Chapter 5

Whenever we passed each other in the hallway, I made it my duty to get as close to her as possible, brushing her skin, touching her arm, anything to catch her attention.

But no matter what I did, however tempting I tried to appear, Josey kept her walls firmly in place. Heather noticed my interest and took me aside one evening between sets.

“I know you like Josey. She may even like you, but she’s been hurt before. A dancer, years ago. It was a bad breakup. She hasn’t opened her heart to anyone since then.”

Sighing, I said, “I thought it was something like that. I just didn’t want to admit it to myself.”

“Don’t lose heart,” Heather soothed. “I’ve seen how she looks at you when you’re on stage, when you walk by while she tends bar—whenever you’re not looking. She’s into you. You just have to keep working at it, keep wearing her down. Is it just sex, or do you want her for real?”