Chapter 20 Luca
Something fucking weird was happening to me, and I blamed it on Matilda’s wardrobe choices.
She’d always worn skin-tight clothes, which were a given for the nature of her job.
It was no different from the dancers that I’d worked with in the past. They needed to move freely while seeing their body’s lines.
But since the day in Matilda’s apartment when she’d worn those horrible athletic shorts and a sports bra that barely covered any of her smooth, tanned skin, I couldn’t stop noticing things.
Things like the way her tiny shorts stretched perfectly over the curve of her hips and her ass, or how when she removed those oversized sweaters, the dipped neckline of her leotard revealed just enough cleavage to be distracting.
How green her eyes looked when she glanced at me through her dark, long lashes.
I became even more acutely aware of how much we had to touch throughout practice. It had been hard to ignore at the start, but it was becoming practically impossible.
Her sunshine-ness still grated on me, but now it was more like a small itch that wouldn’t go away.
I avoided watching Matilda as she left to collect her dress rehearsal costume. I’d be OK if I could avoid looking at her for the next few weeks. Jack smirked but remained silent as he scrolled through his phone. He knew better than to piss me off about the situation.
I’d told him what had happened with Matilda last weekend. After scolding me about fucking up an excellent PR opportunity, he’d laughed at my stupidity.
I hadn’t heard from the Dirty Dancing producers recently, but that wasn’t surprising.
Jack had handled damage control from the press event, circulating the news that I’d gotten food poisoning last-minute.
He’d even shared an Instagram story from my account, featuring a press photo of Matilda in her dress.
The small caption read, “Gutted to have missed out, but Matilda killed it for us.” Apparently, Jack’s fee for fixing my mess was being allowed to annoy me.
With that being said, there had been a lot of buzz around Asha and Alice Avril. They’d attended the event together, hand in hand, looking like lifelong besties.
Safe to say the fans were eating it up, which didn’t bode well for us.
But I had an idea how we could rectify things.
Unzipping the costume bag, I changed into my dress rehearsal costume. Today, it was a pair of stretchy pants that looked like black jeans and a plain T-shirt.
When we entered the studio rink, Matilda was waiting for us. She already had her skates on and was smoothing the material of her plain pale blue rehearsal dress.
Thankfully, it covered more than her little shorts, but it was safer not to look at her when possible.
The studio rink looked completely different from where we had trained, with a huge seating area on one side for the audience and a panel on the opposite side for the judges.
The space was blindingly white with the fresh ice perfectly resurfaced, a massive Stars on Ice illuminated sign hanging above the rink, and the walls designed to look like they were made out of ice blocks.
It was full of people, a loud buzz echoing around the room as all the professional skaters and their celebrity partners waited for the dress rehearsal to start.
Matilda was chatting with Asha, her closest friend on the show, although from watching the press event footage, she and Alice Avril also seemed like our biggest competition.
Spotting us, Matilda waved me over and pointed to the schedule with her other hand.
“Hey.” Her eyes crinkled at the corners with her smile. “I don’t think I’ve introduced you. Luca, Jack, this is my friend Asha. She’s partnered with Alice.” Asha offered a small wave, and I offered a polite nod.
“You know, I loved her in Temptation. She was so spooky.” Matilda turned to Asha. I blinked, surprised that she enjoyed horror films. I’d pegged her as more of a Disney princess fan.
“Thank god, she’s not like that in real life; she’s actually so much fun to hang out with.” Asha glanced at the schedule again before turning back to Matilda. “We’re heading to that new bar in town after this. Do you all want to join?”
Matilda’s lips parted slightly, eyes searching Asha’s face for the correct answer. She knew Asha wanted her to go and that I probably wouldn’t want to. I had no idea what Matilda would decide if she chose just for herself. I doubted even she knew.
I’d seen my mother’s hesitant, anxious smile so many times before that I wanted to kick myself for missing the similarities.
She faltered only for a moment before saying, “Sure, I might be able to make it later. Luca is normally busy in the evenings, but I’ll be there if I can.”
“OK, amazing.” Asha clapped. “Also, would you be able to grab me on the way to the studio tomorrow, please? My car is still in the garage, but I can always call a cab if not.”
“Of course, no worries.” Matilda affectionately squeezed Asha’s upper arm. Asha wished us luck and headed toward the backstage area.
“We’re third in the lineup.” Matilda pointed to the schedule.
“Which isn’t too bad. First or last is probably the best, but third will be fine.
” The board said we should be in our places in twenty minutes, giving us enough time to warm up and stretch.
Asha and Alice Avril were opening the show, and Noah and Sophia Arnold had the closing spot.
Twenty minutes later, we were waiting for our names to be called backstage.
I don’t know what I’d expected, but I was surprised to see that the ice rink started backstage.
The main rink was a regular oval shape, but one corner opened into a wide ice tunnel, which we would skate through from backstage, meaning that the audience couldn’t see us waiting to come on.
We’d caught a glimpse of Nate and Jessica Bennett’s skate, which was the one before ours. It had been OK; we were better.
When I shared those thoughts with Matilda, she rolled her eyes, but I didn’t miss her small smile.
“A heads-up. We’ve got our first interview together after this.” Matilda skated in small circles, the slicing sound of the blades familiar and comforting.
“That’s fine. Do the reporters ask everyone the same questions?”
“Maybe, I’m not sure. Most of them will have already spoken to reporters at the press event.” There was no bite to her tone, but the reminder she’d attended alone was like a kick in the balls.
“Do you think that will have put us at a disadvantage?”
Her forehead creased, and a nervous smile played at the corners of her mouth.
