Reese took in a harsh breath. No, she f**king didn’t. “That is enough.”

“What? Is that how this girl that has only been here for a couple months has solos, duets, and now leading a group of senior and juniors? Are you sleeping with her dad? Is that how she is getting all this? We all know how you are.”

Her throat was tight, and she had to look away to collect herself before she decked this bitch in her face. “I don’t have to explain myself to you because if you didn’t know, the sign outside says, ‘Reese Allen Company’. I’m Reese Allen, and you are no longer a client here. Take your daughter and get out, or I will call the police.”

Reese guessed that Judith didn’t expect that, because her mouth dropped as Aria cried out behind her. This obviously wasn’t what they wanted. They wanted to steamroll Reese into doing what they wanted, but that wasn’t going to happen. “Leave now.”

“You f**king bitch. Let’s go, Aria,” she said, turning and grabbing Aria roughly by the arm.

“But Reese, please, I don’t want to leave,” Aria cried. That almost did Reese in, but she kept strong before turning to the rest of the class. Claire stood with her arms crossed across her chest, looking down at the ground. Even though Reese wanted to run to her and comfort her, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Or she’d lose it.

Clearing her throat, she went to the iHome and then looked out at the girls. They were off, the lines looked like shit, but Reese didn’t want to deal with it. It was taking everything out of her to hold it together because, not only was she hurt, but she was embarrassed. Was that what people really thought of her? That she was a cold, heartless slut? She cared so much about each of her dancers, trained them to be stars, and she tried her best to keep her shenanigans out of the light.

Damn it.

Taking in a deep breath, she turned towards the iHome and looked down at her phone. She wanted to reach for it so bad and dial Phillip’s number. She wanted to hear his voice. Damn it, she wasn’t going to be able to pull it together. No, she had to. Pulling her hair up, she took in another deep breath before turning to the girls.

“Okay, let’s fix this dance.”

After doing what needed to be done to the lines, Reese was happy with the final product. It was a tad bit rough, but the girls would pull it together before Chicago. Releasing the girls, Reese reached for the phone and then slid down the mirror until her butt hit the ground. She needed to talk to Phillip. She didn’t understand why him and not her sister but, before she could stop herself, she was hitting his name and sending a text.

Busy?

“Reese?”

Reese jumped, not realizing that she wasn’t alone. Putting her phone in her lap, she looked up to find Claire looking down at her. “Hey, I thought you left.”

“I wanted to apologize for all that.”

Reese raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong.”

“Yeah, but Aria should have been the lead because she is the senior.”

“You’re better. We are a winning studio—we go for platinum. Maybe I am a cold-hearted bitch like she said, but I put the best on the front because they are the ones that are going to succeed. You can have all the heart in the world but if you aren’t good, you won’t make it. It’s how hard you work and you work hard, Claire. That’s why you are where you are in this studio. Everyone is going to hate you. Get used to it, but know it’s because you are the best.”

She looked down and took in a deep breath. “I know I’m the best, but I was worried you’d be mad at me because of the claims she made about Phillip and you, and playing favorites.”

“I’m not. It’s nothing to me. I’m used to being hated. It’s nothing new,” she said and even though it was true, this time it hurt. She was used to people hating her for how great of a dancer she was, not for the reasons that Judith had said.

“I don’t hate you.”

Reese smiled. “Thank you. Don’t worry, okay?”

“Okay, are you okay?”

Reese tried to smile but she knew it didn’t reach her eyes. “Fine.”

When her phone went off, Claire looked down and then back up at Reese. “Harper is outside. I’m gonna go.”

“All right, see you tomorrow.”

Claire left with a wave and when Reese heard the front door close, she looked back down at the phone to see that Phillip had texted her back.

Nope, sitting in the hotel room, watching a movie. What are you doing?

Can I call you?

Absolutely.

She hated how much she needed him. She wanted to suck this up and get over it, but she couldn’t. For some reason, she needed to dial his number and she needed to hear his voice. When his low, sultry voice came over the line, she thought she would feel better, she thought all the shitty feelings would dissolve away, but instead, she just lost it.

All Phillip could hear were sobs and Reese hiccupping. It was the most distressing sound he had ever heard. His heart constricted, and his throat went dry. His first thought was Shit, what happened to Claire? But nothing could have because she was with Harper. He had just finished texting Claire; he knew she was fine. So he assumed that something had happened to Reese, and that made him panic as much as he did when he first thought it was Claire. He immediately wanted to help. He wanted to run back to Tennessee and hold her, make everything better.

Getting off his bed, since Erik was in the room, he went out to the balcony and asked, “Reese, what’s wrong?”