Page 22 of Love You Still
I bolt up from the bed, all my attention focused on my door, ready to scream bloody murder at the intrusion, but I immediately cackle loudly at the look of pure shock on Leia’s face. Her cell phone is pressed tightly to her ear, her mouth opening and closing like a fish as she scans my face.
“Why the hell am I just hearing about this now? You’re supposed to lead with that type of information.” Leia marches into my room, dropping a small duffle bag onto my bed, along with her purse and cell phone.
“What are you even doing here?” I question, quickly ending our phone call and shifting my attention toward her.
“Vance is coming over for dinner at your parents’ house. Do you honestly believe I’d leave you here on your own?” Leia rolls her eyes at me before flopping down on the bed beside me and throwing her arm over my shoulder. “Besides, how else am I going to give Bristol a play-by-play of what happened if I’m not here to witness it firsthand?”
“How nice of you.”
“I aim to please. Now, please explain to me, in detail, what happened when he came to the studio.”
“We were talking about the renovations I wanted, and the next thing I knew, we were kissing. If it wasn’t for the guy from his crew coming in and interrupting us, something more may very well have happened.” My cheeks pink from embarrassment, a sense of longing settling over my soul.
My fingers brush against my bottom lip as I remember what it felt like to have his lips pressed against mine. It was like I waseighteen again. The same butterflies in my stomach reappeared, making it impossible for me to think of anything but the way his body felt pressed against mine, the woodsy scent of his skin filling my nose.
“It seems as if someone is more upset about being interrupted than the fact he kissed you at all.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I respond as I roll my eyes, wishing I could rebut her comment, but I can’t. There’s no telling what Vance wants from me, but I need to decide if that’s what I want and, more importantly, if I want to try being with Vance again.
When I was younger, I felt I had to choose between being with Vance and following my dreams to be a prima ballerina, but is it possible for me to have both? Can I find joy in staying here and fostering a young girl’s desire to dance the same way Ms. Cassandra did for me? Will that be enough for me? If someone had asked me that a few months ago, before my injury, I would have said no in a heartbeat. However, now that I’ve had time to think about how I feel about dancing and the lack of joy I find as I glide across the stage, I don’t know my answer.
“Okay, enough with the heavy.” Leia grabs my hands and pulls me to my feet before shoving me toward my bathroom door. “Go take a shower and wash your hair. By the time you get out, I’ll have picked out the perfect outfit for you.”
“Everything in my closet is right there, and none of it will work.” I motion to the huge pile of clothes lying in the center of my bed.
“That’s why I came with reinforcements.” She winks, holding up the small duffle bag she brought in with her. “Now go.”
I shake my head as I turn around and walk into the bathroom, pulling the door shut tightly behind me. I don’t waste any time starting the shower and getting to work, keeping mymind focused on washing my hair and not seeing Vance in about an hour.
Things with Vance were so much easier when we were younger. Being with him was like breathing—effortless and something I needed to survive. But now, everything feels so complicated. I feel like I’m walking on a tightrope, trying desperately to keep from leaning one way or the other. If I say or do the wrong thing, it can tip me one way or the other. The problem is I don’t know which way I want to fall. Do I want to see where things could go between Vance and me, or do I want to stick my head in the sand and continue denying my feelings for him?
“Are you almost finished in there?” Leia shouts through the door. “Bristol sent a 9-1-1 text to both of us.”
“Did you go through my phone?” I mumble as I climb out, dry off quickly, and wrap a towel around my body before opening the door.
Leia’s eyes focus on her phone as her fingers fly across the screen. “No. I saw the notification pop up. You should praise me for the herculean effort it took to not check for text messages from Vance.”
“Good job.” I giggle nervously as I grab a pair of underwear from my dresser and slide them on under my towel before turning my back and putting a bra on. “Are you going to tell me what the 9-1-1 message was about?”
“Audrey called her, crying hysterically about Ian.”
“Holy shit!” My eyes widen in surprise as I rush to the bed and grab my phone.
My finger swipes across the screen, unlocking my phone, and I read all my missed messages from Bristol.
I always had a bad feeling about Ian, but I never thought something like this would happen. It seems Ian has a wife and kids somewhere on the East Coast. Now all his impromptubusiness trips make sense. He had a whole different life that he was hiding away from Audrey, and none of us had any idea.
“His wife called her?” I screech, burning rage filling my veins as I continue reading.
“Yup.”
“We need?—”
“Oh, no, you don’t! We aren’t missing out on family dinner, either. Bristol said she would calm Audrey down, and then we could come over later to help them brainstorm about what to do next.”
“She should move here,” I deadpan, knowing in my heart that Tyson’s Creek is exactly where Audrey and Love need to be. Bristol and Leia have been begging her to move here for years, but it’s ramped up even more since I told them I was coming home to recuperate after my injury. Bristol even brought out the big guns, claiming that once her baby is born, they’re going to need all their aunties around to help them grow up.
“We all know that, but you know we need to convince Audrey that it’s a good idea, as well. But I don’t doubt that she and Love will be on their way here once school gets out.” She flashes me a quick smile before grabbing some clothes off the bed and thrusting them toward me. “Now, hurry and get dressed. You also should blow dry your hair with the round brush. Loose curls will look best with the shirt I chose for you.”