He snagged her around the waist and planted a firm kiss on her lips. “Damn straight. Anyway, I figure it’s gonna come down to you and Cam.”
Tucker took another pull on his beer. “My partner and I should give them a run for their money.”
Brody quirked a brow. “No offense, bro, but Mama Pearl isn’t exactly light on her feet.”
“No, she’s not. Which is how she ended up falling today and spraining her ankle.”
“Oh no! Is she okay?” Piper asked.
“She’s fine. Or will be.” Tucker still wasn’t a hundred percent sure whether she’d actually sprained anything or not. “But she’s not dancing, so she assigned a sub.”
“Who?” Brody asked.
“Corinne Dawson.”
There was a beat of silence. Then another. And another.
Tucker waited for one of them to call him on the deception. After all, he’d faked breaking his own leg in the name of raising Brody from understudy to main man. But nobody went there. Because the idea that he’d do such a thing in the name of partnering with Corinne never even entered their minds.
“You’re dancing with Tyler’s arch enemy?” Piper demanded.
Here we go. This was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to tell them.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” Tyler said. “I don’t have arch enemies.”
“Seriously?” Brody asked her. “You’re really okay with being around her after all those years she chased me?”
“It hardly matters since I’m the one who caught you, now does it?” Tyler waggled the ring finger on her left hand, showing off the diamond winking in the late afternoon sun. “Besides, I think she’s had a rough go of things.”
“Karma’s a bitch,” Piper sang.
“That’s not fair,” Tucker chided.
“So what? She was awful in high school. Classic mean girl.”
That was all you ever saw. All you wanted to see. But he’d seen more. He’d seen that beneath the sharp tongue and bad behavior was a wounded animal, lashing out at everyone around her. Tucker wanted to argue, but that would open up a can of worms he wasn’t ready to deal with. There was a reason he’d never made his interest in Corinne known to his friends. Or to anyone, for that matter.
“Well, it’s not who she is now,” he said. “She grew up. And life has kicked her ass but good. I’d appreciate it if you’d play nice, if only for my sake. If she’s stressed out from being around all of you, she won’t loosen up enough to dance well. And regardless of past issues, this competition is for a good cause, and we all ought to want to put on a good show. The better the individual performances, the more viewers, the more votes, the more donations.”
“Tucker’s right,” Tyler said. “Norah asked all of us to do this because we’re the best dancers in town. We owe her, and the cause, our best efforts, no matter who our partners are.”
Shooting Tyler a smile, Tucker raised his drink in a toast. Solidarity. If Tyler could get past her issues with Corinne, maybe the rest of them would come around eventually. And maybe by the time they did, he’d have a reason for them to.
~*~
Corinne turned down Tucker’s offer to pick her up for the orientation meeting. After her mother’s reaction to hearing he was her partner, she figured it was best to keep them far apart, lest he get the wrong idea. Or run screaming. But as she stepped into the community center and saw all the people from high school milling about in the lobby, she began to question her decision. At least with him by her side, her presence would’ve been given some kind of legitimacy. On he
r own like this, she felt like all eyes were on her, and none of them were friendly.
Near the doors to the gym, she spotted Tyler and Brody. Piper Stewart was with them. Of course the three of them would be here. Tyler and Brody would be dancing, and where they went, Piper was guaranteed to follow. Shame from old humiliation heated her cheeks. She’d wanted so badly to be a part of their group back then. They were tight-knit. Real. She’d wanted everything Tyler had, including Brody. She’d made an utter fool of herself. So. Many. Times. It had all turned out for them in the end. Tyler and Brody were back together, as they should be. And from the looks of things, they were happy. Corinne was glad for them, and if a trace of envy nipped at her heels, she figured that made her human. That kind of happiness didn’t exist for people like her. Seeing it in others only highlighted how far off track her life had gone.
With no sign of Tucker, and not yet ready to face the rest of them, Corinne quietly slipped through the crowd and headed for the bathroom. She just...needed a minute to gather herself. In the past year and a half, she’d taken a lot of those minutes. She hadn’t expected any kind of fanfare on her return, but neither had she counted on how much hostility and backbiting gossip she’d face. How could she make up for past mistakes if no one would let her? The simple fact was, she couldn’t. So she’d learned to keep her head down, take the blows, and not fight back. It was how she’d survived her marriage, after all.
The bathroom door swung open as Corinne reached it. She stepped back. “Oh, excuse me.”
The blonde who stepped out was perfectly made up, from the tips of her French manicured nails down to the toes of her designer pumps. Surprise flickered in her dark eyes before a satisfied sneer settled on her pretty face. “Why Corinne Dawson.”
Corinne promptly wanted to sink through the floor. Why her? Why now? Of all the people she’d crossed paths with since she came home, she’d managed to avoid this one and regularly thanked God for it. But it seemed her stay of execution was up. It was time to face her worst mistake from Wishful.