Breaking Skin Read Free Page B

to fight for what you want.”
    “Right,” I reply, but that doesn’t sound right.
    If Tag doesn’t want me anymore, am I supposed to fight to keep him? Some fights are worth the effort while others aren’t. If Tag is going after Meredith without having the courtesy to break up with me first, she can have him.
    But I can’t let him humiliate me in front of everyone we know. At the very least, I should go down there and hold my head high, let them all see I’m not sitting at home alone, crying into a pint of ice cream.
    “I’ll shower and be there soon.”
    “I’ll have a drink ready for you,” Deedee says before ending the call.
    In a ballet company, there’s always someone new coming in, a rising star. At the beginning of this season, it was Taggart Wilson. You could practically hear the sucking sound as the dressing rooms cleared out and all the girls in the corps rushed to get a look at him on his first day. He was fresh meat, covered in compact defined muscles with arrogance shining out of his emerald-green eyes. But Deedee and I just shook our heads. She’s been with her boyfriend for nearly a year, and I avoid conceited soloists as a general rule.
    But Tag wasn’t conceited, just confident in a seductive and surprisingly humble way. He worked hard at being good, almost as hard as I worked, which was why we kept running into each other at the studio long after rehearsals were over. We’d talk for hours, and I felt myself falling for him. Now he’s fallen for Meredith.
    Tag and Meredith . The thought of them together should hurt more. It stings, but I’m not exactly devastated. I was wrong about Tag. He’s not who I thought. He has a well-concealed mean streak that reveals itself when he no longer wants something from you.
    That’s okay. I never opened myself up to him, never dropped my facade and let myself be vulnerable. That’s sort of my superpower. Indifference. At least, that’s how I think of it. I don’t have to feel something if I don’t want to. That way, no one can hurt me. No one can break through. I simply don’t let them.
    If Tag were being honest, he’d admit he liked my aloofness in the beginning, and the fact that I made no demands on him. How many times did he complain about clingy girlfriends from his past? I’m the antithesis of clingy, but that doesn’t seem to suit his ego anymore.
    Using the chair for leverage, I push to my feet and put some weight on my knee. It twinges. It’s been giving me trouble on and off for a long time, but lately it hurts every time I dance. Gingerly I put more pressure on it, shifting my weight, and breathe out in moderate relief. It hurts, like always, but I don’t think I made it any worse. I walk on it carefully and try to put it out of my mind as I gather my things and turn off the music.
    Twenty minutes later, freshly showered and changed into jeans and a sweater, I join everyone at Boomers. The best thing about Boomers isn’t the cheap drinks, since I normally don’t drink much, or the hot guys, since most of them are assholes—it’s the proximity. It’s across the street and down the block from the studio.
    I spot Ian first, Deedee’s boyfriend. He’s a tall, lanky graphic designer covered in tattoos, most of which he designed himself. Deedee stands beside him.
    I have to hand it to her. It’s not easy to find a nice guy in the Bay Area, but somehow she managed it. They met at the park when they were both walking their dogs. She’s been telling me to buy a dog ever since, or to at least borrow hers on the weekends to attract animal-loving single men. Thankfully, her nagging ended when Tag and I started dating, although I expect it to start up again soon.
    Deedee’s grin is wide but also tense when she sees me. I notice she looks exhausted with shadows beneath her eyes. We were both up at five this morning for rehearsal. Everyone in the ballet corps had the same call time and yet they’re all here, drinking, laughing, and