CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
ELISE
THE MUSIC CARRIED me through the weeks. Each routine was sharper than the last, and everyone saw the dancer I’d become, but no one saw the part of me that still ached for him.
Between rehearsals, costume fittings, and the rush of imagining performing in front of thousands of people every other night, I barely had a moment to breathe, let alone dwell on the heartbreak. Rehearsal demanded all of me, and for that, I was grateful.
This tour was exactly what I needed. It was movement, purpose, and something to pour myself into besides heartache.
“You looked good today, Elise.” Titan said as he gathered his phone and hoodie that he had removed some time during rehearsals, which left him shirtless for the remainder of the session. “Honestly, you’re raising the bar for everyone in this studio.”
I managed a small smile, the compliment hitting differently than it had the first day he scolded me for lagging behind. “Thanks, Titan. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at the airport before we head out to tour.”
I slung my bag over my shoulder, pushed open the studio door, and froze.
Nathan was waiting for me, holding a bottle of water in his hand just like he had for the last few weeks.
Only right now, he didn’t see me.
His back was turned as he spoke into his phone, voice low but audible.
Seeing him stirred something inside me. Every evening he’d been here, waiting after rehearsals, offering the bottle of water like a quiet anchor, and I hated it and loved it at the same time.
It was frustrating how he could be so present and yet so unavailable.
How he could still affect me after everything.
I’d grown used to ignoring the flutter in my stomach, the rush of warmth that pooled in my chest whenever I caught sight of him.
But seeing him scruffy and exhausted and desperate in the small way he let show, I couldn’t help but feel the ache of him all over again.
“…I’ll be out of the office for a while.
Not sure how long, but starting tomorrow.
” I caught the last bit of his conversation, and a pang shot through me.
Maybe he was flying off somewhere with Sadie.
She’d been seen leaving the office a few times since Nathan and I broke up.
Every time I’d spotted her lingering around and smiling a little too smugly, I’d felt that flicker of irritation.
Now the thought of him with her made my chest tighten, jealousy clawing its way up my throat.
I kept walking, deliberately brushing past him, trying to act like I hadn’t seen him, though every step felt heavier than the last.
“Elise,” he said softly, reaching out to stop me, and for a moment, I hesitated. His hand hovered, offering the bottle of water. “For you,” he added softly.
I took it. My hand closed around the cool plastic. “Thank you.”
I started walking again, careful to keep my steps steady, the water bottle felt cool in my hand.
“How was the rehearsal?” Nathan wondered, falling into step beside me.
“Good. Titan really pushes me to be a better dancer.”
Nathan gave a low hum that was not quite an agreement, but not quite a dismissal either. “You’ve always been good. Even when you didn’t believe it.”
The words slipped under my skin, quiet but weighted, and I hated how my pulse quickened at the sincerity in his tone. I tightened my grip on the bottle, staring straight ahead.
“Practice doesn’t lie,” I said, keeping my voice light, though my throat felt tight. “That’s the difference between being good and being great.”
He chuckled softly, the sound warm but edged. “Always so stubborn.”
I glanced at him then, just for a second, and immediately regretted it. His eyes held mine, steady, unguarded, and too much
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I muttered.
Nathan’s lips curved. “Depends who it’s directed at.”
My chest tightened, the air suddenly too heavy. I kept walking, my sneakers scuffing against the pavement, but I could feel him at my back, steady and relentless, just like always.
“I overheard you,” I said quietly, glancing at him as we moved. “You’re going on vacation…with Sadie, I'm guessing?”
Nathan froze mid-step. He turned toward me, eyes locking onto mine, dark and steady. “No,” he said confidently, voice low but unwavering. “I haven’t seen Sadie since the night you and I had dinner.”
I narrowed my eyes, letting a hint of doubt slip in. “Really? Because I’ve seen her around the building a few times since we broke up.”
“The lobby is as far as she gets,” he interrupted smoothly, stepping closer so that the space between us felt private. “Security knows not to let her up. You’re the only woman who gets access to me. Do you hear me? I don’t care about other women. It’s only you. It’s you or no one else.”
I blinked, the words sinking in. He wasn’t bragging. He was certain. Protective. Like I’d always been the only one who mattered, and somehow, that was both reassuring and terrifying.
“But you will be out of town.”
“Yes,” he admitted, firmly. “I leave tomorrow for Vegas.”
I hesitated, suddenly piecing things together. The timing. The destination.
It was the first stop of my tour.
My stomach twisted with a mixture of disbelief and hope. He wasn’t just leaving town. He was leaving the same time I was. Going to the same place I was going.
“You can’t.” I shook my head.
“If you thought I’d let you get on a plane without me fixing us first, then you don’t know me as well as I thought you did.” Nathan declared.
“There is no us. Not anymore,” I said, my voice firm, wishing he’d just accept it already.
“You’re wrong, Cupcake. There will always be an us. You’re mine.” Nathan argued.
“You lost the right to call me that after everything.”
“I fucked up, I know that.” Nathan’s tone was dangerously soft unlike the icy look in his eyes because of my words.
“But there isn’t a version of this where you don’t come back to me.
It may take weeks, months or years, but I will earn back your trust and your love.
” Nathan stepped forward and I fought the urge to step back.
“Nathan,” My voice wavered, but I forced steel into it. “You don’t get to decide that. You don’t get to stand here and tell me how this ends. You lost that right the moment you made me doubt us.”
His jaw clenched, a flicker of pain flashing across his face before he masked it.
“I'm a patient man when it comes to you, Elise.” He leaned slightly, just enough that his voice dropped to a whisper against my ear. “Take care of yourself tonight. Hot shower, feet up. I need you to rest.” He brushed a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll see you in Vegas tomorrow.” Nathan told me before walking off.
His words sent a shiver down my spine, comforting and disorienting all at once.
I swallowed hard, trying to steady the sudden flutter in my chest. My hands still gripped the water bottle, and for a moment I felt unbalanced, like the floor had shifted beneath me.
I wanted to pull away, to remind myself that we weren’t an “us” anymore, that I couldn’t just surrender to the pull he still had over me. And yet, there was something in the gentleness of his voice, and the subtle warmth of his proximity, that made the ache of missing him twist sharper.
I wanted to be rational, to think about the tour, the rehearsals, the thousands of eyes that would be on me starting tomorrow night, but a small, insistent part of me couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have him there, following me, watching over me at every stop.
And that thought made my chest tighten in ways I couldn’t quite name.
I lifted the bottle to my lips, and twisted the cap off before taking a careful sip, trying to steady the flutter in my chest.
Tomorrow, the tour would begin, and with it, him. The thought should have thrilled me, but instead it left me torn, caught between longing and caution. My fingers tightened around the bottle, holding it a little too hard.
I forced my eyes forward, willing my thoughts to focus on rehearsals, on the crowd, on anything but Nathan. And yet, even as I made my way out the building, the memory of his whispered promise lingered, pressing against my skin, refusing to let me go.