“Kaylie! I am so glad you found me,” she greeted me before pulling me into her group, Jackson following behind me since I didn’t let go of him.

“This is the dancer I was just telling you about. Kaylie Rhodes.” She introduced me to several of the people with whom she had been speaking before we’d arrived. “And Kaylie, there are a couple people here who are going to want to talk to you about your plans for after graduation.”

I was blown away when a couple of the women with her nodded their heads and smiled at me before introducing themselves. “You danced beautifully tonight,” one of them said. “I’d be very interested in talking to you if you’d like to give me a call.” Then she handed me her business card.

That conversation was repeated a few times. By the time Jackson and I left, I had four business cards held tight in my hand. Four different opportunities to dance professionally and make my dream come true. I could hardly believe it. I wanted to jump up and down and do a victory dance, but that hardly seemed appropriate right here in front of everyone. Besides which, my celebration might be too soon without knowing how the rest of my night would go now that the cat was out of the bag since Jackson had been right there with me as it all happened. And he’d been very quiet through it all, just giving my hand a quick squeeze here and there.

“Kaylie!” Char screamed as she came running towards me, interrupting my line of thought. She threw her arms around me for a big hug before stepping back. “Ohmigawd, you were amazing up there! So beautiful I could hardly believe that was you. Not that I didn’t already think you were amazing. But tonight you took it to a whole new level!”

I held up the business cards for her to see. “Yeah, well. It looks like you weren’t alone in thinking that.”

She shrieked as she grabbed the cards from my hand to look through them—something I hadn’t brought myself to do yet because I was too focused on Jackson right now.

“Holy fuck, Kaylie. This is some pretty amazing shit right here. Please tell me your aunt was here when this happened and you got to rub it in her sour face.”

“No such luck. Jackson and I had already run her off before the good news.”

Char glanced at Jackson standing next to me and back to me again. She knew damn well that I hadn’t talked to him about what might happen tonight, and she gave me a worried look before greeting him.

“Hey, Jackson. Don’t you think our girl was amazing tonight?”

“Yes, my Kaylie was fan-fucking-tastic.”

She nodded her head, like that was exactly the answer she’d been looking for. “It looked like you two lovebirds were on your way out when I interrupted. I take it I won’t get Kaylie back until the morning?” she asked Jackson.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s a safe bet to take.”

I was so relieved at his reply. He already knew that I might take a job dancing somewhere, but he still planned on being with me tonight. That tight feeling in my chest, the fear that I’d fucked up so badly I wasn’t going to be able to fix it, loosened slightly.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” I told Char as I gave her a quick hug.

“I’m so proud of you,” she whispered, slipping the cards back into my hand before taking a step back.

“Love you,” I mouthed to her as we walked away.

I’d walked to the auditorium, another one of my rituals before a big performance. It was convenient tonight because it meant I could ride with Jackson without having to worry about my car. The atmosphere in his truck was tense though, and my nerves started to come back when I realized he were headed to his parents’ cabin. It wasn’t an unusual thing for us to do, but it pretty much meant that this was going to be a conversation for which he wanted us to have privacy.

When we got there and made it inside, I used one of the oversized chairs instead of the couch where Jackson sat down. He gave me a strange look before shaking his head at my choice of seats and scooting down the couch so he was closer to me.

“I think you left out some details about your showcase tonight,” he started, pausing so I could explain.

“I know, and I am so sorry. I would totally understand if you’re completely pissed at me.”

He shook his head in response. “Kaylie,” he sighed. “I’m not mad exactly. Disappointed? Yes. Worried that you felt like you couldn’t talk to me about shit like this? Yes.”

“No, Jackson! It wasn’t that I felt like I couldn’t talk to you. I know that I can and you’ll always listen. I’m not sure how to explain it though.”