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Enjoying the ride, we fall silent until Jett finally asks, “How’d things with Haven go?”
“It was good,” I mumble, chuckling as he drags his finger over my thigh.
“You showed her the dance, right?” presses, and I simply nod.
I don’t know why it’s always such a pain to talk about this. It feels like pulling teeth, and I hate that a dream that was once so clear is now dull and confusing.
“Why do I feel like you aren’t as excited as you should be? Did something go wrong?”
“It went perfectly. Haven loved the dance, and I felt so accomplished. It just didn’t feel like I thought it would.”
“What do you mean?”
“It wasn’t as monumental as I always expected choreographing a big pop star’s song would be. It didn’t hold any weight. Maybe to someone else, it would, but to me, it was just… I don’t know. It felt…”
Plucking a nervous finger into my mouth, I chew on my nail until his strong hand gently removes it, easing my nerves.
“Purposeless?” he asks.
I nod. “I still love choreography, but I think I’m finally realizing that my dream has changed, and I have to start becoming okay with it. This opportunity feels great, but nothing feels better than helping develop strong, talented girls into women who follow their passions.”
A smile stretches across his face as he guides us down the road, along with a nod that seems like the approval I wasn’t willing to give myself.
“Sometimes a shift in a different direction can make your dreams even bigger than you imagined,” he says, like he’s experienced exactly what I’m going through.
Facing the road just like him, I sink into the seat, finding comfort in his steady caress on my thigh.
“Yeah, I guess I’m learning that.”
“You still deserve this moment, though. You’ve worked so hard for it.”
I put so much pressure on myself, on my dreams, my life, my healing. I hyper-focus so much on how to make things better that sometimes I forget to simply live.
Jett threads his fingers with mine, his big thumb running the length of my own. Even the small gesture feels so big for us.
“Are you going to come watch?” I ask under my breath.
“You inviting me to your show, Sofia baby?”
Looking to him, I smile softly as I nod, just as the car slows and he pulls into a dimly lit parking lot. A sign that reads ‘Swirls Sweets’ lights the inside of my car with pink, and when Jett looks at me, I feel so strong. Inching near, his lips brush my cheek, and I feel him smile against me.
“If you want me there, I’m there.”
When he gets out of the driver’s side, I wait for him to come around to get me. Alone, I sit with the reminder that I’m not broken and that change is perfectly okay.
As my side opens, Jett’s hand extends to help me out, and his mouth finds its way to my shoulder. Humming against my hair, his gravelly voice mutters, “Change is a scary thing, baby, but for the right reasons, it can become the most rewarding risk you’ll ever allow yourself to take.”
CHAPTER 48
JETT
“You sure you want to do this?” Royce asks, eyes dull yet slightly glassy as he looks at me over the rim of his glass of scotch.
After the night I had, I must do this.
Fia and I were wrapped up in each other all night after returning from Atlanta, and it’s like the chain finally snapped. Resistance has become almost nothing on her end, and the only thing holding me back is about to be right in front of me.
Ivan and Duke are crowded into the back of our booth at The Grand Hotel. While I’d never admit my anxiety out loud, them being here, supporting me, makes part of me feel like I had no reason to dig this up in the first place.
