Dancing With Raven (The Young Shakespeareans Series) by S.G. Rogers Page A

watched her a moment before speaking. “You’re going to hurt your wrists, punching like that.”
    Without turning around, she paused. “What’s it to you?”
    “Those are weight-lifting gloves you’re wearing, not bag gloves.”
    She drew her sleeve across her eyes. “Anything else you want to criticize?”
    He hastened over. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to criticize. I just want to help you get the most out of your workout. Boxing can be therapeutic.”
    Tear stains marred her beautiful features, but he pretended not to notice.
    “Listen, I brought some wrist wrap. Let me wrap your hands and then I can show you how to punch the bag without hurting yourself.” He set his gym bag down on a bench, and fished out his elastic tape.
    “You came to work out.” Tori edged backward. “I’ll just go and let you get to it.”
    “Don’t leave. Look, if I’m bothering you, I can come back after school.”
    He bent to pick up his gym bag, but she stopped him. “You’re not bothering me.” She pulled off the weight-lifting gloves and held out her hands. “Show me.”
    A flush of pleasure followed her words. “Okay. Just, um, keep your wrists straight.” As he wrapped her hands, he tried not to let his fingers linger too long on her skin. The sensation was extremely pleasant, but he didn’t want her to think he was putting moves on her.
    “Is that too tight?”
    “It’s snug, but I can still feel my fingers.”
    “Good.”
    He retrieved the smallest pair of boxing gloves he could find in the bin, and slid them over the wrap. “That’ll keep injury at bay.”

    As Raven instructed Tori on the proper way to work out on the heavy bag, her eyes kept straying to his handsome face. Despite her height, he had at least five inches on her. He makes me feel almost petite. Under his tutelage, she managed to punch the bag with much better technique than before.
    “You’re a natural,” he said. “With your dance background and build, you’d make a great martial artist.”
    At the mention of her dance background and build, her thin veneer of self-control cracked. With a choked sort of a sob, she sank down on a bench and began to cry.
    Raven’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
    “It’s not you. I’m just…having a bad day.”
    “I’ll get you some tissue.”
    He loped off toward the bathroom and rushed back with a wad of toilet paper. “Sorry, but your choice is this or scratchy paper towels.” His gaze fell to her hands. “Let me help you off with those.”
    “Thanks.” After Raven removed her gloves and the wrap underneath, she was able to mop her tears and wipe her nose. She stood. “It’s getting late. You go on, and I’ll see you in class.”
    “We’ve got a few minutes. I can wait.”
    As Tori splashed her face with cold tap water in the bathroom, she was suddenly struck by Raven’s kindness. He’d been extremely aloof since she met him…although that was probably her fault. Nevertheless, why was he warming up to her now? Her humiliation at the audition must be common knowledge around school. He feels sorry for me. Perhaps some of her classmates did too, but few had reached out to her. In fact, she’d felt like a pariah all morning. People seemed to be avoiding her, including Jenny and Deborah. When she’d passed them in the halls, they’d flashed her a quick smile, said “hello,” and rushed off. Neither had given her the opportunity to congratulate them, nor were they returning her text messages. Maybe they just don’t know what to say. The last straw had been in the cafeteria, when she’d spotted them eating lunch with Kirsten. She’d felt so excluded that she left without eating anything.
    When she emerged from the bathroom, Raven was leaning against the wall nearby. As he accompanied her across campus toward the dance studio, she was very glad for his company.
    “Thank you for being so nice. I had some bad news this past weekend and I’m still having a hard time