with more rhinestones. I didn’t know whether to duck or cover.
“Are you nuts, Kendrick?” I asked. “I already have fifteen thousand stones on this outfit.”
“Fifteen thousand and one, fifteen thousand and two…” Kendrick counted as he blinged me up. This guy didn’t mess around. Kendrick had already made sure my shirt was cut open because it was more flattering for “someone with my manly chest,” after I had won my battle to keep my chest hair. Thoughtful guy, that Kendrick.
As Kendrick bedazzled me, I made sure to breathe.
When he was done, Selena rubbed my back. “Are you ready?”
“Not sure. This is serious. I don’t think I can go out there and humiliate myself.” My hands shook.
Selena rummaged behind the sofa, found her purse, and handed me a flask.
I took a gulp of whiskey, hoping it would calm me down.
She whispered in my ear, “You’ll be fine, babe. You won’t humiliate yourself. And before you know it, this season will be over.”
I pursed my lips until they turned white. I prayed I wouldn’t screw up so I could get enough money for Pierce’s family. After all they had been through, even dancing dressed up like a peacock was worth it.
“Live, from Hollywood, it’s Dancing Under the Stars!” the British voiceover said on the other side of the curtain like the Wizard of Oz. The audience screamed and clapped on cue.
“C’mon, soldier, suck it up,” Dima hissed.
“I’m a Marine, asshole.”
But Dima was right. This was no time to be coddled. I was a former champion; I could do this.
Dima shoved his partner ahead of me. The annoying theme song started playing, and the pros marched out one by one with our partners. We all arrived on the floor, and the camera panned across our beaming, nervous faces. Selena started bopping along to the music. Vika blew kisses at the audience. Robyn popped on her most beautiful smile. And I stood up straight like I was in formation.
It was showtime.
The host, Matt Brinkman, was in his glory. “This is our best year yet with Olympic medalists, Grammy Award winners, and reality and network television stars! And we also have a new professional dancer. This is your first chance to see our competitors. Now for our first dancer, Emmy-winning television star Robyn Quintana!”
I presented Robyn to the audience to a roar of applause. “Robyn is the star of the long-running daytime soap Delicious Divas,” Brinkman said. “She’s won seven daytime Emmys. Robyn is paired with our newest professional dancer, American War Hero Bret Lord.”
American War Hero? Who wrote that? My cheeks flushed.
The overhead monitor cut to a clip of Robyn and me as the rest of the dancers scurried back to the red room to watch our montage and our performance.
“I’m Robyn Quintana, and I’m the star of Delicious Divas. I’m also a wife and mother.” Her charm bounced off the TV screen. Clips of her television shows graced the screen.
“I’m Bret Lord, and I’m a former amateur United States National Latin Champion. I’m currently a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.” I looked at the screen and saw competition footage of Selena and I winning our championship, and then later on the road trip in the truck, talking about Pierce. A short segment played of my Marine unit, with me yelling at my men in formation. I had told my men that the cameramen were just filming a documentary about the Marines.
The audience let out a collective gasp as the reel flashed a picture of Pierce’s funeral, his wife and young children walking behind the casket.
A single tear threatened to slip from the corner of my eye, but the cameras were luckily not on me.
There it was—no more hiding. By morning, every member of my unit would know where I had disappeared to over the last month.
Another clip showed the first time I met Robyn in Tiburon.
The voiceover cut in: “Dancing the mambo, Robyn Quintana and her partner, United States Marine Bret Lord.”
Now live, I led Robyn to the floor. “Mambo #5” started playing. I twirled her around, and she was on fire. It was a fun routine with a lot of basic actions to please the judges. I moved my hips, and Robyn shimmied around me, swishing the matching citrus-colored fringe of her two-piece dress. She swiveled in front of me, and I shook my chest. Our energy rippled through my body. We crashed our hips together and rolled off each other, never losing eye contact. I spun her into