Reese closed her eyes and hugged her back. “And I’m lucky to have you.”

“Good,” she said, backing away before cupping Reese’s face. “Call me when you get back.”

“Will do.”

“Great, oh by the way, did you see that poor excuse for a man? He’s here. I flicked him off and told him to eat dirt.”

Reese laughed as she waved her off. “Yes ma’am, and that’s a story for our lunch.”

“Awesome. See you soon.”

Miss Prissy kissed Reese’s cheek before strutting away like she owned the place. A smile played on Reese lips as she turned to look up at the stage. When she felt someone staring at her, she turned to see Phillip watching her, his brows up as he asked, “Who was that?”

“Mrs. Prissy, a longtime friend. I used to work for her.”

“Oh cool,” he said with a nod, “Burlesque?”

Reese smiled. “Yup.”

“Isn’t that like stripping?”

She shrugged. “Kinda.”

“So you were a stripper?”

Reese giggled. “Sort of. No man saw my tits or kitty if that’s what you’re asking.”

Phillip smirked before leaning into her. “Maybe you can show me some of your moves sometime?”

“Maybe,” she answered, looking up with her eyes shining. He leaned over, kissing her softly before rubbing his nose against her. She really enjoyed kissing him in public. She was surprised how much she liked it. She knew she should be worried about that because feelings could get involved, but she just couldn’t bring herself to care.

“I bet you had men blowing loads everywhere.”

She giggled against his lips. “You know it.”

“Mmm,” he moaned softly before kissing her again. When her studio name was called, she pulled away and smiled before saying, “The girls are taking the stage.”

“You’re lucky.”

She laughed as she smacked him away playfully. “Stop, you’re distracting.”

“You know you like it.”

“Maybe.”

He gave a throaty laugh before turning to the stage where Claire was center stage, posed with her hands on her hips, her legs parted and the fiercest look on her face.

“What the f**k is she wearing?” Phillip gasped before turning to look at Reese. “Where the hell is the rest?”

“What? She looks amazing, they all do!” Reese said back as she took in her gorgeous dancers. She had on a bright pink dazzling bra that had diamonds and pink feathers, with diamond strings going down the black-studded booty shorts that had a big, bright pink bow on the butt. Reese thought they were gorgeous and looked fabulous on stage with each girls’ hair up in a high ponytail.

“That is more reveling than the other one!” he complained.

“It’s the dance world. This is what we wear; it covers way more than a bathing suit.”

“Whatever.” He glared before looking back at the stage as the music started. For the love of dance, Claire ruled and demanded the attention of everyone in the room. Reese was a little worried what the other parents would think because it was obvious that Claire was the star, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was striking, unbelievable, and it brought tears to Reese’s eyes she was so proud. When the end came and Claire was the only one on the stage, a look of domination on her face, Reese and Phillip were the loudest people in the house because Reese knew that they just placed first.

When awards followed three numbers later, Reese was right, and she felt like her winning weekend was within reach. The only thing left was the solos and with the way Claire was dancing, she knew she’d take the title home.

And Reese was beyond excited.

The next morning, Reese stood along the wall as she watched Claire and Brian stretch. Brian had already gone on but he was there for moral support, and Reese was sure that Claire liked that a lot. It had been a full morning of solos, and this was her last one. After awards, they were going to head home and she was actually excited for the ride home. It would be fun riding with Claire and Phillip, especially since Phillip was in a great mood after winning last night’s game. When he came to her room, he was jubilant, telling her that they were on a fourteen game win streak. She knew they were winning a lot but didn’t realize it had been that many. It was awesome, and they only needed four more straight wins for a new franchise record. He was very excited and sure they would make it. Reese completely believed in him, in the team, and she made plans to go to a game.

Reese hadn’t been to a game since Elli started dating Shea. It had been a while, and she was excited to get a new jersey, since she had borrowed one of Elli’s, and cheer for the home team. She was beginning to fit Phillip in her life, something she thought she’d never do, but somehow it had happened. She wanted to go do things with him and Claire, now that Claire knew about them, and for some crazy reason, she was okay with that. She also wasn’t worried about the dinner with her parents. Crazy huh? But all she could think was that Claire and Phillip were awesome people, her mom and dad would love them, and even if they thought something more about her and Phillip, they knew the truth. This was fun until it wasn’t. Then they would part ways as friends because since he had been in her life, she couldn’t imagine him not being there. Plus, she didn’t want to lose Claire, so she would work to be friends no matter what.

Moving her hair out of her face, she checked her Facebook as she waited for Phillip to come back. He went to get them Starbucks before Claire hit the stage. With her being last, Reese was really excited because she would be very fresh on the judge’s mind while they did the scoring. Reese’s other girls and Brian did well, probably their best, and even though Claire was mind blowing, she had a lot of competition today. Not only from the company but from other studios. Reese was really nervous. She wasn’t sure if the dance was strong enough. It was gorgeous, but was it award winning? Blah, she hated when she did this. Second-guessing something she knew was the best. They had worked hard on this dance, and she stood behind it completely.