Chapter Twenty-Eight
Carly
I texted Ryder after the party last night, asking him if he wanted to work on our duet on Saturday afternoon.
I want to have most of it down before we meet with Moreno on Monday.
I wasn’t sure if he would say yes because it’s the weekend and I was certain he had plans to hang out with his friends, but to my surprise, he said yes.
I really appreciate he’s taking this as seriously as me.
Actually, he’s been nothing but serious ever since he joined the team.
Even if he did think it was corny at first.
I head to the gym and lower myself on the bleachers, scrolling through social media.
Ryder isn’t very active on it, but he’s always being tagged by other people.
The camera loves him, even when he doesn’t try.
In fact, he looks the best when he’s not even aware that someone is snapping a photo of him.
I don’t want to be a stalker or anything, but I can’t help but scroll through the photos, taking in every part of his face.
Even though he’s smiling in most of them, there’s always a shadow of pain in his eyes.
I still have no idea what he’s struggling with, but I’m glad that being on the dance team and art class are helping.
I feel bad that I didn’t want him on the team at first because I thought he wanted to ruin it for me, but I now know that he needs the team just as much as I do.
“I look good, don’t I?” Ryder’s voice says as he drops down next to me.
My phone slips from my hand, but I quickly catch it before it slams to the floor. “Sheesh, dude. Don’t sneak up on people.”
“Are you stalking me?” There’s that lazy smile again.
“I wasn’t stalking you,” I say as I get up. “Photos of you are always popping up in my feed. I swear the kids here think the world revolves around you.”
That lazy smile spreads. “Nah, I think you were stalking me.”
“Can your head get any bigger?”
“Well, my face is my best feature.”
“Why do I put up with you?” I mutter as I head to a spot in the gym. “Ready to start?”
“Straight to business, Cap? I like it. But I want you to know that I brought something for you.”
My forehead creases. “You did?”
“Yep. But I’ll only give it to you once we’re done with practice.”
“What is it?”
He shakes his head with a smile. “It’s a surprise.”
“A jar of bugs?”
“A jar of…are we eight?”
“You got me a jar of bugs one year for my birthday.”
He holds up his hands. “Okay, I’ll have you know that I asked Blake what to get you, and he told me you would love a jar of bugs.”
I give him a look, not believing a word.
“I’m serious!”
I scowl. “My brother.”
“See? I’m innocent.”
I’m not sure about that. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a prank from both of them. But that was so long ago and obviously we’ve grown. It’s kind of funny now that I think about it.
“Wait, are you smiling?” he asks.
I set up the music and shrug. “I can laugh about it now.”
Surprise passes over his face, and then he punches the air. “Yes! Carly Simmons is finally over the past and laughs at all the pranks I pulled on her.”
“Not really,” I say. “There’s a lot you still need to beg for my forgiveness.”
We move closer to each other and get into position, pressing our foreheads together.
He grins as he gazes into my eyes. “I know you’ll forgive me wholeheartedly one day. You can’t stay mad at this face forever.” He points to his face and gives me a puppy dog look.
“I definitely can,” I say as the music starts and we begin our routine.
We both know the first half very well, but we’re supposed to look like we’re in love.
Moreno sent me a video of Friday’s practice, and we look like two friends hanging out at the mall.
We put too much distance between our bodies and we don’t make a lot of eye contact or put on emotional expressions.
We’re also hesitant when we hold hands. I know we need to work on that if we want to wow the judges, but I kind of don’t want to deal with that right now.
It’s best we get the routine down perfectly before we worry about the romance part, right?
“You okay?” he says as he twirls me toward his body, where my back presses to his chest and he crosses our arms around my torso. He dips his head and whispers in my ear, “You’re too much in your head.”
A chill runs down my spine at his close proximity, causing me to stumble away. “I’m cool,” I say as I let go of his hand so we can do synchronized leaps. “Just trying to get the steps down perfectly.”
