Brody by Victoria H. Smith Page B

kids pumped their fists in response. I loved it, but in the end, I didn’t do this for them or their encouragement.
    Standing tall, I looked at the young girl ahead of me, the one in the tutu. She was more excited than all of them. In fact, her excitement was tenfold as she clapped her hands for me. I smiled, picking up my glittery bag. I doubt she expected me to come over to her and her jaw dropping as I approached, told me that.
    I stopped in front of her, noticing a girl had made it over to her side. She was the same one who discouraged her style of dancing in the first place and stepped ahead of the girl in the tutu.
    “That was so cool. Where did you learn that?” she asked.
    I didn’t look at her, only the girl at her side with so much hope in her eyes. “Dance school,” I said, shouldering my bag. “In ballet class.”
    The girl in the tutu’s eyes flashed brightly. I gave her a wink, then excused myself from the pair. From behind me, I heard the girl who bullied ask where the little girl got her tutu, and I could only smile as I walked away. I wanted to head back to the bus stop, but the bus from before had gone. I could always go to the bench and wait for the next one. I guess I was going to have to. It was getting late, would be dark soon, and I needed to get off the street before that happened. Being in the dark only gave permission for the darkness to come out on the streets. Maybe I could ask someone about any local shelters in town, then see what happened in the morning.
    I checked my watch. I still had a while yet until my alarm went off. I wondered if the shelter would let me use their phone when it came time. Dropping my wrist, I knew someone who probably would have let me use his phone had I asked. I hoped he was okay and didn’t worry about me. I was going to be fine. I could take care of myself. I just wanted him to be fine, too.
    “You told me you’d let me know when Valentine came out.”
    His voice actually caused a shallow breath to escape my lips and I never… I never thought I’d hear it again, but I did. He found me. He found me again.
    I turned and his proximity I didn’t prepare for. He was right there. Only an arm’s reach out, he was a touch not so far away and managed to get even closer when he stepped forward, his large body enveloping the space around me. It kissed the air with his woodsy, citrusy-sweet scent. In fact, he got so close to me most people might have stepped back.
    I didn’t want to step back.
    He tilted his head, a stand of blond moving over his eyes, and a ghost of a smile highlighting his pink lips. “Valentine?” he asked, his voice light, joking like he always was.
    Smiling myself, I slipped off my wig. “It’s just Alexa. Sorry. I can’t control her sometimes.”
    His gaze moved over my face, my eyes, my lips. “Maybe you shouldn’t.”
    I couldn’t stay looking at him. Under Brody’s eyes, it was easy to lose myself to shyness.
    A low cough hit the air when he cleared his throat. I looked up and he had stepped back like he remembered himself. He slid a hand into his pocket. “You like to dance?”
    I wished that was the word good enough to describe it. Rubbing my arm, I shrugged casually. “Yeah. Yes. I like to dance.”
    “Just ballet or…?”
    “No, not just that. All kinds really. I like all kinds.”
    He nodded. “You went to school? I couldn’t help hearing what you said to those girls.”
    Chewing my lip, I acknowledged that, too. “I used to. It seems like forever now.”
    In that moment, I had never felt such mixed emotions before. I wanted him to keep asking me things and to keep pushing me. It would give me an excuse to finally let someone in, to finally let him in, but at the same time, I wanted him to back away from his questions entirely. I really was a mess. Seeing his hand clench at his side, I denied him the ability to do either. He had something there, something he squeezed that made his knuckles white, and though I didn’t