“I’ll kill that asshole for hitting me,” I mumble.
Shadow squints his eyes at me, as if he’s waiting for me to say I’m joking.
“Not if I get to him first,” he says, surprising me. I can’t help but smile, and then a laugh escapes me.
“What’s so funny?” he questions, tilting his head to the side.
“Here we are over burnt brunch, planning the death of someone you consider family.”
He smirks. “Sounds like a typical Friday morning to me.” He leans down and kisses my forehead before heading towards the bedroom. Get dressed; we’ll go get food.”
“But—”
“Now, Dani,” he demands, cutting me off.
***
After breakfast, which consisted of an English muffin, Shadow kept pushing me to eat; we head back to the apartment. I throw my purse on the end table and face-plant on the couch, exhausted.
“What do you want to do today?” Shadow asks, walking past me to the kitchen.
“Sleep,” I mumble into the couch cushion.
He chuckles and sits down next to my head.
“For some reason, I cannot get enough sleep. I feel like a hibernating bear,” I complain.
“You sleep and I’ll play video games,” he offers, giving my ass a slap and turning on the game console.
I moan and turn over, burying my head into the couch before I pass out.
***
“Dani.”
I wake up and see Shadow standing over me.
“You’re going to be late for work,” he says, pointing to the clock on the wall.
I look over and notice it’s four in the evening. “Shit!” I yell, jumping off the couch. I forgot I was filling in for one of the instructors today.
I grab my bag from beside the coffee table and open the door with Shadow following me closely.
The breeze from the sea feels good as we ride; it’s refreshing and makes me feel more awake than I have in days. We arrive at the dance studio and I climb off the bike. “Thanks for the ride,” I say appreciatively, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
“I’ll be here later,” he reminds me, revving the bike motor and taking off. I love it when he does that; the roar of the motor sounds sexy.
I walk into the dance studio, already apologizing.
“I know I’m late,” I say, noticing only a couple little girls are in attendance instead of the usual group.
“Did the parents get tired of waiting?” I ask, pointing to the girls stretching.
“A lot called in. Seems the flu is going around,” Mila says, sticking her tongue out in distaste.
“Yeah. I haven’t been feeling too well myself,” I admit, grabbing my leotard from my bag.
“Well, I’m going to work on the books and then I’ll be out of your hair,” she tells me, grabbing a book with ‘Monthly Tuition’ etched on it in black marker.
“Okay,” I respond, heading to the changing room.
“Okay, girls, let’s practice the five basic positions of ballet, starting with the first position,” I command, clapping my hands, hoping the loud noise will motivated the girls.
“Miss Lexington?”
“Yes?” I respond to one of the little girls, noticing her complexion is a little pale.
She opens her mouth to speak but vomit spills out, chunks of food and liquid splatter onto the floor, followed by a foul odor. I have to look away and swallow slowly or I’ll puke myself.
The other girls start gagging and ewwing. This is going to be a long day.
After calling Hayden’s parents and cleaning up the mess, I decide to call the other girls’ parents and inform them a bug is going around and to come pick their kids up. I don’t want to clean up anymore puke, and I’m not feeling well myself, so it’s a short night of work.
“Hey, I’m going to head out,” Mila says.
“Okay, I’ll be outta here, too, when the parents come pick up my last fairy,” I tell her, pointing to the last little girl twirling in a circle.
Mila laughs. “Okay, have a good night.”
Finally, after the last kid is picked up, I decide to text Shadow and let him know I’m off work early. I turn all the lights off and go to grab my paycheck only to find Mila forgot to set it out.
“Damn,” I mutter.
I leave the dance studio and start to walk where Shadow has been parking lately.