Page 77 of The Enforcer

Jasmine frowned at the three of them, but then smiled again, as if that wasn’t the strangest thing she’d heard. “Okay. Sure.”

* * * *

Brianna wasn’t the only one trying out.

So everyone sat in a big semicircle in the studio, leaving the back and the mirrors open. This crew was interesting. It was a mix of all types of people, different ages, different nationalities.

And Tino was going to have to correct himself on Brooklyn.

The girls herecouldmove.

The guys could too.

Brianna was in a corner stretching. Tino and Carina sat with Otis between them so he could give them a play-by-play on who was dancing. Some of the crew members danced in groups, practicing their routines and bringing up the energy in the room before the tryouts. Some did solo routines.

Tino was a decent dancer, but he wasn’t anywhere close to the category of these dancers. Then Otis got up to do a routine his team had been working on, and Tino sort of understood why Otis thought Tino should audition when his foot healed.

Tino wasn’t the greatest dancer in the world.

Neither was Otis, though he had certainly improved.

But what they had and a lot of the other dancers didn’t were the gymnastic skills. In a group dance, nothing topped off a routine like the perfect back tuck Otis just did.

It was probably the reason this crew recruited Brianna.

Tino wasn’t sure about her dancing, but he’d seen firsthand that, like Otis, she was very physical and limber and had a whole collection of tricks in her gymnast bag that could be impressive in a routine and make a crew look really good for a competition.

But damn, these dancers were good.

Very good.

Tino was sorta hoping Brianna could do a back tuck like Otis, because if she couldn’t, her dancing was gonna have to beon point.

Well, if she flaked on it, she could always try out for cheerleading with Carina.

They called Brianna first, and Otis explained they always went from youngest to oldest, to help the younger dancers with their nerves rather than making them wait longer.

Except Brianna didn’t walk up like the youngest dancer.

She didn’t look nervous.

She wasn’t blushing like she did on the train.

She just pulled down the brim of Tino’s Yankees hat and lowered her head as she stood there in the center of all these kick-ass dancers. Then someone pushed Play, and the low, distinctive thump of “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” came on.

And it was the perfect song.

Brianna blew his mind.

She didn’t use one gymnastic trick.

She didn’t need them, because…

“Damn,” Otis whispered next to him. “Your girl can move.”

Her moves were fluid, and so smooth she was actually blending them seamlessly to the music. Brianna was beyond a doubt born to dance. It was sort of like listening to Carina sing for the first time that night in the shower. She had a talent, an undeniable, innate talent that others like Tino could do a lot of dumb pet tricks trying to mimic, but they couldn’t really touch.

For the first time since last night, the constant replay of Mary stopped in his mind. The only thing he could see was Brianna, dancing in front of all these talented people like she knew she was better.