CHAPTER 39
Theo
“Bring it under.” I swept my right arm under my leg. “Swing out. And hit. Then pop, pop.” I emphasized the chest pop as I did an angled slide pivot with my feet. My gaze traveled around the room to make sure everyone was following. It was the third time I had to go back to the beginning and slow down choreography for “What Do You Mean?” It wasn’t that they weren’t getting it, it was that I was starting to nitpick the shit out of everything. Now that they knew the routines, it was time to make them perfect.
I swiped a towel over my forehead and shoved it back between the elastic of my shorts and my body, picking up where I left off. We continued to run the entire routine before starting the music.
The energy was different today. A good different. Less stress and more focus. No one spoke out of turn or joked. The mood was intense, and it made the room boom with a vigor that crackled the air and made my heart pound in my throat. This was why I loved dance. This feeling right here.
“Take it from the top,” I boomed over the intro while counting them off with four claps.
Winter walked in just as the guys started. She weaved through them, checking out their moves as she went. Her smile was bright, and she nodded with the beat, clearly loving what she saw. And I couldn’t help feeling that everything was going to be okay.
“Looking good, Theo.” She stared at the dancers as she said it, and that made me smile, because she was talking about my choreography.
“They’ve been working hard.”
She glanced at me, her angry eyes from Friday nowhere to be seen. I could almost pretend it had never happened.
“I loved the video for ‘Caged.’ I’ve never seen anything like that before.” She was gushing, effectively inflating my ego. The video I whipped together Saturday night before I found Lex in my studio was something I was proud of. I could only hope Winter liked it as much as I did. To hear that she did was a relief.
“You never fail to bring on the magic with your creativity,” she said. “The concept is fresh and colorful and fun. It brings me back to the beginning of all this. When simplicity won out over all the pyrotechnics and costumes heavier than me.”
“Glad you liked it.”
She was right where I wanted her, loving the idea, back in her good graces. I decided to push for more. “You gonna cancel that pitch tomorrow and let me focus on your show now?”
She laughed. “And disappoint all the hopefuls? I couldn’t.”
I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. “For real, Winter? You and I know you’re just wasting their time. The song already has choreography. And you already have dancers. You realize you’re only saving yourself time and money by sticking with me.”
She shrugged and bit her lip. It was the playful Winter I’d always known. “Glad to see you really want this.”
“You know I love working with you.” That was the truth. Despite our less than innocent history together, we were still friends, and I cared about her as much as I always had.
When she didn’t respond to my earlier question, I considered the conversation settled and nudged her arm. “You want to jump in?” I nodded toward the dancers as I reached behind and brought forward her headset. “Let’s see it.”
My grin was wide, and hers matched.
One week until Vegas, then the real magic would begin. I was ready. So was she. The rest of the bullshit could fade into the wind. At least for now.
She took the headset from me, darted out onto the dance floor, and took her position. I stopped the track and started it from the beginning. “Back to the top. With Winter this time.”