Page 279 of Blackwood

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After we run through a couple of our routines for Nationals and Worlds, the crowd starts buzzing again. My chest is heaving from the last routine. We hit every beat, every flip, every turn. Clean. Powerful.

“Alright, alright, enough practice for a little while.” The crowd whistles and claps, but Knox keeps going. “I mean, y’all killed it. Tens across the board. First place at Nationals and Worlds without a doubt.”

Someone in the stands yells,“Trifecta for life!”

I roll my eyes, grinning.

“But…” Knox drawls, and the noise dips just enough for him to keep going. “I think it’s time for something else. Something fun. Something filthy.”

The Row boys go feral.

“I think it’s time we give the people what they want…” he pauses dramatically….“Trifecta, I think we give them a damn chair.”

They lose it. Absolute uproar. Cal is on his feet. August’s shirt is halfway off.

Knox just laughs into the mic. “Okay, okay! Freshmen, go grab me one of our signature chairs.” Knox turns to me, stillamped. “Bella, since today is about you, you’re doing the chairs. I’m gonna let you pick the song.”

I laugh, shaking my head as everyone screams louder.

“But,” Knox holds up a finger. “There’s a catch.”

Oh no.

“Lex gets to pick who goes in the chair.”

I whip my head toward him. Lex is leaning forward in his seat like he’s been waiting for this moment. The look on his face? Cocky. Lethal. Like he already knows he’s won. He stands slowly with his eyes locked on me.

Of course he’d pick himself. There’s not a single universe where Lex Barinov watches me do a chair routine and doesn’t claim the seat for himself. Asshole. God, I love him so much.

“First chair goes to Cade.”

Holy shit.

The crowd howls.Cade gives Lex a look—part mock-offended, part amused—but he’s already standing. He brushes a hand across my back as he walks past, low and slow.

I smile and run over to tell Knox my song choice. Knox grins like he’s been waiting all day for this. He paces in front of the booth like a ringmaster about to unleash hell.

“Alright everybody shut up!”

The crowd just gets louder. He laughs, shaking his head.

“The queen has spoken,” he bows to me. “And she picked a good one for you, Cade.”

Cade throws a lazy salute from the chair, already lounging like he was born for it.

“But first things first,” Knox adds. “You know what’s coming, dude.”

Cade raises an eyebrow like he’s playing dumb.

The Legacy girls scream at the top of their lungs, “TAKE IT OFF!”

I shrug at Cade and wink. Cade tips his head back laughing, hands going to the hem of his shirt as the opening beat of “Lollipop” by Lil Wayne drops. He pulls it off in one smooth motion, tossing it toward the bleachers. He opens his arms like a sacrifice to the gods.

“Let’s go, sweetheart,” he drawls it out, voice full of smug heat.

I strut toward him with a grin that says I already own him.