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SIENNA

Wait? What’s the lie?

ME

There isn’t one, damn it. This is my life.

SIENNA

Holy shit.

Yeah, holy shit is right.

In all honesty, it’s still a bit of a mystery to me how I even booked this tour. Yes, I dance well. I didn’t need Haven Rivers to tell me that, but I don’t fit her mold.

Everyone dancer in our crew is blonde. Everyone but me and Haven. All the girls, even Sean, have some shade of bleach in their hair. Even Taylor added some to her red color I loved so much.

I’m the misfit. The brunette with long legs and an even longer torso. Visible muscles that define my calves and quads. Even my stomach; I’m thin, but it’s never felt flat, though like every woman, I’ve tried. After years of training, your body eventually just does what it wants. For me, a super flat stomach with abs just isn’t in the cards.

I get lost in the steady movement of the car. As my eyes close, my mind drifts to the place it always does. The dark side. The part I’m desperate to keep hidden away. Every time I close my eyes, I see that night. Hear myself say no, taste the wickedness on his tongue.

But I do all I ever can; rip an invisible piece of duct tape from my never-ending roll and stick it over top. It’s a cheap fix, a temporary one, but it works—until light sheds in.

A light that just so happens to be six-foot-something, covered in tattoos, and ironically the man flying our plane.

Am I on someone’s voodoo list?

The nauseating movement of the car forces my eyes open. At the same time, my phone in the cupholder dings loudly in the silence.

“Ever heard of vibrate?” Sean whispers through a chuckle, and Shannon joins along, their tag-teaming carrying no weight.

Our tour group chat labeled “Heaven Sent” shows a text message from Rika. We aren’t even at our hotel, and she’s already barking orders.

RIKA

No full-out rehearsal tonight, just a walk-through at 6PM in the hotel ballroom. Tour sweats only. See you all soon.

A light rehearsal before our first show is to be expected, but there isn’t much left for us to go over. I should be excited for this, should be bubbling with those nervous jitters that you get before you do something you’ve been wanting to do for the first time, but I don’t.

I don’t feel…anything. I just want to dance and move on to the next place.

A pang hits my chest as I exit out of the group messaging, finding my text thread with Vic.

ME

How are things?

VIC

Great! Just let the girls listen to their music for the first time.

We miss you!!!

I smile at my screen for what feels like ten minutes. The picture of Vic and my team makes today feel a little more bearable. Damn, I miss them so much.

When we finally arrive at The Grand Hotel, Dallas, Rika orders us to wait in the lobby as she gathers our room keys.

“Two to a room, okay?”