Crazy Eights (Stacked Deck #8) - Emilia Finn Page 0,140
Oh!”
A spinning kick that I’ve seen Will slam against a boxing bag a million times over the years now plays in my head, but it turns more graceful, the leg goes higher, the spin more fluid and less ‘I’m gonna knock your head off’.
“Soph!”
She presses a hand to her stomach, and laughs. “Do this routine! Focus on this one. But choreograph the other one, and show us when you’ve got something. Once you put it together, we can sell exorbitantly priced tickets to the Rollers just so they can watch.”
“Best business model ever,” Lucy giggles. “And if we don’t shake our asses even once, my daddy will probably cry of happiness and pride.”
“Every dance needs at least one twerk,” Soph drawls. “Even in the world of elegance and ballerinas, we have to show our inner hoe at least once. It’s in the rules.”
“Oh, well.” Our third swan steps to the stereo, and snags the remote. “If it’s in the rules, then it’s in the rules. Who am I to say no to that?”
“Exactly.”
Somehow, even with a bum arm, and only two days of watching this dance, I manage to layer myself into the routine these ladies have been working on for a year. I take Lucy’s position, we write a new role just for her, and as our star, she becomes our push and pull, our drama, our oomph, and the one, of the three of us, who flies.
Soph’s cellphone rings around ten-thirty, so while she takes the call, Lucy and I take a break and head to our bags, tossed to the floor in front of the mirrors. I grab a water bottle – the musty one – and my phone, while Lucy grabs her water and leans back against the glass to catch her breath.
I check my phone while I sip, and smile at the texts that sit waiting.
Jamie: I still have a crush on your chin. Just wanted to tell you that.
Jamie: Well, and your titties, too. But I feel like you already knew that. Plus, saying titties sounds so… piggish, right? No? Okay! Titties it is.
Jamie: Also, I feel like you were lying about the origins of your nickname. Because I still think you have the best bubble butt in the history of dancers.
Jamie: FYI, Will just got knocked the fuck down. By a girl! It was glorious.
I snort and draw Lucy’s attention as I bring a hand up to wipe spilled water from my chin.
She peeks at my phone, then into my eyes, and shakes her head. “My brother. You’re doing that smile, and it’s because of my brother. That’s, like, only a tiny bit weird.”
I snicker. “I guess it could be weird. I can’t say I relate; my brother has never brought a girl into my life the way Jamie brought me into yours.”
She frowns. “But he’s, like… twenty-eight?”
I shrug and take another pull of my water. “He spends time with women, that’s obvious. But not in front of me. Never ever. He’s too protective for that kind of nonsense.”
Without replying to Jamie, I drop my phone back into my bag and lean against the mirror beside Lucy. “Do you believe us?” I turn just my head and roll my bottom lip between my teeth. “Do you believe that Will didn’t hurt that person?”
“You know…” She draws a long breath through her chest, then lets it out again. “I wasn’t there, I have literally nothing to do with the person they’re saying he hurt, but—”
“You think he did it?”
“No,” she clarifies. “I’m literally so removed from that situation that I don’t even get to make an opinion. But I was gonna say, even if he did… I like Will. He’s kind, he’s a good sport, he’s a good fighter, but most of all, he’s selfless when it comes to you. I know what kind of sacrifices he’s made to keep you safe, and I know the sacrifices you’ve made in return. I’m just…” She sighs. “I’m saying, even if he did hurt the guy, I think I would still believe the best of him. I would assume that it was necessary, or in protection of you. I would believe that, whatever his reasons, they were pure and selfless.”
“The law doesn’t work that way, though. They wouldn’t much care for the reasons behind it. Just that it happened.”
“Right.” She nods. “Which I guess is the reason I’m not a cop. I used to have a pretty narrow vision of the world, but as I grow