Stuck On You

Chapter 17: If It Kills Me

The next day at practice was much better. I trusted Hayden again, which meant that the lift went up

without a hitch. I had been avoiding it for the past week. Our contemporary piece was to Jason Mraz’s

‘If It Kills Me’. Hayden set me down and put his hand up to mine as we continued the routine. At one

point, I noticed that nobody else was dancing anymore, they were just watching us. I spun out before

Hayden grabbed my hands. My leg went up in a tilt and Hayden slid his hand down my leg before I

bent my knee and snapped it up again. I pivoted to face him and put my hand on his chest.

Gently pushing him, I sashayed off into a switch leap then a ring jump. I set before I started the

pirouettes. I did two, before I pulled my leg up into a scale as I spun. I knew Hayden would be there

when I finished. I landed and leaned back so I was falling. Hayden caught my back and I pushed my

feet off of the ground. He caught my upper legs and I arched my back so I was looking at the ground as

he spun me. He swung me so I was upright again and pressed against him.

I lowered myself to the ground and rolled on to my back. Hayden spun before he landed so that he was

hovering above me. He touched my face gently and I arched my back up until I was sitting up. He

turned into my lap so that his shoulder was against my chest. We finished with his face inches from

mine and my hand spread over his chest and his stomach. I was breathing heavily and so was he. He

pecked my cheek and I smiled lightly. We stood up and froze when we noticed everyone staring at us.

“That was beautiful,” Luca breathed. I walked over to get a drink of water. Hayden smiled at me

discreetly. We were back on track, and that’s all that mattered. He wasn’t mine, but at least I knew now

that it was a possibility. Everyone started getting ready to leave.

Sophia sauntered over to Hayden and started talking to him. I saw her smile seductively and felt my

stomach drop. His eyes glanced at me before he shook his head. I didn’t know what that meant, but I

hoped that it meant that he was turning her down. I couldn’t help that I was jealous. No matter what I

told him, I was still falling for him. After another moment, he walked over to me.

“I’m not going to upset you again,” he said softly. I only shrugged and looked at the floor. He pulled up

my chin and kissed my gently. “I mean it. I can’t deal with you not talking to me again,” he whispered. I

nodded once.

“Are you ready to go home?” I asked. He hesitated before he nodded. Back at the apartment, we ate

and watched a movie. I was relaxing comfortably against Hayden when my phone rang. I saw the caller

ID and stood up. I headed to my room before I answered it. Hayden gave me a confused look.

“What’s wrong?” Hayden asked groggily. I pointed at my phone.

“I have to take this,” I said before I went to my room and closed my door behind me. I smiled lightly as I

answered the phone.

“Hi daddy,” I said softly.

“Hi, Jobear! Did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked. I laughed gently.

“I always have time for you, daddy,” I said. It was his turn to laugh.

“How’s university life treating you, sweetheart?” he asked. I sat on my bed and sighed.

“It’s fine, I guess. I joined a dance crew. We’re called Three By Three. Well, Quinn and I just caused for

a name change. My roommate introduced us to them,” I said.

“How is your guy roommate? He’s not trying anything on you, is he?” my dad. I smiled and bit my lip Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

lightly.

“No, dad, but he has been… interesting,” I said. My dad knew about Hayden. He’d checked Hayden out

before he let me live with him. My dad had those sorts of resources.

“Well I was just calling to check in on you,” he said.

“You know, you could come visit me and see,” I suggested. I heard him hesitate. I rolled my eyes and

stood up as I started pacing. I knew where this was going.

“Jobear, you know I’m extremely busy, but I’d love to see you. Can you fly down here? Maybe you and

Hayden could stay at the beach house. Then I’d be able to meet him in person,” he asked. I sighed.

“You’re only in LA! How is it that you can fly to China for a business meeting, but you won’t even come

up here to see your own daughter? Dad, you could even take the helicopter, you wouldn’t even have to

take the jet,” I complained.

“Jordyn Josie Campbell,” he said sternly. I sighed.

“Sorry, I know that you’re busy,” I muttered.

“I’ll see you in about a month at the charity ball with Quinn anyway, darling. Why don’t you bring

Hayden with you?” he said. I sighed and stopped pacing. I looked towards the door and bit my lip.

“I don’t know if bringing Hayden would be such a good idea,” I said.

“I know that you don’t like people knowing who I am, Jobear, but from our occasional texts, it seems

like you like him,” my dad said sympathetically. “If you plan on dating him, he’s got to figure out where

you come from sooner or later.”

“Dad, I want him to like me for me. I don’t want his decision affected by what I have. As far as he

knows, I come from a roomy apartment in Texas with my mom. He’s not going to know that my dad is…

well you,” I said lowly into the phone. I didn’t want to risk Hayden hearing me.

“Just think about it, okay, love,” he asked. I sighed and closed my eyes briefly as my hand went to my

head.

“Okay, okay, I’ll think about it,” I agreed.

“I love you, Jobear. Call me if you need anything,” he said.

“I love you too, daddy,” I said muttered before I hung up the phone. I was a bit stubborn when it came

to asking my dad for favors. He practically had to beg me to pay for the apartment. I sighed and threw

my head back. I loved my father but all of our phone conversations normally ended like that. He was

always busy. The charity ball was the only time that I was positive I would see him. Quinn had gone

with me since we became friends.