“Darn, I missed a move,” he says as we reach for each other’s hands.
“It’s okay. Carry on.”
We do a few more steps, still putting distance between ourselves, and then it’s time for a lift.
I incorporated a few of them into the routine, even though we’re not sure if we can pull them off.
If we can’t, I’ll just have to replace them with other moves, though I’ll be darned if we don’t work our butts off to get them right.
And I also want to include a lift for the grand finale, if we can.
“Okay, I’m going to rush toward you,” I say as I let go of his hand and do a few spins toward the left. “Grab me by the waist and lift me high over your head.”
He swallows. “Are you sure? I’ll drop you on your head.”
“We need to go right in if we want to do this. Don’t worry, it’ll be okay.”
He looks unsure, but he nods and holds out his hands.
He technically shouldn’t anticipate the next move until we’re up to it, but we can work on that later.
I sprint toward him while still keeping a graceful form, trying to appear as though I’ve been separated from my love for an eternity and am finally reuniting with him.
Ryder’s face registers panic as I bound toward him, but he miscalculates the distance and snatches my waist a few seconds too late.
So when he tries to lift me in the air, he loses his grip and I sail in the air for a few seconds before plummeting to the floor.
“Ouch,” I mutter as I roll to my other side. Luckily, I wasn’t so high in the air, so it doesn’t hurt that much.
“Carly!” Ryder is on his knees before me in an instant, helping me sit up. “You okay? I didn’t drop you on your head, did I?”
“Dude, calm down,” I say with a laugh as I slug his shoulder. “I’m fine. I told you we’ll have tons of falls and bruises before we get this right. Let’s try again. But work on your timing. You were a little late.”
I rewind the music and then we get into position. I let go of his hand and spin a few feet to the left, then rush toward him. His face holds even more panic the closer I get, and he grabs my waist a little too hard and yanks me toward him. I slam right into his chest.
“Ouch,” I mutter, my lips kissing the fabric of his shirt.
“Darn it. Sorry again.” He gently pushes me back and looks into my face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m going to charge you a quarter every time you ask if I’m okay,” I warn.
He laughs lightly as he runs his hands through his hair. “Sorry. It just kills me when I hurt you.”
“I know, but you need to forget about that. Let’s try something different. Lift me in the air.”
“Okay.” He puts his hands on my waist and heaves me up in the air.
He has no problem holding me in that position, but his arms quake when I ask him to raise me higher or try to change his position.
It’s not that his arms are weak—he’s just not used to holding someone like this.
So I ask him to do the same thing over and over again, hoping his muscles will get used to it.
Then we try that move again. He manages to catch me at the right time and lift me a few inches, but we both lose our balance and he drops me to the floor.
“Sorry.” He hangs his head. “I thought I would get it by now.”
“It’s okay. Let’s take a break.”
We grab our water bottles and sit on the bleachers.
He seems upset with himself for failing the lift, and I want to tell him he shouldn’t be so hard on himself.
Lifting another person isn’t easy and he’s doing a great job so far.
But I know nothing I say will make him feel better, so instead, I slip my phone out of my backpack and say, “Want to see your awesome self on social media?”
He gapes at me. “Those are two things I never thought I’d hear from Carly Simmons’ lips. You called me awesome and you want to spend our break looking at photos of me ?”
“Just this once,” I say as I open the app. “Don’t get any ideas.”
I smile when I see a grin tickle his lips. Scooting closer to him, I find the Parker twins’ accounts and scroll through their feed. Most of the photos are of themselves and their friends, but there are quite a handful of Ryder, too. Especially from last night’s party.
“I thought they’d be mad at you for turning them down for the school dance,” I say.
“Something tells me they won’t give up, though.” He reaches for his bag and unzips it. “I know I told you I’d give you your surprise after practice, but I’m kind of itching to give it to you now.”
My curiosity is threatening to burst out of my body. “What is it?”
