Collide

by Melanie Stanford

  At one of my drop-in classes at Fluidity, I showed Robbie my audition piece. She was critical, and it hurt, but I needed to hear it. I had known all along it wasn’t there yet. More importantly, she had some solid advice on how to tighten the piece up. So I decided to brave the gym, go back to the still empty space and get back to work. It was December now and I only had a few months until my spring audition.

  When I arrived at Eastside Boxing, a class was just letting out. This one was female-only, the girls ranging from early twenties to late thirties. A few were shrugging on coats while a group of three chatted loudly in the middle of the mats, clearly not ready to leave.

  I took off my boots and left them near the front door. Vegas had gotten colder, but it was mild compared to Hillstone. A couple of days ago, I’d received a big package in the mail—my winter boots, scarf, hat, and heavy mittens sent from my parents who were obviously clueless about Las Vegas weather.

  I tiptoed around the shoes near the front door, passing a woman leaning over the front desk talking to Jay.

  “It’s my favorite place,” she was saying. “The food is fab. You should try it.”

  “Maybe I will.”

  She was smiling and he was smiling and I averted my eyes because watching a girl flirt with Jay Thornton was just plain weird. Then again, there was something intensely attractive about him, and there was no denying his deliciously muscled body, especially after a workout.

  Not to mention those lips…

  My cheeks grew hot and I hurried by so Jay wouldn’t see, equally relieved he couldn’t hear my traitorous thoughts.

  Upstairs, a light glimmered under the door of Nico’s apartment. Hopefully he wouldn’t try to talk to me. I put some music on, the beat echoing from Bronwyn’s pig speaker, and stretched, did some middle of the floor exercises to get warmed up, then pulled off my long-sleeved shirt because I was starting to sweat.

  I decided to work on some of my jumps before going back to my audition piece. Robbie had said I should use my long legs to my advantage, showcasing my extension and the height I could reach in my leaps.

  I went to one corner of the room, waited for the music, then chaséd into a grand jeté. In the space, I only had room for one. I went to the opposite corner and did the same thing on my other leg. After a few more times, I switched to a tour jeté. I wasn’t getting enough height, so I tried again, pushing off hard. Too hard. My legs did a perfect switch in the air but it all went wrong when I landed. My left foot twisted and I went down. Catching myself with the palms of my hands, my left knee hit the floor hard and I let out a yell.

  I got up slowly, but when I tried to put weight on my left foot, a sharp pain went through my ankle and up my calf. I stifled a moan. So much for improving my audition piece. I’d just screwed myself for the next couple of weeks.

  Hopping on one foot, I slipped my shirt back on and slung my coat over one arm. I gripped each side of the stair rails with both hands and hopped down. My bag kept banging into my leg as I went. My coat fell off my arm and I had to sit down on the step and kick it down the stairs, cringing at the dirt. It landed a few steps up from the bottom.

  When I finally made it to my coat, I bent down to pick it up. With only one hand on the rail, I lost my balance and put my left foot down without thinking.

  I let out a yelp as I almost fell again, managing to catch myself and lower my butt to the stair. Pain throbbed from my ankle. I covered my face.

  “Need some help?”

  I looked up. Jay stood over me, his face a cautious mask. Other than him, the gym was empty. The girls from the last class were gone.

  “Thanks,” I said, “but I think I got it.” I grabbed my coat and put the hood over the back of my head. Jay’s lips twitched. I held onto the stair rail and lifted myself up, then hopped down the last few steps, avoiding Jay’s eyes.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “Twisted it.” I kept to the edge of the wall so I could hold onto something while I hopped. “Occupational hazard.”

  “Come on, Maggie, just let me help you.”

  My gaze flicked between Jay’s outstretched hand and his face. At the rate I was going, it would take me half an hour to hop my way around the edge of the gym to the front door. And then what? I’d have to get a cab and I hated the expense.

