One Last Dance Read Online Free Page B

muscles in his back as he danced. The press
of his hard thigh against the throbbing space between her legs had been a
particular highlight. Her mouth went dry and she swallowed hard, turning her
face away from Darren.
    “Come on Soph,” he said, “It’s
been nearly six years since Christian. Don’t you think it’s time to get back
out there?”
    “I am out there.” She lowered her
eyes, knowing full well that she’d been avoiding men since her injury.
    “When’s the last time you went on
a date?”
    “He asked for private lessons,
Darren, not dinner and a movie,” she snapped, sick of his interrogation.
    A look of remorse twisted onto
his face and he quickly changed the subject. “Are you still coming with me and
Wayne to look at apartments on Saturday?”
    She let out a small laugh; she
had never been able to stay angry at him for very long. “Of course I’m coming.”
    Darren and his husband had been
in the same tiny place for the past three years, but the zany blond had finally
convinced his more cautious partner that it was time for them to find a new
apartment. And thus began the Great Apartment Hunt of 2013. They’d already
spent endless hours preparing—making lists of neighborhoods, amenities, schools
(for when they had kids, Wayne intoned solemnly, with a twinkle in his eye),
and figuring out a price range. Now it was finally time to begin the actual
hunting.
    “You think I’d miss the two of
you in action?” she asked. “You guys are hilarious together. You know Wayne’s
the perfect straight man.”
    He gasped dramatically. “Don’t
even joke!”
    She grinned. “You’ve been
together for five years, I’m pretty sure he’s all yours.”
    “God, I can’t believe it’s been
that long. I was just a baby when we met.”
    “Because you’re so mature
now.” She rolled her eyes playfully.
    Darren jogged quickly out to
reception, shouting over his shoulder. “I am! I’m looking for an apartment,
aren’t I? That’s grown up and responsible.”
    “Whatever you say!”
    As she moved to the small desk to
set up the iPod the door to the studio banged open. Stephen, one of the young
boys from her beginners classes, skidded to a halt in front of them. “‘Scuse
me, Miss Becker.”
    Sophie breathed a sigh of relief
at his arrival; she needed to work off the tension she was feeling from all the
Henry talk. She winked at the boy. “Save that energy for the lesson, Stephen.”
     
    She was on the floor before she
realized what had happened, her students staring down at her with wide,
startled eyes. A wave of hot shame washed over her. She’d been demonstrating a
simple step, moving backward on her left leg, and it had just buckled beneath
her without warning.
    “Ms. Becker! Are you alright?”
one of the younger girls asked her, panic lacing her words.
    Sophie shook herself, anger and
mortification burning in her cheeks. Her eyes stung with tears, and she blinked
them rapidly back. “I’m fine. Really. I just slipped.” The girl took Sophie’s
elbow in one hand and helped her to her feet. She didn’t protest; her knee was
throbbing now.
    The other students fluttered
around her, bobbing nervously. This is what she had feared, the frightened
looks and uneasy whispers. She steadied herself against a nearby wall and let
out a slight laugh. “It’s okay everyone. Let’s get back to our places and begin
again.”
    “Soph?”
    She sighed at the worried note in
Darren’s voice. He must have heard the commotion from reception. Her shoulders
slumped. He was going to come in and insist she sit down. Her spine stiffened
at the idea of letting her injury get the better of her. But her knee was throbbing.
    Sophie forced herself to smile at
the ring of anxious faces. “I do feel a little dizzy. Maybe I overdid it today.
Darren? Why don’t you finish the class and I’ll take over at the front desk.”
    He was at her side in an instant,
hand on her shoulder. “Everything okay?”
    “It’s