Page 20

Despite myself, I laugh. It’s brief, barely more than a breath, but it surprises me.

I catch my reflection in the mirror, noticing how my skin is flushed and how my chest rises and falls.

And in that moment, surrounded by the quiet thrum of music and breath and effort, something in me eases.

This space, this process—it’s feeling like mine again.

Like maybe I belong here, even after everything.

After another run through and an almost perfect lift, Lando disappears to grab water, muttering something about needing to ‘hydrate before he dies’ , and he leaves me alone with Reign.

The silence stretches heavily between us in the way it always is with him—like there’s more being said between the quiet than the words we ever manage out loud.

I turn toward the mirror, wiping the sweat from my neck with a towel.

“You’re different today,” he says. “More relaxed.”

I shrug. “Maybe I’m just trying harder not to disappoint you.”

His brow lifts just slightly. “I don’t want that from you.”

I turn around, facing him now. “Then what do you want? ”

“I want you to dance like you did before the world broke you. Like you still believe this is your dream.”

My chest tightens, the way it always does when someone gets too close to the truth. “I’m trying,” I whisper.

“I know.”

I look down at my feet, then back up at him, and the air shifts again as his eyes drop for a split second, to the skin of my collarbone, still damp from sweat, and then up to my lips. He doesn’t let his gaze linger for long, but I catch it.

Is it possible that Reign Harrington still wants me as much as I want him?

“I should…” I gesture vaguely toward the bench, the water, anywhere else. My throat feels dry all over again.

He steps back just enough to break the moment. “Same time tomorrow.”

I nod, but don’t turn away yet. “Reign?”

He glances at me. “Yeah?”

“Thanks again for letting Lando step in, and for not pushing too hard.”

His eyes soften just a little before he nods in acknowledgement. I grab my bag and turn to leave, feeling his eyes on me again as I leave the studio. But this time, I don’t feel exposed; this time, I feel seen.

Lando is sitting on the low stone wall just outside the studio, his head tipped back as he chugs from a giant water bottle like he’s been stranded in a desert. When he spots me, he lowers it with a dramatic gasp.

“Oh, thank God,” he wheezes. “I thought he murdered you and buried your body under the floor.”

I huff a laugh and walk toward him, brushing my damp hair off my neck. “He was… restrained.”

“Terrifying,” Lando nods, standing. “Reign restrained is honestly even more intense than him yelling. He’s like a tiger on a leash—very quiet, very golden-eyed, and just waiting to rip someone's throat out.”

I roll my eyes. “Charming.”

We fall into step, walking the gravel path back toward the guesthouse.

The morning air is warming now, sunlight stretching across the garden in lazy slants.

My legs ache in that satisfying way ballet always leaves behind, but it’s not just the rehearsal that’s left me rattled.

It’s Reign. The way he looked at me. The way it felt to have his attention on me—like I was something he was trying to figure out. I loved every second.

“So," Lando says after a beat, dragging out the word.

I glance at him and see that he’s grinning knowingly. “So?” I narrow my eyes.

He shrugs, a little too innocently. “Nothing. Just… wondering how long you two plan on pretending you’re not seconds away from combusting in a fit of unresolved sexual tension.”

I stop walking. “Lando?—”

“Oh, don’t Lando me.” He halts too, turning to face me with both hands on his hips.

“I’m not blind. I know you two fooled around behind my back years ago.

There’s chemistry between you two,” he jabs a finger at me, "he watches you like he’s starving and you’re the last meal on Earth, and you, you blush every time he so much as looks your way. ”

“I do not,” I scoff.

He cocks his head. “You’re literally blushing right now just from the mention of him. ”

I press my hands to my cheeks feeling the scorching heat for myself.

Damn it.

“It’s nothing. We’re just figuring out how to work together.”

“Uh-huh.” Lando lifts a skeptical brow. “And how do you explain the way he looks at you? Or the way you flinched today, and he just backed off? That’s not the same Reign that I know.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. That moment is still replaying in my mind on a never-ending loop.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,” Lando says, softer now. “I think you make each other better. But babe… this isn’t just artistic chemistry, and you know it.”

I look at him, the lump forming in my throat too familiar. “Even if you’re right, it’s not that simple.”

“Because of what happened?” he asks gently, and I nod.

Lando sighs, stepping closer. “I don’t know what it’s like to carry what you carry, but I know Reign, and I’ve never seen him like this. He’s usually a locked door with a deadbolt. With you… it’s like he’s trying to open.”

That hits something inside me I didn’t expect. I glance away, my voice quiet. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“You don’t have to be,” he says. “But maybe just… try to open your mind to the idea that he could be another safe person in your life.”

I exhale slowly, staring out over the lawn. The sun catches on the dew still clinging to the grass and suddenly, everything feels too alive.

“I’m scared,” I admit.

Lando nods. “I know.”

He bumps his shoulder into mine as we start walking again .

“But just so we’re clear,” he adds, grinning again. “If this turns into some epic tortured romance where I have to watch my brother pine tragically for you while you pine back in silence, I’m staging an intervention. With snacks and possibly a slideshow.”

I snort. “You’re the worst.”

He flashes me a wink and for the first time in days, I smile without effort.