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  He pulled me close. I wrapped one arm around his waist and he did the same to mine, helping me hobble through the gym. I clutched his shirt, the hardness of him both intimidating and comforting. He smelled of sweat, but also vanilla, which seemed strange on a guy like Jay. When he helped me into my coat, I caught that whiff of vanilla again coming from his hands. Soap, probably.

  We stopped at the door and he lowered me onto a bench.

  “These yours?” he asked, grabbing my leather boots. I nodded. He bent down on one knee in front of me, lifted my leg and slid my uninjured foot into my boot, one hand on the back of my calf. His hair had gotten longer, dark strands fell over his forehead.

  “Better take this one slowly,” he said, holding up my left boot.

  His hand was hot on my leg as he carefully slid my boot on, then zipped up the side. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. When my boot was on, he put my foot down and looked up at me.

  “Now what?”

  There was something formal and cold about the way he was talking to me, as if I were a stranger and not someone he’d kissed a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to ask him for help, especially after the things I had said, but I also didn’t want to brave the streets with a twisted ankle.

  “I think I better go see a doctor.” I hesitated. “Could you drive me? I can’t really afford a taxi.”

  He got to his feet. “I’ll get my truck.”

  He cleaned up some papers from the front desk, flicked off the lights, and then pulled on a hoodie.

  “Don’t move,” he said before leaving me in the dark. A minute later, the rumble of his truck pierced the silence. Back inside, he lifted me to my feet, and helped me hobble outside and into the passenger seat. After he locked the gym, we took off down the road.

  “Where is your doctor?”

  I didn’t have a doctor in Vegas—I hadn’t needed one so far, not counting the bullet graze. Also, it was late, and no doctor’s office would be open now. Going to emergency over something this minor seemed silly. But what if it wasn’t just a sprain? “Maybe you should just take me home. Or…”

  This whole thing was weird, being with Jay in his truck again. Accepting his help when things were so awkward between us. We’d been carefully avoiding each other for the past month. It was easier that way.

  “Or what?” Jay asked.

  “That guy you took me to before.” I paused. “Maybe he could check to make sure it’s just sprained? He did a surprisingly good job on my arm.”

  I’d always have a scar from the bullet graze, but it was nothing more than a red splotch now. The scar itself didn’t bother me, but having this connection to Jay, a constant reminder of him, I didn’t like that so much. No matter what I did or where I went in life, he would always be a part of me now.

  “Okay.” Jay didn’t say anything more and we spent the rest of the drive in uncomfortable silence.

  Chapter 34

  JAY

  While Alfonso checked Maggie’s ankle, I stretched out on the couch. My thoughts were a brawl. I hadn’t found one clue to who Fred Madsen was or where he’d gone, nothing that didn’t involve the girl sitting across from me, wincing at Alfonso’s touch. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing taking care of her. She’d proved she could take care of herself. And yet I still wanted to. Wanted to be the one with her foot on my knee while I felt her skin under my fingers. Wanted those fingers to trail further up her leg and—

  I squeezed my eyes shut. This girl was doing a number on me. She was trouble—the kind of trouble that could get me killed. I needed to forget her and do my job. Simon was losing patience and I had to come up with something
soon.

  Find Fred, find something on Simon to take to Hopkins. Then my life could be my own, not Simon’s and not Maggie’s.

  “Jay.”

  I twitched. My eyes snapped open. I’d fallen asleep. Maggie was standing above me, a tensor bandage wrapped around her ankle.

  “All done?” I asked, sitting up.

  “Thanks for waiting.” She bit her lip. “Could you drive me home?”

  I rose from the couch and she started to hop after me. “Do you need crutches or anything?”

  “He doesn’t have any.”

  Of course not. I slipped my arm around her waist and helped her out of the house, ignoring the smell of apples in her hair and the desire to be even closer. To pull her into me and taste her lips again, deeper than before.

  Inside my truck, Maggie lifted her bad ankle and rested it on the dash. “Ice and elevation,” she said. She leaned her head against the seat and looked at me. “The usual.”

