The Biker's Fate Chapter 407

Grace

Wednesday night, I stood at the barre with a couple of other 'newbies,' and watched Vitaly Popov, a visiting dancer from Russia, demonstrate a few moves with his partner, Zoe Campbell. She was another principal dancer, and beautiful wasn't quite adequate to describe her. She was perfect.

The ballet company had a kickass principal team, and if I wanted in, I was going to have to work my ass off. I was good with that… I just wasn't sure Flea would be.

"You." Vitaly pointed at me and I stood straighter. "Come here."

I walked to the middle of the room and took his hand.

"Your name?"

"Grace."

"How is your grand jeté?"

"It's my favorite move, actually."

He smiled. "Show me."

I made my way to the corner of the room, began my run and lifted off my feet, spreading into a split and keeping my toes pointed as I flew through the air. My heart soared as I came down perfectly, rising up on my toes to finish the jump.

"Sovershenstvo… perfection," Vitaly said with a clap.

I took a curtsy and grinned. "Thank you."

He waved me back. "I'm going to lift you onto my shoulder, then take you into a fish dive. Do you trust me?"

I nodded and took his hand again. As he settled his hands on my waist, I went into a relevé to sous sus, down to a plié, then Vitaly lifted me in one quick move onto his shoulder. I shifted just a hair and he dropped me into a fish dive, which could have easily gone badly had he not been strong… and had I not trusted him.

Lifting me back up, I lowered my feet to the floor, on my toes, then Vitaly released me. "Well done. Keep your core a little tighter when you're lifted… it will help."

I nodded and took my place back at the barre.

"You looked amazing."

I turned to the sound of the whisper and smiled. "Thank you."

"I'm Remi."

"Grace."

"Are you part of the company?"

I nodded. "As of Monday, I'm an apprentice."

"Me too," she said. "I'm so nervous."

"I hear ya."

"You," Vitaly said, this time pointing to Remi.

"Oh my god," she breathed out, and walked toward Vitaly.

"I'm going to do same as with Grace," he said, and pulled her into position.

I held my breath as he dropped her into a fish dive, and she reached for the floor. Crap. She didn't trust him.

Vitaly righted her and set her on her feet. "You need to work on that. You must learn to trust partner, or you will get hurt."

"Yes. Okay," she said, and rushed back to me. "Shit."

"You did great," I assured her. "You just need to hold your core tighter. It'll keep you from pitching forward."

"We should work out together," she said.

I nodded as I continued to watch Vitaly. "We'll coordinate schedules."

All too soon, class was over, and we were directed to gather our things. I sat on the floor and removed my toe shoes, pulling on sweats and sneakers, and dragging a sweatshirt over my head.

Remi walked with me toward the door, but Vitaly stopped us. "Grace, can you stay for a bit?"

"Ah, sure."

I smiled at Remi and she walked out while I stood with Vitaly and waited for the room to clear.

"You are beautiful dancer, Grace."

I beamed. "Thank you. Coming from you, that means a lot."

"I would like to work with you."

"I would be honored."

"Good. We'll speak on Monday."

"Okay." I left the class feeling six-feet-tall and that feeling got better when I found Flea waiting for me in the hallway. "Hi."

"Hey, baby." He grinned, taking my bag and leaning down to kiss me. "How was class?"

"It was good. Did you watch?"

He shook his head. "Just got here."

"Vitaly is one of the visiting principals and he says I'm a beautiful dancer and he wants to work with me," I said, my breath coming in excited bursts. "Do you know how huge that is?"

He grinned. "Sounds pretty fuckin' huge."

I bit my lip. "Sorry. I'm boring you."

"Baby, you're not," he countered, sliding his arm around me as we walked to my car. "I love hearing you happy."

"How was church?"

"Good," he said, holding my car door open for me.

"Any updates on Hatch?" I asked as I slid inside.

He shook his head and made his way to the driver's seat.

"How much longer is this going to take?" I asked.

He sighed and started my car. "No fuckin' clue."

"Thanks for picking me up," I said, changing the subject.

He took my hand. "You're welcome."

"Who dropped you off?"

"Train."

"Thank him for me."

Flea chuckled. "Don't need to thank him, baby. He lives a couple miles from here."

I shrugged. "It was still nice of him to drop you off."

He just smiled and squeezed my hand. We drove in comfortable silence and I found myself drifting a little.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"Food. Do you want food?" he asked.

"Yes. Absolutely. Somewhere I can get chicken, okay?"

"Sure."

We drove through a Salmon Creek drive thru, then headed to Grams'. A truck was parked in her driveway, but it didn't belong to my brother or my dad. "Who's here?"

"Flick."

"Why?"

"Your dad couldn't stay, and Finch was with us."

"Flea, she can't be left with someone she doesn't know," I ground out. "She's got personal stuff going on."

"She knows Flick."

"Shut up, she does not."

"Yeah, she does," he argued. "They went to high school together."

I gasped. "What?"

He chuckled. "Yep. He came with Finch and they figured it out while he was hangin' out. She was good with him staying. Plus, he's takin' care of Darien's dog for a couple of days, so Barney's here too."

"Grams can't resist dogs."

"Exactly what she said."

"I wish you'd told me, I would have grabbed Flick food."

"I grabbed extra."