If Ever(11)

As Marcus discusses with the judges which of us deserves to go home, Haley plays with her hair, pulling it forward, running her fingers through it, and then pulling at the imaginary split ends of her extensions.

The judges are unanimous that Dominic and I are, sadly, so far off our game that there's no chance of recovery.

In a surprise move, a weepy-eyed Candace limps out with her partner and explains how she's pulled a muscle in rehearsal.

"Think she pulled it while throwing a fit?" Dominic says under his breath, and for a moment, I forget everything I dislike about him and offer up a smile.

Candace says the doctors insist she can't continue. She thanks her fans profusely and happily proclaims she'll still be able to continue on with her tour.

Dominic and I look at each other. What does this mean for us?

"And so," Marcus continues. "All three couples in the bottom are safe!"

My jaw drops open in shock. Dominic wears the same stunned expression as the audience applauds. The finale music plays and the rest of the cast and stars swarm around Miss Capri to wish her well.

Dominic leans into my ear. "You and I need to talk."





5





We meet at a dive bar down the street from my rent-a-room, away from the glaring eye of the cameras. I clamp my hands around my beer with vice-like force. Dominic takes a long drag of beer then sighs.

"Are you quitting?" I blurt.

He looks up in surprise. "What? Of course not."

"It's pretty obvious you don't want to be here."

"Chelsea," he sighs again. "I owe you an apology. I'm not normally such an ass."

I gulp at his honesty, and then choke on my own spit. Hacking, I pound my chest and take a drink of beer to recover.

"I'm sorry. Can we call a truce? I don't see how we can continue unless we do."

"I know you don't like me. You wish you would have been dancing with Mallory Becker."

"I don't dislike you."

I laugh. "Whatever. You kind of made it clear the first minute we met."

He frowns and scratches his head.

I mimic his stern body language from that day we met three weeks ago. "You're going to fall in love with me, but trust me, it'll be one sided."

He leans back in the booth and shakes his head. "Christ, I am an ass."

I smirk. "I'm not looking to fall in love with you or anyone else." Okay, maybe I wouldn't mind finding love, but doing it on this show is never going to happen.

"Show romances are always a bad idea anyway. They rarely last."

"I was thinking more that there are so many egos in this business. No wonder most of you are single."

"I'm not single." He says.

"You're not?" I figured he was a total player.

He shakes his head. "Nope." He pulls out his phone and shows me his screensaver, a photo of him and a beautiful brunette.

"Wow. I had no idea."

"That's by design. Emma and have been dating for almost a year. She works for an insurance company, far from the entertainment business. I swear it's the only way to have a successful relationship."

I relax and sip my beer. "Why do you keep it a secret?"

"It's easier. Showing up on TMZ isn't something we're interested in."

"But back to the current situation. You and I both had a lot of preconceptions of this season. I've been trying to transition to some other projects, but I gave all that up with the promise of working with Mallory Becker. When that fell apart and I ended up with..."

"A nobody," I offer.

He winces. "That's not what I meant."

"It's okay. I know what I am. I never planned on being on this show."

He cocks a skeptical eyebrow.

"It's true. I didn't know anything about the auditions. My boyfriend had just dumped me on the same day my best friend, Anna, got engaged. We were out celebrating for her and drowning my misery. There was this big Celebrity Dance Off audition set up at the bar. Anna thought it would be fun and made me try out. All our friends did. I was bombed. Couldn't you tell from my audition tape?"

Dominic starts laughing. "I thought you were just confident and comfortable on camera. Why did you agree to do the show? You could have said no."

"Since I graduated, I've been working for this international acquisitions firm. I hated it. They're a bunch of overpaid pompous jerks. This seemed like a ridiculous excuse to get out of it." I don't mention that a little part of me, the little girl who dreamed of rainbows and unicorns, thought it would be like living out a childhood fantasy to dress up like a princess.

"That's rich." He drains his beer. "So neither one of us is all that jazzed about this season and yet, here we are."

"Here we are," I agree.

"We have two options the way I figure it. We can give up, crash and burn, and be outta here..." He pauses.

"Or?"

"Or, we say 'screw it' and have a good time. Either way we're probably going home next week, but at least if we give it our all, maybe you can leave with a few good memories." He lifts his glass with a sardonic smile.

It would be nice to turn this nightmare around, so I raise my glass to his. "Let's do it."