  I put on the radio, hoping she’d take the hint that I didn’t want to talk. My fingers tapped along to the beat as I drove. I was antsy with Maggie so close, nervous and angry, my heart beating inside my chest from desire and disgust.

  “Thanks,” she said. “For the help tonight.”

  “No problem.” Which was a lie, it was a problem. She didn’t want to be around me, and I couldn’t be around her anymore. Not when I knew what she’d done. Not when I still had feelings for her and hated myself for it. Not if it meant Simon might find out about her connection to Fred.

  The silence was a thick barrier between us, like boxing gloves, protecting one of us from getting hurt. Problem was, I didn’t know who. She’d already hurt me. But I’d never let Simon lay a finger on her.

  “Can I ask you a question?” I said. With my eyes on the road, I massaged the back of my neck with one hand. “That guy you were with—”

  “What guy?”

  As if she didn’t know. “On the street outside your work. About a month ago, I saw you with someone. You were hugging.”

  I glanced at her in time to see realization dawn on her face. “What about him?”

  She was trying to contain a smile. My fists tightened on the steering wheel.

  “Are you still seeing him?”

  “Is that any of your business?”

  “I’m afraid it is.”

  She folded her arms over her chest and huffed. I cursed her stubbornness. If she told me the truth, it would be easier for me to protect her.

  I parked in front of The Crampton Oasis. She lowered her ankle from the dash and leaned down to grab her bag.

  “That guy,” I said before she could open the door. “He took out a loan.”

  “What?” She snapped her mouth shut. Even in the darkness, a flush was visible on her cheeks.

  “A sizable loan,” I said.

  She shifted in the seat. “So?”

  “He disappeared. Do you know where he’s gone?”

  “No.”

  “Look at me, Maggie.”

  Her eyes met mine, she didn’t blink.

  I put my arm over the back of the seat and leaned toward her. “Simon won’t let this go. Your friend, Fred, screwed him over. He had references and a complete cover story that turned out to be a sham.”

  She swallowed. “References?”

  “All fake.”

  “How much?”

  “Fifty thousand.”

  She gasped. But was her surprise genuine?

  “I need to find him,” I said. “It’s my job to find him. You get that, right?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know where he is.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “No—”

  “You looked pretty cozy on the street that day.” I’d seen the way he looked at her, like he’d do anything for her. I knew that stupid look. “Don’t think I don’t know he gave you the money to pay off Nico’s debt.”

  She didn’t reply but she started blinking as if struggling not to cry.

  “I didn’t tell Simon.” I clenched my fist, trying to hold onto my anger. It was better than the alternative. “Simon doesn’t know you know Fred. He doesn’t know Nico’s debt came from that loan. If he did…”

  Her eyes widened, welling with tears.

  “Just tell me where he is, Maggie, and this will all go away. It won’t have anything to do with you.”

  She clenched the strap of her bag, her hands in fists against her chest. “I can’t,” she whispered.

  “Maggie, please.” Why was she taking the fall for this guy? Did she love him that much?

  “I can’t,” she repeated, firmly this time.

  I reached across her and opened the door. “Fine.”

  “Are…are you going to tell Simon?”

  My jaw tightened. She was right to worry about her own skin. “No. But if he finds out from someone else, there’s not much I can do.”

  She looked away, staring at the dashboard, then slowly nodded. “I understand. Thank you, for tonight.” She slid from the truck.

  I didn’t reply and I didn’t help her get out. I kept my hands on the steering wheel and my eyes on the road. As soon as she shut the door, I peeled away.

  Chapter 35

  MAGGIE

  I hobbled up the steps to my apartment, anger and fear twisting my insides into knots. Frasier, you idiot! I wanted to shout. He hadn’t gotten the money from his new job, he’d borrowed from Officer Ting so I could pay back Officer Ting, then made off with the rest. No wonder Jay had accused me of screwing over his boss when I gave him the money. He’d known.