He smiles at my impatience and purposely moves as slowly as a snail as he plucks the item out of his bag. My eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. “Is that a box of chocolates?”
“Not just any chocolates,” he says as he faces the box to me. “This, Miss Simmons, is premium Belgian chocolate. The smoothest ones you’ll find on the planet.”
I gape at him. “That must have been really expensive!”
He lifts his shoulders and throws me a smile. “You’re worth it.”
I open my mouth to protest, but he puts his finger over my lips. “Don’t even think about it, Captain. You’ve been working so hard on the routine, and I want to show you how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me and the team. So please forget about the cost and accept it.” He holds it out to me.
I stare at him for a few seconds, loving the sweet smile on his face. After tucking some loose hair behind my ear, I say, “Thanks,” and accept the box. “But you have to share it with me.”
“Honestly? I was hoping you’d ask because those things look so darn good.”
With smiles, we each choose a piece and dig in. “Oh my gosh,” I moan. “This is the best chocolate I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
“I knew you’d love it.”
“Thanks. I guess you know me.”
“You bet I do.” He winks.
My stomach somersaults and my palms grow clammy.
We’re quiet for a bit, each of us enjoying a second chocolate. Then I say, “Why did you reject the Parker Twins? I mean, if you don’t mind telling me.”
“I know I won’t have fun with them.”
“Are you sure? I mean, they’re like the prettiest girls at school.”
“Maybe I don’t care about that.” After wiping his fingers on a tissue, he leans over and taps on my phone. He pulls up my account and starts scrolling through the pictures, a smile taking control of his lips. “Now these are photos.”
My face and neck heat up. Most of them are with my friends, many of them with silly poses or faces. But I also posted some photos and videos of me dancing.
“Ugh,” I say as I cover the screen.
“What? You look great. And your dancing is amazing. I don’t see why anyone would scroll through the Parker twins’ feed over yours.”
“Please,” I say as I take my phone and drop it into my bag. “Why would anyone choose me over them?”
“I know a lot of people who would. For the record,” he says as he moves closer. “I think you’re way more beautiful than them, both inside and out.” His gaze drops to my lips. I find my eyes have dropped to his lips, too.
“You’re just saying that because you owe me,” I whisper.
“Owe you for what?”
“Being a jerk to me when we were kids.”
“I thought we were over that?”
“We are, but…” My breathing has gotten heavy. Is he moving closer to me? And am I moving closer to him?
“Carly, I hope you know how amazing you are,” he murmurs. “Forget the fact that you feel invisible here or like you’re second class. These kids? They don’t know what’s good in life, even if it were to knock them over the head.”
“I’m sure they do,” I say, my breathing growing even more labored when there are mere centimeters between us.
“They know nothing.”
When his lips are so close to mine that I feel his warm breath on mine, my eyes flutter shut, anticipating the feeling of his lips pressed to mine.
I admit that I have imagined once or twice—okay, maybe a million—what it would be like to kiss him.
I can’t believe I might actually experience it. My first kiss.
But then reality hits me over the head.
I shoot to my feet and stammer, “We should get back to practice.”
I turn my back to him so I won’t see his expression, then return to the area where we were practicing. I don’t hear him get up and follow. I bet he’s sitting there with a perplexed expression.
I have no idea why I freaked out. Okay, I know exactly why.
Ryder is not the right person for me. He may be sweet to me and want to be my friend, and he’s doing all that he can for the dance team, but he’s not looking for a serious relationship.
He likes having fun with girls. I can’t get wrapped up in him if we’re not looking for the same thing.
Because that’ll leave me with a broken heart.
He joins me and offers me a smile. From his expression, I know he came to the same conclusion as me. The best thing for us is to be friends and nothing more. We’ve been getting along so well and have fun hanging out together, despite the bickering. Why change that?
“Ready to try again?” I ask.
He nods and gives me another smile. “Ready, Captain.”