Bailey glanced up at him, and he knew her well enough by now to know that smile was fake.
He’d obviously said something wrong. And he needed to make it up to her. Quick. “I just want to do well for Bailey’s sake, especially as it’s her first season. I don’t want her to go out too soon, know what I mean?”
“I understand.” The reporter winked at the camera. “And I’m sure all those viewers out there do, too. Hear that? If you want to see what other moves Luc Blanchard has, be sure to vote for him next week and keep this man on his dancing toes.”
Bailey’s grin fell as the camera cut away, the reporter thanking them then moving to the next couple. “How are you feeling?” she asked Luc.
“I wasn’t joking before. I am so relieved. I never meant to fumble that.”
“Hey, it’s in the past, so let it go. We all make mistakes sometimes, don’t we? I should’ve rehearsed that more, and—”
“No.” He grasped her upper arms. “You’ve been amazing. That was all my fault. And seriously, I now can almost understand why you like dancing so much.”
She mock-gasped. “You can?”
He glanced around the room, still filled with the buzz and adrenaline. “It’s the high of a performance, like in hockey. Which reminds me, you need to come skate with me sometime.”
“Maybe.”
“Definitely.” He smiled. He might even suggest it to Ella this week. That could be more fun than watching him fail to nail his dance moves.
She shrugged. “Well, right now we need to get to the airport and start thinking about our routine for next week.”
He joined her in moving to the dressing rooms. “Have you had any thoughts?”
“Not really. I’ve been so focused on this.”
He nodded. “I can’t get over how intense this week has been, especially these last four days. How on earth are we gonna get enough practice when we have to be back here on Thursday night?”
“We’re doing the jive, so in some ways, that’s a little more straightforward.”
“Any crazy lifts I need to be worried about?”
She smiled. “Are you worried you’re not strong enough?”
“You know, I haven’t told my trainer, but I’ve actually lost weight this week.”
“So that’s why you keep ordering all that food,” she teased.
“Hey, I have training camp at the start of September, and I need to be at my baseline fitness for that.”
She touched his stomach. “I’m sure there are abs under here somewhere.”
“Do you want to see them?”
“It sounds like the female judge does.” She smirked. “Maybe you’ll have to get us an extra point or two by whipping off your shirt.”
He shook his head. “Or maybe I’ll just have to work more on my dancing. But hey, I was serious before. If we do make it through this next round, then I could make sure that I’m based here in TO for an extra week.”
“Only one extra week?” Her forehead furrowed. “Aren’t you wanting to try to make the final?”
Shoot. He’d forgotten that she needed to make the final to make even more money. And after all she’d done for him, he couldn’t stand to disappoint her. Not again. Guess he was going to have to man up and try a little harder for a little longer. “Of course we’re aiming for the final.”
She smiled up at him, and his heartstrings eased. He’d do anything to make her smile like that at him again.
Dude, that was frickin’ awesome.
You got more moves than I thought.
She is one hot tamale.
Luc grinned as he read the comments on his social media post from his teammates, plus a few from people he knew across the league. Maybe he hadn’t looked as much of an idiot as he thought he had.
He glanced at where Bailey slept, her head on his shoulder, as they flew back home. Maybe he should rearrange his schedule to make sure he wasn’t wasting so much time on flights. She must be exhausted, especially as he bet she didn’t go home after rehearsals and crash like he did. With all her planning and prepping it seemed she always had more work to do.
But while moving to TO for however many weeks made a lot of sense in cutting down travel time, it also meant they couldn’t do this, couldn’t spend more time in each other’s company where they weren’t being filmed or having their every move scrutinized. The last flight out of Toronto had been half full, the people onboard not realizing the dude in the sweats and cap with the chick in the hoodie were the ones who’d been dancing across their TV screens only a few hours before.
This, being with her incognito, felt like they were a secret couple, especially when she’d gotten so tired she’d simply used his shoulder as a pillow. He liked these moments with her. It felt sweet. And she was fast becoming a kind of sweet addiction for him. Moving elsewhere and losing this time together, filling it with more rehearsals and the possibility of more eyes on them, like family or friends or fans, felt like they wouldn’t have the chance to relax and just be. Where they could joke, or be silent. Where they could probe about each other’s families and pasts, or keep it light and talk movie or music tastes. He got to know her more in these times together than when she was in drill sergeant mode, and his brain was turning to mush as he tried to remember steps and moves.
His heart twisted. From what he was getting to know of her, she was fast becoming one of his favorite people.
He hadn’t been joking before. Bailey was a huge blessing in his life. He hadn’t realized how often negativity and defeatist talk crept in. After years in the pros he should be past that by now. But put him in a new situation where he floundered and it was obvious that some habits might be pasted over with peppy clichés but hadn’t truly died. And while he might have been a Christian for a while now and knew he was supposed to speak life, sometimes his mouth still didn’t obey. So to have someone who constantly saw the bright side, who cheered him on in her bubbly way, was really special.
He peeked across at her. Reached to tug up his jacket that he’d placed across her when she’d first fallen asleep. He didn’t want her to get cold. He’d be okay—he had muscle stores for days—but she was a little thing and might catch a cold, especially in a plane.
His phone buzzed again. He glanced at it, saw the Bible study group chat had come to life. He exhaled heavily. Here went nothing…
He opened the chat, and was instantly met with a dozen emojis from the guys, with everything from red dancing dress lady to John Travolta and Patrick Swayze memes, to hearts-eyes emojis and more. He rolled his eyes, but a smile crept out anyway, as he finally tapped out a reply.
