t handle it. I miss waking up with you as much as I miss fucking you, and I’m going to hate it if I’ve lost you because it took me too long to figure that shit out. And I’m sorry for not realizing why you wanted me to come to the show tonight when you asked, but I get it now. And that’s why I want to come.”

Sean opened his mouth to answer, but couldn’t come up with anything.

“Did I just make an idiot of myself?” Jaime asked.

“Do you care if you did?” Sean asked.

“Not really, but I’d feel better about it if it did me any good.”

“It did.” Sean took a deep breath. Alana and Travis were going to freak out. “I still want you to come, but we have to talk about this, and we won’t have time tonight with the show and Lupe being there.”

“Okay. I can come over tomorrow night if you want. After tomorrow’s show, when there’s no party. If you want me to.”

“You’ll come over here?” He hadn’t realized it until the past week, but Jaime had never come to the city just to see him, even after avoiding Travis shouldn’t have been an excuse anymore.

“Yeah. If Travis isn’t going to kill me on sight now.”

“Worry more about Alana. She’s got nails.”

Jaime was quiet for a moment before he asked, “You’re joking, right?”

“I should probably warn them that I told you it was okay to come.”

“I’m bringing Aleksandra.”

Sean laughed for the first time since Alana had told him about Jaime’s kiss in the club a week ago.

“I can control them when I need to,” Sean said.

“Thanks. If you can’t,” Jaime said, “I know I kind of deserve it.”

“I should probably argue with that, but I’m not awake enough to be a better person about it.”

“That’s okay. I’ll see you tonight?” Jaime said.

“Yeah. We’ll figure something out,” Sean said before saying good-bye and hanging up.

Travis’s knock on the door a minute later made him jump. He’d heard Travis walking around the living room while he was on the phone and he hadn’t thought to lower his voice.

“You’re up early,” Travis said when he pushed the door open.

Sean held up his phone as an answer.

“Tell me it was your parents. They can get away with calling you too early,” Travis said. When Sean shook his head, Travis brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Why did he call?”

“He wanted to apologize and ask if he could come to the show tonight.”

“You didn’t tell him no, did you?” Travis didn’t need him to answer any more than he needed to hear what Travis had to say next. “Why do you do this to yourself?”

“I didn’t just say yes. I said he could come tonight, but he needs to come over Saturday night when we have time to talk, and he said he will.” Sean cut Travis off before he could speak. “If I want to give him another chance, I can give him another chance.”

“What has he done to earn another chance?” Travis asked.

“What has he done that he doesn’t deserve one? He didn’t really cheat on me, and he didn’t lie about anything.” Sean looked up, even though he didn’t want to see the disappointment on Travis’s face.

“That’s not an excuse, and I’m not clearing out Saturday, so you’ll just have to stick to talking. I can’t tell you what to do, but you know what I think about it.” Travis turned and walked back into the living room as he called back, “You get to tell Alana yourself. And tell her I’m canceling the cable so I don’t have to watch any more of your awful TV when this blows up.”

“Good luck with that!” Sean called back. Alana loved him. Alana would not let Travis cancel their cable.

“I
F
YOU
drop me on that third lift because you’re trying to find him in the audience, I swear, I will injure you worse than Travis, and we’ll just have to rework everything so he can dance it,” Alana said when he told her about Jaime. He’d thought he was safe telling her right before the warm-up class, but no. Travis wasn’t teaching it, so it was running late.

“No one does that. He’d have to be wearing a crazy bright light for me to even find him, and I’ve never dropped anyone on stage ever.”

“But you’ve dropped me,” Alana said as she pulled against him to stretch.

“One time.”

“Two times,” Alana corrected.

“I did not drop you twice. One time, you got dizzy, blacked out, and I put you down. If I’d dropped you, you would have had at least one bruise.”

“Travis caught me.”

“Travis helped me put you on the floor so I wouldn’t drop you.” Sean could have this argument without paying attention by now.

“So you would have dropped me if Travis hadn’t caught me.”

“You passed out during a lift because you didn’t tell us you were sick. I might have been able to catch you myself, but that wasn’t really a risk Travis felt like taking in the half second he had to think about it.”

Alana shrugged as Steph came from backstage and waved for them all to line up.

“I’m coming over on Sunday morning for breakfast. If you’re sad, I’m killing him.”

“Travis says he’s canceling the cable if that happens.”

“I’ll remind him about my DVD collection.”

H
EY
. I’
M
here. Lexi and I have seats. Lupe has begun ushering. Good luck with everyone Michael seats. He’s confused.

Sean smiled at the text as Alana groaned. The doors had only opened a few minutes ago, so he had to hope Michael would catch on as he typed a reply.

Thanks. I’ll see you for a few minutes after the show?

“I’m taking your phone,” Alana said as she typed into her own.

Lexi being here means we get to actually officially meet you guys after the show. Technically Travis met me once, but should I avoid this so Lupe doesn’t figure something out?

Sean started to type back to ask when this had happened before he remembered Travis probably met Jaime at some point when they filled out paperwork for the internships.

If he does anything, Lupe won’t have a clue.

