Chapter 6
Enrique gets a warning.
Not official. Quiet.
“They said I’m crossing lines,” he says. “Emotionally.”
Isolation wraps tight.
“With me?”
He nods.
“I told them I don’t care.”
He turns in the studio and wipes his brow with a towel.
I can see his abs through his wet singlet.
God he’s hot.
But also gentle.
I’m learning a different side of him.
A side that’s softer. But stronger. Smarter.
“They said if I keep protecting you, they’ll destroy you instead.”
The next live show is brutal.
The choreography is intimate. Too intimate.
But they all love it and the crowd reacts.
I realize the judges are watching for cracks, not technique
Enrique pulls me in too close. Not scripted.
My breath catches.
Betrayal slams when the music cuts early.
Lena stands.
“That,” she says, “was inappropriate.”
The audience gasps.
My stomach drops.
