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Breaking Away

Page 94

   


So she needed to stop or at least have Phillip come to distract her.
“Hey, Reese, are you busy?”
Looking to the side, she took in a sharp breath. Kevin stood there, looking beautiful in a baggy sweatshirt and tight jeans. He had boots that came to his ankles, his hair was back in a ponytail, and Reese decided that this was not the distraction she wanted. She’d much rather go back to thinking her dance sucked than dealing with Kevin Edds. When a gorgeous blonde appeared next to him, with a little boy in her arms, Reese prayed to God that she wasn’t who she thought she was.
Cutting a look back to Kevin, she glared as she said, “My dancer is about to hit the stage.”
He gave her a pleading look before looking over at Claire and then back at Reese. “This will only take a second; my wife wants to meet you. Stacey, this is Reese.”
“Hi, Reese! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you!” she said with bright grey eyes. She grinned as she took a step forward, holding out her free hand. She had full lips, sweet, blushed cheeks, and was dressed in a very SoHo way. Looking deep into the woman’s eyes, Reese couldn’t figure out why Kevin cheated on her. She was breathtaking and had legs for days. She had to be a model or used to be, since she was very pregnant too.
Guilt flooded her as she looked into Stacey’s eyes. She never knew about her but still, she hated that she was involved in helping Kevin cheat. Not wanting to be rude, Reese took her hand, hating that she was shaking as said, “Nice to meet you too.”
“I’ve heard so much about you, saw you perform a billion times. You are simply amazing. I hate that you had to come home but apparently, it was the right choice. Every single one of your dancers has been outstanding.”
Reese had to swallow around the lump in her throat. “Thank you. I am very proud of them.”
“You should be. My favorite is her. She is astonishing and reminds me so much of you,” she said, pointing at Claire.
“I agree, she reminds me of you, too,” Kevin said, but Reese ignored him as her eyes stayed locked with Stacey’s. Something inside her wanted her to apologize, say that she never would have done such an awful thing if she would have known, but she couldn’t find the words.
“Thank you, I am very proud of Claire. She is my top student.”
“I wouldn’t doubt that! I’m so excited for her solo,” Stacey gushed as she leaned into Kevin.
“Me too,” she said before reaching out to touch the little boy’s arm. “He is a beautiful little boy, favors you completely.”
Stacey beamed. “Thank you, this is Braxton, our little man. I’m pregnant with a little girl, Bailey.”
Soon it was hard to breathe. Reese had so many plans with Kevin. She wanted to marry him, have a little boy and girl with him, when the whole time, he had that with someone else. When her lip started to wobble, she knew she had to get out of there but, before she could, a hand wrapped around her wrist. She turned to look up into a pair of stunning blue eyes and relief washed over her.
Oh, thank God, she thought as she took the coffee that Phillip had out for her.
“Thank you,” she said, thanking him for way more than just the coffee.
“Sure, I think they are about to call Claire back, ready?”
Stacey asked, “Is Claire your daughter?”
Phillip looked over at her and smiled. “She is my niece.”
“She is phenomenal. We love watching her dance.”
“Thanks, I am very proud of her.”
“You should be,” Stacey said as Claire and Brian showed up beside them.
“Sorry to interrupted, but I go on in nine minutes according to the backstage lady,” Claire said.
“Sounds good, stretched?” Reese asked before sipping her coffee as she admired Claire. Her hair was up in a bun again with a big, black flower that had feathers coming out from behind to the side of her bun. Her outfit covered a lot more than her others. It was a dark red bra and booty short set with black lace covering the bra, her stomach, and her shorts. It was bedazzled like crazy with big, shiny stones and on the hip was a big red and black flower. It fit her like a glove and was really striking on her.
Claire grinned. “Yup, I’m ready.”
“Awesome, well if you’ll excuse us, it was great meeting you, Stacey,” Reese said but, before she could get away as quickly as she hoped, Brian stepped up with a look of awe on his face.
“You’re Kevin Edds, right? From New York, the Flash Forward Company?” Brian asked.
No, walk away, Brian! Ahh! There was no getting away so she looked over at Kevin as he nodded, reaching out to shake Brian’s hand. “Sure is, it’s nice to meet you. I really enjoyed your solo and your duet with Claire.”
Brian looked as if he was going to cry as he nodded his head quickly. “Thank you. Man, it’s amazing to meet you. I’ve applied to your company and hope to get in.”
“Is that right? I haven’t went through my apps lately, we are touring right now, recruiting students, but when I get home, I’ll make sure to put yours to the side. I really enjoyed watching you dance.”
“Wow, thank you! Are you touring in Tennessee? That’s where we are,” Brain said, pointing to him and Claire.
“Yeah, we’d love to have you at our studio. You’re like a dancing genius, right Reese?” Claire asked, her eyes bright as she looked over at her.
Refraining from telling her students that no, she would not love to have him at her studio and that she actually thought he was a dancing jerk off, she looked up at Kevin and said, “Yeah, you’re more than welcome to come any time you’d like. I know your tour is probably full now, but maybe next time.”