True Love and Magic Tricks Read Online Free PDF Page B

missed. “I don’t
think I’ve ever seen you with your hair down.”
    “ Now I’m remembering why I
always have it in braids.”
    I grasp her wrist, sliding my fingers
across the band she has around it. Trying to catch my breath, I
tuck a thumb underneath and glide it across her skin, letting the
elastic snap when it leaves her hand.
    “ Here,” I say, holding the
tie between my forefinger and thumb. She takes it from me, flips
over, her blond hair cascading in front of her. She tosses her head
back and combs her fingers through the golden strands before
twisting it into a braid and securing the band around
it.
    “ How’s it look?”
    “ Perfect.”
    “ Good. Now let’s go get
burgers. I need fuel if you expect me to retain anything you teach
me.”
    I toss my arm around her shoulder,
dropping my hat on her head then almost freeze, but manage to keep
moving as if that wasn’t the boldest thing I’ve ever
done.
    She doesn’t skip a beat, pulling my
hat into place and talking away about what burger she’s going to
get.
    My racing heart slows its beat, and
the sweat prickling my neck fades.
    Who knew the girl who sparks my
anxiety is also the key to curing it.
     
    ***
     
    Ava stands at the front of the dance
studio and demonstrates the move she wants us to incorporate into
our routine. I study her then turn back to Kaylee, getting into
position. I go to step forward and step right on Kaylee’s foot. She
lets out a squeal and my cheeks are an instant inferno.
    “ I’m so sorry,” I say to
the ground because I’m too embarrassed to look up.
    Her fingers tap my chin and urge my
head up.
    My gaze settles on the stray hairs
falling loose from her braid. I’m happy she went back to them.
Don’t get me wrong. She looked gorgeous that day with her hair
loose, but this…the braids…that’s the Kaylee I know and
like.
    I focus on the golden strands. I can’t
look in her eyes. She is so confident and graceful and I’m a putz.
She asked me to be her partner so she can learn and all I’m doing
is holding her back.
    “ Nate, look at me. Please?”
The last of her words a mere whisper, and my resolve
fizzles.
    I glance into her big, gorgeous green
eyes and an immediate calm washes over me.
    “ You can do this,” she says
as her finger leaves my chin and slides up my face, cupping my
cheek. “Relax.”
    I go to say a million things, but
every word sticks in my throat.
    “ Relax,” she says again. I
take a deep breath and she smiles. “Good. Again.”
    I listen, inhaling deeply.
    “ There’s nothing to this.
You just have to be confident.”
    “ That’s easy for you to
say. It comes so naturally to you.”
    She pulls down on the brim of my hat.
“And it does to you, too.”
    I cock my eyebrow and shake my
head.
    “ It does .” she argues. “When you’re
doing magic, you become a different person. All your nerves are
gone, and you are the definition of confident. Probably because it
comes from within here.” She takes her hand from my face and
presses it to my chest. “When you pull from your heart it is honest
and true with no room for fear or doubt. Now focus all of that on
these moves. You can do this.” Her hand falls to mine and she
squeezes it gently. “ We can do this.”
    I close my eyes and think of the first
trick I ever attempted. The cut and restore rope trick. I was
nervous, holding the rope and scissors while Ryan and Lexie waited
for me to wow them. Without hesitation I just did it. That’s it. I
didn’t think about it. If I thought about it, I would’ve doubted
myself.
    So I push every thought of failure out
of my head and take Kaylee’s hands in mine. I let the music flow
into my ears and concentrate on the beat, the rhythm. I move my
foot and start walking then quickly switch it up by touch stepping
to the side. I triple step back and pull Kaylee with me, then go
right into a kick ball change.
    A smile spreads wide across Kaylee’s
face, and I smile right back, loving the