  He’d known and still taken me to Alfonso, waited for me, driven me home, all for nothing and after I’d rejected him. I didn’t understand it.

  Didn’t Fraze realize what he’d done? The trouble he’d put me in? Simon would never let the debt pass with his own money if he found out. He would never let this go. With Fraze gone, I would be the target. The only way I was safe was if Jay decided to keep his mouth shut.

  I gnawed on my lower lip. Could I trust Jay to keep his word? He clearly hated me now, so why he’d helped me at all tonight was a mystery. He thought I’d concocted this whole plan with “Fred,” that I was actually capable of that kind of deceit and manipulation.

  Grabbing my pillow, I pressed it against my face and screamed. A few times. What a mess. Fraze hadn’t told me where he was going, only that he had a job with a record producer, which was obviously a lie. He hadn’t told me anything to protect me, but it didn’t matter, because Jay had seen us together. That had never been part of Frasier’s plan.

  I clutched the pillow like a lifeline, like the teddy bear Fraze had given me for my fourth birthday. The teddy bear I’d slept with until I turned fourteen but still kept on my bookshelf, a reminder of the brother I loved but rarely saw. It was one of the few things I’d brought with me to Vegas. I glanced at it, sitting on my dresser by a framed family photo. Now I wanted to strangle the stupid thing.

  I lifted my swollen ankle and put the pillow underneath. Jay and Officer Ting weren’t my only problems, though they were definitely the most dangerous. There was no way I’d be able to hobble around the diner on one foot, even with crutches. Craig would never allow it. This was the second time in a month I’d have to take sick leave and I might get fired over it.

  And what about my dancing? A couple of weeks to recover was a couple of weeks without practicing. I couldn’t lose that time. I needed every second I could spare or my audition piece would never be good enough for Mallory Hugo and Essence Dance Theater.

  I’d thought it was all over, that with Nico’s debt paid I could finally get back on track. But life was an even bigger mess than before.

  Craig fired me. Apparently, I wasn’t even a good waitress, which took my list of talents down to zero. I searched online for job openings, but with my sore ankle, I could barely get around for interviews. Bronwyn borrowed a pair of old crutches from a friend, but suggested, in her latest dead voice, that I wait until I hea
led before braving the streets of Vegas. Despite where he got it from, that extra grand from Fraze was a blessing.

  Christmas was only three weeks away. Bronwyn hadn’t put up a tree or lights or anything festive. I couldn’t afford to go out and buy a bunch of decorations so I settled for a dancing light-up tree I found at a local thrift store and Christmas movies on Netflix.

  I missed my parents. Missed the snow that blanketed Hillstone in a sea of clean white. Unlike Vegas, where everything was brown and dead and dirtier than normal.

  I turned on White Christmas just as Bronwyn was coming home from work. She put her bike away and disappeared into the shower. By the time she got out, I was already at the Minstrel number.

  “What’s this?” Bronwyn asked.

  “White Christmas.” She gave no sign of recognition. “You haven’t seen it?”

  Bronwyn sat beside me on the couch. “Doesn’t look very Christmasy.”

  “It gets there, eventually.”

  We watched the rest of the movie in silence. I wanted to say something, wished she’d talk to me, but at least she was there. With me and not shut up in her room all alone.

  When the movie was over, Bronwyn scrubbed tears from her eyes.

  I didn’t ask if she was okay because she obviously wasn’t. I didn’t push her to talk. Instead I said, “Do you want to watch another?”

  “Sure.” She rose from the couch. “You pick while I make popcorn.”

  I scrolled through the list while she poured kernels into the popper. It’s A Wonderful Life seemed like a good pick, but it might have been a bit much for her right now. So I decided on Elf.

  A few minutes later, Bronwyn was back, placing the bowl between us. I took a handful and popped a piece in my mouth and was hit with a sour blast to the throat. I started to cough.