Page 29 of I Don't Need Your Love

“Dance team. Thanks for giving me a spot. I really appreciate it.” I shrug. “I wasn’t surprised because I knew I made it, but it was still nice to officially see it.”

She watches me for a second or two. “So you came here to tell me you knew you got in?”

“No, Carly. I came here to thank you. Seriously, I just said that.”

She glances away. “Wasn’t my idea. Was Coach Moreno’s.”

I step closer to her, and reaching for her hand, I wrap my fingers around her wrist. “Come on, kid, we both know that’s not true.”

“How would you know that?”

I grin as I trace my finger along the inside of her wrist. Her skin is so warm, almost like her entire body is reacting to my touch. “Because we both know how competitive you are, and you’d be crazy not to have one of the best on your team.”

She rolls her eyes. “Aren’t we full of ourselves?”

“We are, and we should be. Because we’re going to demolish the competition.”

She lifts a brow. “Will we now?”

I nod, grinning. “With us on the team? We’re a force to be reckoned with.”

Her eyes get lost like she’s picturing us dominating the competition and she’s got a small smile on her face. But thenshe takes in my fingers that are closed around her wrist and she yanks her hand away. “Yeah, maybe.”

I’m a little bummed that she keeps pulling away from me and insists she must be sulky around me. Iamtrying to make amends with her and start over.

“Look, Carly, about this feud between us—”

She holds up her hands. “We’re just teammates, Ryder, okay? We don’t have to be best friends.”

“But—”

“And we don’t have to talk about the past.”

“Clearly you’re not over the whole Lego thing.”

She crosses her arms over her chest again. “It’s not just about the Lego!”

“Then what’s it about?”

She shakes her head. “Just forget it. Look, I was happier when you weren’t in my school, so can we keep our contact to a minimum?”

“No. We’re teammates and we need to work together. You can’t push me away.”

She doesn’t say anything, just whirls around and marches into the dorm building. The guard lifts a brow at me, as if he’s laughing at me.

I don’t get it. I thought she wasn’t as ticked off at me as she used to be. And now she’s mad at me again? Why?

“You should leave or I’ll report you to Principal Harrington,” the guard tells me.

“Got it,” I mutter before making my way to my dorm. Felix hasn’t returned from the party yet. I grab my pajamas and enter the bathroom, trying not to think about Carly.

Chapter Eleven

Carly

Monday after school is our first dance practice. I’m super excited because I spent the whole weekend choreographing theperfectroutine. Addie has already learned some of it and she loves it and can’t wait for me to share it with the rest of the team. Some of the moves are a little difficult, but I have faith in our dancers.

Coach Moreno wanted us to have our practices three or four times a week, but a competition is coming up in two weeks and there’s no way we’ll be ready with only a handful of practices. So we’ll be meeting after school every day this week and next week. There’s also a football game this Friday and we’re set to perform during halftime. It will be our first performance ever, which is so nerve-wracking but exhilarating, too.