CORINNE
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Benny paused halfway through my makeup, asking for what had to be the fifth time.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m perfectly fine.”
And I was telling the truth. Mostly.
Still, Thursday had rattled me. Yesterday too. The necklace sat heavy in my thoughts, its sender still a mystery, its timing still wrong. Even after calling around to confirm Nathan’s movements, doubt clung stubbornly. I couldn’t say with certainty that he wasn’t involved, and that uncertainty gnawed at me.
Staying cooped up in my apartment, pacing and overthinking, hadn’t helped. I needed the noise. The movement. The burn. I needed to sweat the anxiety out and nothing did that better than the pole.
When we stepped onto the stage, my gaze went to the spot he had been seated at last weekend bu
