18

Camila

The dopamine high I’m on lasts a whole day.

He’s going to let me keep the studio!

Well, not keep it keep it; he still plans on owning it. But that’s only paperwork. The dance studio won’t be bulldozed. It will remain as it was. My memories of that place—and by extension of my father—won’t be turned to dust. He’ll probably pay for upgrades too! He wants to turn a profit, and I know I can do that with a little extra help. I can’t wait until I can go back to teach the students. Mom will faint at the news.

But why did Asher have a change of heart? I’ve been trying to figure it out since the conversation ended. All I did was tell him the truth about my father. Asher, normally as frozen as an Alaskan mountain, softened as he listened. The sternness around his mouth melted away. He didn’t look like the man who threw me inside a car or held me down on a kitchen table by my throat.

Asher looked … human.

“Miss, your bath is ready,” Ollie calls out.

Moving from my bed to the bathroom, I m