“Honestly, Matilda.” I needed to know, because it affected whether I’d share my idea with her or not.
“OK, it will have. But it doesn’t matter—” Matilda rushed out.
“Stop. It’s fine. I’m an adult who can deal with the consequences of my actions.”
“I know, but I feel bad for saying it. It was—”
I placed my hands on her shoulders, silencing her. “I fucked up. How can we fix it?”
“I don’t know.” She bit her bottom lip.
Stop looking at her lips, dickhead.
“So, despite Jack’s damage control, there might still be speculation around why I didn’t turn up, right?
” At her nod, I paused, aware that I couldn’t take back what I was going to say next.
But I’d thought about it long and hard since the press event, and I couldn’t think of another solution.
“Let’s give them something else to focus on—a bit like Alice and Asha are doing. ”
“Like what?” The crease between her brows deepened.
“A distraction.”
“I’m still not following.” She tilted her head.
“Let’s flirt.”
Her brows shot up, her mouth parting wide. “Flirt?” she whisper-shouted.
“It ties in with what you and Jack said our first week of training. We choose some romantic songs, flirt for the camera, and give the audience something to speculate about.”
“I’m sorry…” She shook her head, blond hair flicking with the movement. “I’m just really struggling to reconcile this person with the person six weeks ago who wouldn’t even look at me.”
“I’m still the same person. But I fucked up, so I’m rectifying the situation.”
Skepticism splashed across her face, and I didn’t blame her. It was a one-eighty, but given the radio silence from the movie producers, I needed to do something.
She tilted her head, uncertainty etched across her features.
“I haven’t heard from the Dirty Dancing producers in weeks.” I hoped she didn’t hear the edge of panic in my voice. “I hate the press, but maybe we need to use them to our benefit. We both need to win, and I fucked up an easy opportunity to give us an advantage.”
She nodded slowly.
“If we flirt on camera, the public will go crazy. If they’re obsessed with Asha and Alice’s friendship, imagine the buzz if they thought we were dating.”
“OK.” She straightened her back, eyes sparkling with determination.
“Only if you want to, though, Matilda. Don’t agree to this unless it’s something you’re happy to do.”
“I mean, I guess it’s a win–win. You make the producers happy, and we increase our chances of winning the show.” Her mouth was set in a straight, determined line. “Let’s do it,” she whispered, more to herself than to me.
At that exact moment, the Tannoy played backstage: “Welcome to the ice Luca Vasvault and his partner, Matilda Stevens.”
“Are you ready?” Matilda asked, holding her hands up and spinning around, motioning us into position.
I stepped closer so that my front was almost flush with her back and held her hands from behind.
I couldn’t count the number of times we’d been in this position over the past six weeks, yet somehow it was different. The familiar warmth of her skin felt intimate and charged with a quiet tension—like we were in sync even though we hadn’t started skating yet.
It must have been the adrenaline.
The opening beats to “You’re the One That I Want” echoed through the studio. Matilda’s hands squeezed mine, and we pushed off onto the rink.
“We’re happy with the dress rehearsal,” I told the interviewer opposite us.
That wasn’t true, but I wasn’t telling them that. There had been a few wobbles here and there that needed to be ironed out. Jack had recorded the rehearsal on Matilda’s phone so we could watch it later.
An assistant producer had dragged us into one of the conference rooms and told us that they needed footage for cutaways. A green screen adorned the back wall, a leather sofa in front of it, and blinding studio lights illuminated the whole room.
“And how have you found the partnership so far?” the interviewer asked.
I settled into the seat, resting my arm behind Matilda’s back. The interviewer followed the movement, and interest flashed in her eyes.
If she wanted to read into the move, then let her.
Matilda looked at me, and I nodded, letting her take the lead. I’d suggested the plan of flirting; I wanted her to decide how far we’d take it.
A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and a swell spread through me, knowing I was in on it.
I winked at her.
She rolled her eyes.
The perfect picture of flirtatious teasing.
“It’s going well. We’ve had some hiccups along the way, but it’s been great working together,” she said diplomatically.
I didn’t care whether she was lying to the camera; I had just done the same, after all.
“What sort of hiccups?” the interviewer pushed.
Pausing, Matilda looked over her shoulder at me, her lips pulled into a small smirk.
“Well, Luca struggled with some of the lifts at the start.” She paused again, a full smile blossoming across her face.
“And the fitness regimen. It’s tough, you know.
” She patted my leg sympathetically before returning to the camera.
“A lot of exercising, so he took a while to get up to speed, bless him.”
I fought the urge to laugh at her teasing. “Does it look like I’d struggle with the fitness regimen?” I asked the camera, gesturing to my body.
“He’s a bit cocky, too.” Matilda pointed at me with her thumb, making the interviewer laugh.
“She pretends she hates it, but is that the face of someone who hates it?” I teased.
“You two seem pretty close,” the interviewer observed, eyes flicking to Matilda’s arm where my fingers brushed her shoulder. I hadn’t realized I was touching her until the interviewer pointed it out.
Was it overkill? Maybe, but I couldn’t stop now. It would look suspicious.
“More than six weeks of seeing each other all day makes it hard not to be,” I offered, and a blush tinted Matilda’s cheeks. The timing was perfect.
“And have there been any late-night practice sessions?” The interviewer raised her eyebrows suggestively.
“We’ve spent a few nights watching old recordings, much to Luca’s dismay.” Matilda omitted that Jack had been there for all of them.
“Well, well, well…” The interviewer turned to the camera. “I think I can speak on behalf of the people watching when I say that we can’t wait to see what you two bring to the season this year. It’s going to be a good one.”