Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,37

you’ll find in my purse will be your balls!” My voice knifes through the morning air with the promise of a dull razor. “And don’t ever come back!”

I run all the way to the car and lock myself inside. My heart plows up into my throat. A cold sweat erupts all over my body.

“Crap.” I pant as I start up the car.

Forty-five bucks says he’ll be out by nightfall.

And then my mother will be alone again.

It’s always because of me.

And not once have I ever regretted it.

The dance studio buzzes all day with the pre-party hype. Roxy shows up with far more cupcakes than I ever imagined.

“They look and smell glorious.” I moan over the pink confections, and an image of Holt and his searing kisses comes to mind.

“It’s my treat.” She grins at the idea. “I want to thank the two people in my life who helped mold me into the person that I am.”

“Aw.” I run my hand over her dark curls. “I don’t know whether to hug you or write an apology to your mother.”

“Get over here.” She pulls me in. Her boyfriend, Cole, gives a nod from behind as he hauls in more boxes. It’s him I should write a thank you, too. He sort of got the ball rolling in the kisses department for me and Holt. A private smile creeps onto my lips because lately whenever I think of Holt a silly grin wants to take up residency on my face.

Baya and Laney are here along with their respective fiancés, and we’re quick to decorate the studio with crepe paper and the cardboard cutouts of ballet slippers I managed to excavate from the party supply store. Before I know it, throngs of bodies flood through the door along with my mother. Here she is with her signature fuchsia lipstick, her matching black Electric Lights Dance Studio T-shirt with the hot pink lettering. I watch as she works the room. Her smile never leaves her face. The entire first hour is peppered with her laughter, and it breaks my heart to think I might have knocked another deadbeat boyfriend out of her life. Not that he should have ever been in it to begin with.

“Hey”—I lean into Laney—“you should find someone for Mom.” The two bozos she set me up with flash through my mind. “On second thought, maybe she’s not so bad on her own.”

“Are you kidding? She’s a magnet for predators and felons.”

I lock eyes with her a second. She said predator, and I wonder why she chose that word.

“You okay?” She bumps her hip into mine.

Holt walks in, and my entire person breathes a sigh of relief. My heart goes off like a bomb. My skin breaks out in a prickling heat. He smiles in my direction, and his grin lights up the entire room like a flash. Holt looks like a Ralph Lauren model with his inky dark jeans, his button down baby blue shirt that makes his skin glow.

“Better than okay.” My stomach bottoms out at the sight of him as I meet him halfway. “You’re here.” I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him in. It feels natural like this, and not a single part of me is concerned with the wandering eyes we might be attracting, namely my mother’s.

“I’m not one to miss a good party.” He brushes his cheek close to my neck and takes a deep breath. “Hope you don’t mind, but once my brother mentioned he was headed over I didn’t want to miss out. Besides, Annie needed a ride.” He gives a sheepish smile.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” I say, fighting the urge to kiss him.

Laney comes over and frowns as Holt and I part ways.

“All right everybody.” Mom claps her way to the center of the room. “First, I’d like to thank everybody here for coming out today and helping us celebrate twenty wonderful years at the ELDS.” Wild applause breaks out. She glances around the studio brimming with old and new students. “As I look around at this room full of people, I can’t help but think that each and every one of you contributed to the success of the Electric Lights Dance Studio. You built this place and all of the memories it stands on, literally step-by-step.” Her eyes glitter with tears, and for the first time in my entire life I watch as a ball of liquid emotion rolls down her cheek.

Laney leans in. “God—she’s human.”

“I