Chapter 22
Ledger
“Kaisa, what’s wrong?” The music has stopped and we’re just standing across from one another, breathing heavily, staring at each other.
Her phone, sitting on a desk near the window, buzzes with another incoming call.
“We can’t take the time to do this right now.” She raises up a palm and starts to turn away.
I reach out and gently touch her arm. “We can’t take the time to talk? We need to. Because we’re both leaving early in the morning and I don’t want to part ways like this.”
“You’ve been distant ever since San Antonio.” Her bright blue eyes blaze. “If it’s because I came to see you there without warning, I’m sorry.” She’s in front of the sofa in my suite, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
“It wasn’t that.” I sigh and rub the back of my neck. “I’ve had a harder time than I realized with all this negative publicity and the backlash to what I said. It was hard to be shipped to Colorado.”
Her phone finally stops buzzing.
“I didn’t realize how difficult it was for me to miss practice and to be seen as a villain,” I continue. “And to wonder how this was going to impact my career long-term.”
Her chin goes in the air. “But you did the interview, and it went well. You made amends, Ledger.”
“I tried, and I’m grateful for that chance, but who knows what’s going to happen long term? The point is, I was a big stick in the mud about this whole dancing thing and I’m sorry.”
She nods and swallows hard. “Stick in the—? Oh…” She says something in Finnish. Then, “It was unprofessional of me to get so upset. In my mind’s eye, you were Tim and Rick all over again: negative and not invested. I’m sorry.”
“You’re right, though. My heart wasn’t in it. I should have spent more time practicing with you in Texas. I want this to go well for you…for both of us.”
“It’s almost over.” She says it like I should be happy about it. “You’re almost done with all this.”
My eyes burn. “I’m going to do my best tonight. I want to make you proud.”
She opens and closes her mouth. Her phone starts ringing again, but she ignores it.
I finger a strand of hair that’s come out of her ponytail. “Can we talk about this? Because I don’t want to just never see you again.”
She breathes in and out once. “This isn’t a good time.”
I look around the room. “Why not? Finally, we’re alone and—”
“The showdown is tonight!” She yanks her hair out of her ponytail and her blonde locks tumble down her back.
She rakes her fingers through it. “We need to be ‘on,’ you know? We need to have our game face on. Imagine someone you’ve spent a lot of time with insisting you define the relationship only hours before a big game! ”
I nod, and it’s sinking in what I’ve done here. By being so concerned with the risks to my career, I’ve set things up so that now, when I’m ready and willing to be open, we can’t be.
She’s right. I can’t screw this up by asking about how she feels right now.
“Right before the semi-finals, I got dumped. I messed up the dance and then Kale messed up and it was over.” She blanches.
“I don’t care about that relationship being over.
I care about the damage that it did to my career.
So, I want to talk about this.” She grabs my hands and squeezes them tight. “After.”
When she lets go of my hands, I take a step back from her. She’s right. This isn’t the right time.
She frowns. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’m late for a meeting with Mr. Mynt.” She begins to gather her stuff.
“Before you go, just know that I’ve loved this experience with you. I didn’t think I would because, I don’t know if you realize this, but I’m not a dancer.” I breathe out a laugh and she does, too. “And you scared me a little bit at first.”
Her mouth forms an “O.”
“But I’ve loved it,” I say.
She reaches out to squeeze my hand, her blue eyes glistening. “I have, too.” She moistens her lips. “I’m so sorry. It’s Wynn. I have to take this call.”
She hugs me, so briefly it’s like it barely even happened. “I’ll see you at the dress rehearsal,” she says before answering her phone on her way out of my suite.
The Peppermynt Twist Showdown is being advertised all over the resort, and everywhere I go, digital billboards and paper fliers are plastered everywhere. And it’s Kaisa, front and center, as the face of the whole thing.
There are small photos, professional head shots, of the athletes who are participating and a group shot of the dancing pros. But really, it’s all about Kaisa. And why wouldn’t it be? She’s so magnetic and so magnificent. My heart aches every time I see it—every time I think of her.
In the early afternoon, the makeup crew tracks me down and coerces me to visit the Mynt Peak spa for a chest wax and spray tan.
Never ever thought I’d be doing that. Ever.
I’m wallowing in the sting across my tender chest when Steve texts. He’s back in town and wants to meet in the resort gym for a workout session with me.
We meet up, and once we get started, the adrenaline coursing through me gives me an almost angry energy.
“Whoa. We are not benching that much right now,” Steve says as he adjusts the universal machine. “Are you crazy, dude? I go grab a drink of water and come back to you trying to PR?”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“Well, you better start. Tonight’s a big night.”
I groan, and he eyes me. “So tonight’s the thing,” he says, like he knows everything.
“What?”
“That’s what’s wrong. Tonight’s getting to you. Getting in your head.”
“I’m just nervous about making a fool of myself.”
“Maybe. But also—”
I punch up the bar, hoping he doesn’t steer the conversation anywhere near Kaisa.
He steadies my arms and then continues. “Are you and Kaisa good?”
“There is no me and Kaisa.”
“I meant as dance partners, but okay.”
“She overheard me talking with Taysom.”
“Oh, no.”
“He mentioned that it would be good for me to date. She overheard my response, and then with how I was acting after that, she didn’t think I was taking the performance, or her, seriously.”
“Oh no. Dude, she needed a really good partner for this thing, and you went and acted like you didn’t care about it?”
“How do you know she needed this?”
“I watch her show like everyone else in the free world. Her first partner on the show broke her heart and then the last two partners were awful, man. Complaining about having to do the show and missing practices. Complete snooze fests. She really got dealt a bad hand both seasons and then you do that?”
“I know.” My pulse peaks. “And I feel terrible about it.”
Steve scratches his chin. “Do you think she was starting to like you before you did that?”
“I don’t know. I hope I can see her again after this.”
“You like her.”
I squirm, shake my head. I raise the bar above me again, focusing on the burn.
“You do,” he insists with a grin. “The great Ledger Bishop has fallen in love.”
“In love?” I scoff, even though I know as he’s saying it, he’s right.