Her Invisible Knight (Book 4)

Four

Mackenzie

“Yes, dancing is mostly movements, but I need to see your emotions, people! Where’s the passion? Where’s the anger? Where’s the sadness? Again!” Lila called out while flailing her arms from the side for maybe the 30th time. We were at a point today where everyone was becoming hot-headed and tired of what was happening and I couldn’t help but sigh in irritation. I was irritated, not because we were being asked to do one dance act again and again, but it was because my partner and I were not syncing well at all. Now don’t get me wrong, he’s one of the best male lead dancers here, but god, our chemistry was so off. It was not like we weren’t trying either, but we probably looked like two people who were literally stepping on each other’s toes. Lila at some point even thought that we weren’t even trying to do better, even though we were really busting our asses off. To her, we were just doing the whole routine, nothing more, nothing less.

“What are we even doing right now?” Chris, my partner, groaned as we walked back to where we should start and I only shook my head as a response because, really, I didn’t get what we were doing either. Sure, we were moving in line with the rhythm and we definitely got our routine down to the T, but like what I said, we were just not getting things right somehow and it was hella frustrating. We both got into position and took a lungful of breaths as Lila counted us off and right before the music started, the glass door to the studio opened. On a normal day, I would not even bother to check who came and went through that door, especially when we were practicing, but I must have been distracted because I actually did. I craned over my partner’s shoulder to check who it was and I wish I really hadn’t because two pairs of obsidian eyes locked briefly with mine before training their sights on the woman who eagerly greeted the man they belonged to. It had been two weeks since I last saw him, and it took me more than five days to kick him out of my dreams. I had to keep reminding myself before I went to bed that I loathed him and now that he showed up again, I was afraid I was going to have a relapse or something.

“Oh, Maverick, what a wonderful surprise!” Lila cooed with way too much excitement and I instantly rolled my eyes. If I thought I was irritated earlier, then I guess now I was really pissed. What was he even doing here? How did he know about the studio? And just in general, why? “Gorgeous huh? Just don’t forget to breathe hun,” Chris teased when he saw me probably stuck in the middle of gawking and scowling. “Just shut up and dance,” I answered, but it was too late because he was already walking away to get introduced to my ex. Yes, people! My ex! A round of introductions was done and, of course, all the other dancers gushed and whispered about how much they love his band or that they’re their number one fan. You know the whole shebang when you meet gorgeous and famous celebrities in person. I, on the other hand, stayed rooted in place because I thought we were way past introductions and whatnot. I had to refrain from rolling my eyes and pulling my hair out every time I caught all the women and even some men continued to thoroughly eye f**k him, Chris included. People were getting carried away that they were losing focus on the task at hand and it was starting to annoy the s**t out of me.

“You have impeccable timing because we were just in the middle of rehearsals,” Lila stated once everyone had somewhat calmed themselves down. “Ah, perfect, ” was Maverick’s disgustingly low and sexy reply, which triggered the next wave of sighs and possibly panties dropping. “Chris, Mackenzie, from the top!” Lila instructed, looking all tall and proud and I inwardly hoped that the world would open up and swallow me straight towards the gates of hell because I felt like being roomies with Hades would probably be better than having Maverick watch our crappy routine. Did his opinion matter? Hell no! I just don’t want to see or be near him even if we were the only ones left on earth.

Daughter by Youth started playing, prompting Chris and me to sway and move our bodies. We started really well, but once the chorus hit, well... It went downhill from there. “Stop!” Lila ordered and I really wanted to throw a fit. Seriously, it was a simple routine. We’ve done much harder routines than this and, somehow, we’re failing, or rather I could be the one failing. Damn it! “What’s going on? Did you not practice?” she scolded and as much as I wanted to explain what really was going on, I couldn’t. Why? because even I didn’t have a freaking clue. I nervously bit my lip, knowing that Lila never ever gets mad, but I think after our many failed attempts, she might end up blowing her lid any minute now. “I’m sorry, I’ll do better. We’ll do better,” I answered, lowering my head and then swallowing to keep the emotions that were assaulting me all at once at bay.

“May I?” Maverick interrupted and a rush of panic engulfed me the moment Lila nodded to give him permission to do whatever he wanted. He then shrugged his leather jacket off, removed his black and white checkered Vans, followed by his black socks, and set them all aside. Jesus, he still had the sexiest feet ever, the devil side of my consciousness uttered. All the more reason to hate him, said the angel's side, or was it the other way around? He slowly walked back to me and a look of comical confusion covered my entire expression when he took my hand, making everyone snigger, then he walked me toward the starting point and stood right in front of me just like Chris would. Holy s**t! Was he thinking what I think he was thinking?

Hysterical was an understatement. We were definitely gonna botch this and I’ll never get the chance to live this down until the day I die. There was no way in hell he would know every part. It took us a lot of training and hard work to get to this point, so I felt a bit miffed that he was acting like he actually knew what he was doing. Okay, fine. We danced a lot together in high school, but that was years ago. He chose a different career and I bet on someone’s million-dollar ass, that he doesn’t dance anymore. I tried to pull away, but he held me in place and gave me a stern look. “No backing down, Kenzie,” he whispered, making my eyes widen. He used to say that whenever I got nervous and for some unexplainable reason, hearing those words made me braver. I hated that he remembered and I wanted to say something hurtful, but before I could react, the music began.

Eyes locked on each other, we started moving. With his hands supporting my hand and waist with the right amount of pressure, I was able to twist and turn flawlessly. He kept up with me even though he wasn’t entirely moving as my partner did. He was just basically assisting me with every step I took. He knew where to place his hands and when to lift and twirl me, where to stand next and where to take me. He even knew which leg would end up wrapped around him so he could easily slide me down. He was unexpectedly on point. We glided around the room just like we used to and it bothered me as much as it amazed me.

When we stopped dancing just as the music did, we just stood there breathing hard, still staring at each other. The room went silent, which oddly made it deafening, and then he suddenly smiled at me so tenderly and genuinely before slowly stepping back that it rendered me immobile. "Middle ground. Find it. You're both remarkable individually, so find a way to be remarkable together," Maverick told Chris, before gathering his discarded stuff and walking out.