Page 25 of I Don't Need Your Love

His eyebrows lower. “Video?”

I slip my phone from my pocket and tap on the school app, showing him the video. He watches it with intrigue, his eyes smiling as Addie and I pick up our tempo and add more intense moves.

“That was sick,” he says. “Too bad I didn’t see it until now. It would have helped me convince the students to show up.”

“Show up?”

“To your tryouts.”

My stomach feels heavy. “Are you saying these kids are only here because you told them to come?”

“I didn’t ‘tell them to come,’” he clarifies. “I informed them that my good friend Carly Simmons is putting together a dance team and that they should check it out because it looks like a lot of fun.”

Disappointment crashes over me. It wasn’t the video Addie and I worked so hard to put together. It wasn’t our mad dancing skills or our music choices. It was Ryder Bennett.

The smile vanishes from his face. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asks in a gentle tone I’m not used to hearing.

I shake my head and step away. “Nothing. Everything’s cool.”

“I’m a little hurt,” he says. “I thought you would be more appreciative that I helped get the word out.”

He’s saying it in a light and breezy tone, but I see the emotions he’s trying to hide in his eyes. Heishurt that I’m not grateful to him. I have no idea why he would try to help me, but it’s not his fault that the girls only flocked here because of him and not the video.

“Thanks,” I mutter before walking back to my friends.

“What happened?” Raven asks. “You look really upset.”

“Turns out they’re not here because of the video,” I tell Addie with an apologetic look. “Ryder asked them all to come. We worked hard on it for nothing.”

“No you didn’t!” Sophie insists. “The video was amazing and the two of you were, too. I’m sure some kids turned up because of it.”

“And even if they didn’t, you two should be really proud of yourselves,” Caleb says. “You created something wonderful.”

“Listen to the smart man,” Sophie says. “He knows what he’s talking about.”

“Thanks,” Addie says as she lowers her head on his shoulder. “I’m not upset or anything. It just sucks that it didn’t work.”

When my gaze moves to Ryder, I see that he’s once again surrounded by girls. But his eyes are pasted on me only, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Well,” I say, putting on a hopeful smile. “Ryder or not, the point is that the people are here. I’m sure we’ll find lots of potential recruits.”

Raven nods. “Definitely.”

I lower myself on one of the chairs before the table and take out the paper where I wrote down my notes yesterday. There are a lot of kids here, so it may take a while to get through them all. But I want each and every one of them to have a chance to show us what they’ve got.

Someone sits down next to me. I assume it’s Coach Moreno, but then I smell his familiar cologne or soap or shampoo, or whatever it is.

“So did I make the team?” Ryder asks.

I give him a look. “I told you yesterday that you’ll find out with everyone else when we post the results.”

“I know. But if I made the cut, I can offer some of my input on these hopefuls.”

My brows shoot up. “You want to take my job?”

“Carly, do you actually hear what I say when I talk or do you just hear what you want to hear? I never said anything about taking your job. I’m offering my input.”

“I don’t need your input,” I snap. When his face falls, I regret it. It’s not my intention to be a jerk to him, but I’m feeling so many emotions. Disappointment in myself because I couldn’t get students to try out for my dance team, worry that none of these girls will be good because they’re only here for Ryder, stressed because there are so many kids here and I want to give all of them a shot despite it all.