Page 54 of The Dance

Everyone’s gaze turned to me. “I’m going to be completely honest. It looks like something we’ve done before.”

Katie, head of marketing, spoke. “We could—”

“Tweak a few things, and after the holidays, show me again.” I stood.

I couldn’t pinpoint what it was about the ad campaign that seemed the same, but I didn’t like it. They had a week to fix it because it was the day before Christmas Eve, and everyone would have three days off before the new year.

We dispersed, and Brody fell into step with me as I walked toward my corner office. “I just got a text.” I arched a brow, asking for him to continue. “I scored us tickets to the hottest party in Dallas for New Year’s Eve.”

I stopped walking. “Yeah?”

“Get your tux cleaned, and get ready for some fun.” He squeezed my shoulder and took off for his office.

He didn’t need to elaborate because it was the one party that everybody in Dallas knew about, and everyone wanted to get tickets to attend. For us, it was a way to network because the richest people would be in attendance.

* * *

I was headinghome to San Antonio on Christmas Eve to visit my family. I tried to go back for every major holiday, and I had to split time between my mom’s place and my dad’s. They had been divorced since I was in junior high, so spending every other holiday with one parent wasn’t anything new for me. This time, I was spending Christmas Eve with my mom and Christmas day with my dad.

Just down the street from my mother’s, I pulled into the parking lot of a coffee shop, needing a jolt of caffeine to get me through the night. I loved my mom, but even after more than a decade, she was still bitter that my father had left her for another woman.

The smell of roasted coffee beans hit me as I opened the door and entered the popular coffee shop chain. There was a short line, and after I placed my order, I turned. A smile instantly spread across my mouth as I saw a familiar face.

“Stacey?”

Her gaze moved from her phone to mine, and her eyes widened in surprise. She blinked and then asked, “Eddie?”

I knew I looked different from the last time she’d seen me. For one, I wore contacts instead of glasses. I frequented the gym five days a week and had a lot more muscle on me than when I was a senior in high school, and given I had a dating app I wanted to get people to join, I made sure I was well-groomed with an expensive as fuck quiff hair cut for my light brown locks.

“Yeah, how are you?” We embraced quickly.

“I’m doing good. You?” The barista called for her to move forward and place her order. I stuck out a twenty to pay for the coffee. “Thank you, but you don’t need to do that.”

I smiled. “It’s a cup of coffee, Stace.”

She grinned. “All right. Thank you.”

The barista handed me my change, and we stepped to the side to wait for our coffees. “Are you in a hurry?” I asked.

“Not really.”

“Wanna sit and catch up?”

She nodded with a smile. “Sure.”

We grabbed a table, still waiting for our drinks to be ready. “Are you at your mom’s or dad’s this Christmas?” Stacey was in the same boat as me when it came to bouncing back and forth between parents.

“Mom’s, you?”

“Dad’s.”

We sat in awkward silence for a few more seconds until my name was called, indicating my coffee was ready. I stood and grabbed my drink, waiting for Stacey’s to be ready. Once it was, I returned to our table and handed her the paper cup.

“Thank you again for the coffee,” she said and took a sip.

“I think you’ve said thank you more times in the last few minutes than you ever did when we were almost brother and sister.”

She snorted. “I’m not sixteen anymore.”