When Sean looked up, Travis was standing by the winding staircase next to the stage, where he and Alana were sitting. He pointed at Sean’s phone and held out his hand.

Travis is confiscating phones. I’ll text after the show. Don’t worry. I changed the passcode again.

It buzzed as he started to hand it to Travis, and Sean didn’t need to look up to know Travis would be rolling his eyes as he pulled his phone back to read,
Break a leg,
before he locked the screen and let Travis snatch it out of his hand. Alana handed hers over without her usual fight—which was odd considering he was pretty sure they were supposed to have ten minutes left. She shrugged when he gave her a look.

“You were annoying me. Who did you think I was texting about it?”

S
EAN
WRAPPED
Alana in his arms as soon as the curtains closed on the last bow, and they exchanged only one quick look before attacking Travis from either side. They were both still coated with sweat, and Travis was supposed to look respectable in his button-down shirt. He’d never been one to care, but he still pushed them off after a few seconds and directed them to get calmer hugs from Steph.

“You okay?” Sean asked him while Alana was out of earshot. “I know you miss it.”

“Yeah. It’s okay. Just a new dream. Making you show off my vision.” Travis wrapped an arm around his neck and reached up to ruin his hair before shoving him away. “Go clean up or I’ll be ready to check on the kids before you can get out there to protect your boy.”

“Travis.”

“I will behave with Lupe around. It is my job to be professional here. Tomorrow night, different story.”

Sean considered arguing for only a second before turning toward the dressing rooms to wash off his makeup and change. He’d have to go without a shower because all he had to work with was a sink, but he’d picked up enough tricks to clean up from years of rushing to make himself presentable after performances. Twenty minutes later, he realized he still had to get his phone from Travis. All the other dancers probably had theirs, but then, they couldn’t count on going home with Travis later and ending up with it.

When he stepped outside the dressing room feeling better in a clean silk shirt and dress pants, he found Alana already dressed in her cocktail dress outside the door on her phone.

“Too late. He went out to meet them a while ago. He sent them ahead to the party,” Alana said without looking up from her phone.

“What?” The anger in his voice was enough to make Alana look up.

“Relax. He knew you’d insist on going with him. And then you’d see Jaime again for the first time with Lupe and Michael right there. You would have reacted. Even if Lupe wasn’t paying attention, Michael might have seen it. Can you honestly tell me you could have pretended you’d never met him before? He’s trying to protect you—both of you—for some reason I’m not even sure I get.”

Sean started to argue, but she handed him back his phone. There was already a text waiting for him.

You were amazing. Lexi says you were beautiful.

Travis tried to break my hand via handshake, but I’m fine. Lexi has promised to distract Lupe for a few minutes at the party. Text me when you get there.

“You know we’re right. Do you need me to take a picture of the face you make just from his texts to prove it to you?”

“No.”

“We’re not actually planning to keep you from seeing each other. Just maybe not for the first time again in front of people who don’t know. Not when things have you so worked up that you’re just projecting feelings all over the place.”

“At the party. While Aleksandra is distracting Lupe and Michael.” Sean looked up from the phone to see if she intended to keep that word.

“Sure. You’re predictable. We knew you’d try it anyway,” Alana said as her phone buzzed again. “Come on. I told Travis I’d take a cab with you since he read that story about the cab driver that was assaulting people. He doesn’t want you to get attacked without me or whatever.”

“If he’s worried about cabs, he should worry more about you,” Sean said as he pulled out his wallet to check for cash.

“I’ve never gotten assaulted or arrested for taking a dollar cab.”

Sean toyed with his phone on the short cab ride to the hall they’d reserved.

“Just text him. If you’re going be this worked up, we’ll see if we can arrange it. I’d hate for you to not see him tonight at all and drop me tomorrow.”

Sean didn’t bother to argue as the cab pulled up to the curb to let them out. He just pulled the cash out of this wallet and handed it off.

“I should drive you places. You just tipped way too much.” Alana shook her head as they stepped inside the doors but stopped short of entering the room.

I’m here. Can you get away?

Alana texted on her own phone while she waited for him. Probably to let Travis know they were there.

Yeah. Give me a minute and I’ll meet you in the men’s room. Lexi found a second one down the back hallway that no one is really using.

“Plan?” Alana asked.

“Why would I tell you?”

“Well, you could not tell me and try to sneak through a full party on your own because you are so great at that, or you can tell me where you’re meeting him, and I can look upset and drag you there, and no one will interrupt us at all.” Alana shrugged as if he really had a choice. It wasn’t his fault people liked him and wanted to talk to him, so he tilted the phone so she could read the text message.

The plan was perfect, except the part were Alana hopped up on the counter inside the empty bathroom.

“What?” she asked when he glared at her. “I dragged you in here. If I leave, that’s suspicious.”

“You and Travis thought up this plan together,” Sean said, though it was possible she had just picked that much up from being around Travis too much.

“Maybe,” Alana admitted. “Because you wanted to see him tonight with Lupe and a lot of other people around, and you haven’t had time to talk yet. Travis has already banned me from your apartment tomorrow night, but come on. If this blows up, or if Lupe catches you both in here with the whole company right outside? You’re lucky Travis didn’t get mad and point out why this was a really bad idea this morning.”