A World of My Own

Chapter 22

A month passed quickly and the company, including Ethan, grew more excited every day about the upcoming while I grew more nervous about my secret eventually getting out. Eventually, the day arrived and the entire theater was busy with excitement in between shows.

We had just finished our first show of the day and since the dance performance was live, I would be out of the evening show. I got out of costume and makeup as fast as I could, Ethan meeting me at my dressing room door to walk me out.

Once we had reached the stage door, we stopped briefly as I kissed him goodbye, keeping the kiss longer than usual, worried that he would push me away after he realizes what I had been keeping from him.

Ethan pressed another quick kiss to my lips, resting his forehead on mine. "I love you." He said quietly as he wrapped his arms around me, his excited smile still visible on his face.

I kissed him back, stroking his cheek gently. "I love you more." I replied with a small, mischievous smile.

I eventually, reluctantly pulled away from him and headed out the stage door, turning back to smile at Ethan before letting the door fall closed. My smile fell once the door had closed securely and I began making my way towards the dance studio.

Alex was outside and I could see his eyes following me as I walked up the sidewalk, a smug smirk playing on his face. I refused to look in his direction as I passed and he, of course, fell right into place next to me.

"Why the long face, princess?" He said only loud enough for us to hear as he ran his hand across my back.

"Fuck off, Gaskarth." I scoffed, moving away from his touch.

"Prince Charming doesn't know who you're dancing with does he?" Alex called after me, not worried about being overheard since there wasn't anyone else around.

My steps faltered as he spoke, telling Alex everything he needed to know. I refused to respond, confirming his theory even further.

He quickly fell into step with me again, wrapping his arm around my waist. "I told you, you'd be better off with me." He murmured in my ear, tightening his grip on me.

I stiffened as he pulled me closer but I could smell his cologne and feel the hard muscle underneath his shirt, keeping me there longer than I intended. Even as I jerked away from his touch, my mind was betraying me, imagining what it would be like to feel those muscles under my hands every day.

Alex smirked to himself as I sped away towards the doors of the studio, already planning his next move.

A few minutes later and I was sitting in hair and makeup, finally able to relax and prepare myself without Alex getting in the way. My relief didn't last long as he came in and sat beside me just a few seconds later. I sighed deeply and rolled my eyes, it was just my luck that his chair would be directly next to mine.

Surprisingly he didn't say anything while we were sitting but would glance over at me with a smirk every few minutes. After we were both finished, because of the nature of the dance, we had to warm up together before rehearsing it one last time.

As we began our warm ups, Alex was standing fairly close to me but I ignored it mostly, just trying to get through this. Occasionally I would feel Alex's hand brush me as if he accidentally touched me but I knew better and by the sly smirk on his face, I knew he wasn't trying to hide it either. Near the end of our warm ups, Alex had somehow managed to get even closer to me as I was relaxing from a stretch, felt him flush against me with his hand on my waist. I tried to pull out of his arms but he kept me firmly against him.

"I bet he doesn't make you scream like I could, does he?"