Savage Vandal (82 Street Vandals #1) - Heather Long Page 0,73

“But it’s also not high-end. Vaughn has a list of the music you were using for the warmups, and I have the stuff from the school where you were training.”

Right. Because Vaughn had been one of the stagehands. Jasper had been on the crew. Kestrel drove me around.

I licked my lips.

“I might need shoes. But I don’t have to have them.” I could make do without. The calluses on my feet probably needed toughening up.

“You mentioned ballet, right?” Jasper asked as he walked over to a crate I hadn’t even seen tucked against the wall just inside the door. We’d kind of sailed right past it. “Toe shoes.”

He popped it open, and there were all kinds of dance shoes in there. He looked at them, then at me.

“We had to guess on the sizes. Freddie did some research.” He shot a skeptical look at Freddie, but the smartass kept his mouth shut. He even made a show of zipping his lips, locking them, and throwing away the imaginary key.

“We had the pair from your room,” Kestrel offered. “But far as we could tell, all shoe sizing is different.”

They’d done research on dance shoes.

“But you prefer the Capezio Hanami,” Rome said, and I couldn’t help it, my jaw fell open. “It was in that article about you in the paper. Those were your ballet shoes of choice.”

The article the paper.

Dance shoes.

Research.

A dance studio just for me.

“If it’s not enough,” Jasper said, slamming the crate shut and making me jump. “Tell us. You can use this room to rehab.”

I literally had no words.

“Everyone out.”

“I thought we were gonna get to watch,” Freddie protested, abandoning his vow of silence. “Not all of us got to go and see her at the theatre.”

“Yeah,” Kestrel told him, gripping his shoulder and hauling him backward. “That would be because someone got pinched, or you would have been there too.”

Liam laughed, but Rome actually looked pained. But they also tracked out behind Kestrel and Freddie. Doc hadn’t moved from the door, and I was grateful for the steadiness of his presence. Vaughn folded his arms and leaned back against the wall. Jasper glared at both of them.

“What part of ‘everyone out’ did you think didn’t apply to either of you?”

“I worked all the backstage stuff. If she wants the silks down, she’ll need someone to tie it back off.” Vaughn didn’t even blink. “Doc probably wants to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself, and he had some ideas about her rehab.”

With a snort, Jasper shook his head. “I can work the pulleys fine. And Doc’s job is done here.”

“Don’t make him leave,” I asked quietly. “Please?”

Doc had offered to get me out of here, and clearly, these guys had zero intention of letting me go. As wonderful as this whole set-up seemed on the surface, they were building me a very pretty cage.

Still scowling, Jasper glared at me, and a muscle ticked in his jaw.

Be smarter, Emersyn.

“Thank you for doing all of this.” The words tasted like ash, but I was accomplished at thanking people for things, even if it was the last thing I wanted to do. Maybe he was a bit psycho, but he had gone to a lot of trouble to do something because I’d said this was what I needed.

Don’t fall for it.

“I really do appreciate it, I just…didn’t know what to say. I had no idea you would do this.” The last part was the absolute truth.

Some of his scowl eased, and a hint of the earlier softness returned. “I want you to be comfortable. You didn’t like having people in your rehearsal space.”

Surprise flickered through me. “How do you know that?”

I never said that. Sometimes, I simply didn’t have a choice.

He lifted one shoulder. “You always timed your rehearsals when everyone else was done. You trained for several days at a private facility away from the theatre while they were all there.”

“And some of the other dancers talked,” Vaughn supplied. “But Jasper’s right. If you need privacy, we’ll go.”

Did I need it?

No.

Did I want it?

I wasn’t sure.

I glanced around the room and then back to the chest. “Um…maybe let me warm up on my own and come back? I don’t know how weak my ankle is going to be, and I need some time to stretch.”

“Do you need to eat first?” Jasper asked. “You haven’t even had coffee. You know what… I’ll go get you some water.”

He was gone before I could answer him, and Vaughn chuckled and muttered something under