No. I also defended Dimitri while inadvertently condemning Luca. “Some other stuff was brought up, and then Luca left and didn’t come home until the next morning.”
She pursed her lips, her brow furrowing. “That’s weird.”
“Yeah. And since then, we’ve been avoiding each other.”
“Five minutes!” Evie whisper yelled to the entire group, “Five minutes!”
I stood, my ass numb from sitting on the metal folding chair for nearly an hour. “You ready for this clusterfuck?” Bianca rushed past us, her breakaways completely detached.
“I really thought a month of rehearsals would be enough.” Jazz adjusted her skirt against her tight stomach, the pink popping next to her dark brown skin.
“It’s always a mess leading up to the show, and somehow we always pull it off.”
“Mm.” Jazz looked past me to the green room’s door, a smirk lifting her full lips. “You’ve got company.”
Turning, I smiled. “Luca.”
He weaved in between the performers, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Someone looks ready to make up,” Jazz whispered in my ear before slapping my ass and pushing me forward. I glared at her over my shoulder, and she wiggled her eyebrows. “You’ve got two minutes.”
I stepped around a large papier mâché martini olive, careful not to dent it, and was finally face to face with my handsome, if not exhausted-looking, fiancé. He wasted no time pulling me to his chest. “Sasha.” His voice vibrated through me.
“You’re here,” I mumbled into his shoulder, makeup getting all over his jacket.
“Of course I am.” His large hand stroked my back as he kissed the top of my hair. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I leaned back to see his face. “I wasn’t sure.”
“We need to talk about the last two weeks. I’m sorry—”
“It’s time!” Evie yelled.
Luca exhaled and narrowed his eyes at my pixie friend before looking down at me. His eyes were fierce, and his grip tight on my waist. “We’ll talk when you get off stage.” He pecked my lips. “Break a leg.”
I nodded, my lips tingling from his light touch and wanting more. Somehow, I made it to the stage.
“You okay?” Chloe whispered in the dark.
“Yep.”
The music started, and the lights came up. The shimmy sisters moved in a swirl of colorful sequences and glitter. Bodies of all sizes shuffled and sashayed together, and the audience ate it up. Hoots and hollers carried over the bass, and we somehow pulled together a pretty fantastic routine. When the lights went down, we quickly gathered our stripped clothes and shuffled off stage. Music played through the sound system as we laughed and slipped into our street clothes.
“You about to disappear?” Jazz smirked as she looked at her phone.
“I have no idea.”
“Well, Imani and I are going to peruse the art, and I’m going to try and convince her to check out downstairs.”
“Imani in the dungeon? Shit. I might have to stick around for that.”
“You’d be surprised just how brave my little dumpling can be.” Jazz chuckled and picked up her bag. “I’m going to run this out to the car.”
The green room had cleared out since we were the last show of the night, and I took my time packing my stuff. Luca had shown up, but that didn’t undo all the damage. This was the part of relationships I hated—the vulnerability, the sharing, the fixing.
“You need a hand?”
I grinned down at my brushes. “Always.”