Daddy's Favorite (ManxBoy)

Chapter Fifteen

"I'm sorry Ace. I wish I could come, I really do, but my dad needs help tonight and I'm not gonna be able to leave the house." Sophie said.

Help meant he was getting drunk again. I could hear the rustling of clothes as she moved about, probably doing the many tasks her father had asked her to complete.

"That's alright Sophie." I sighed. I was disappointed, but there was nothing she could do about it. "I'll just have to relay all the great intel Sandra tells me after we're done. You're gonna miss all the juicy details."

"Oh, really? About how much harder you need to point your feet? Or how high your relevé should be? Or how you should just twerk for the judges? I'm sure you'll win that way, put us all to shame." She was teasing, but I could hear that she was just as disappointed that she couldn't come as I was.

"I'll be sure to tell you everything, Soph." I said, changing my tone to convey my sincerity.

Her voice softened immediately. "Thanks Acey. You better call me tonight."

"Of course I will." After hanging up, I grabbed my dance bag and headed out the door. Sandra hadn't called me, so I assumed we were still on schedule.

"Good to see you, Mr. Winters." Tyson greeted as I walked in. He glanced up from his computer briefly, giving me a smile before zoning back into his work as he always did.

I groaned. "I'm never gonna get you to call me Ace, huh?"

He let another smile break his hard exterior. This time it reached his eyes. I loved these moments because it was hard to pull a genuine smile from him, ever. "No, sir. Probably not." He turned his eyes away from me for a moment before bringing them back. "Oh, and your friend, Sandra, came by looking for you. I sent her down to the studios per your request."

"Thanks Tyson."

"No problem, sir." Some things were never gonna change. I spun on my heel with a laugh and made my way to the studio.

Sandra was waiting for me, stretching on the floor to some music, with a man that I didn't recognize. "Hello, Sandra. I'm so sorry I'm late." I gushed as I walked in, hurrying to put my bag down so that I could join her. I hated being late. I wasn't actually late, but the fact that she was here before me gave me a sort of anxiety, like I had already messed up.

She smiled up at me as I crossed the room. "No worries. I brought my boyfriend, Gale." She nodded towards the unknown male body occupying the space next to her. A cute male body at that. She had good taste. "I hope you don't mind. He was spending the week with me and it was easier for him to come with me than to meet up with him afterwards."

Gale reached his hand out to me and I took it as we made eye contact. He had super nice teeth, probably veneers. "Very nice to meet you, Ace." The handshake lingered a bit longer than I wanted it to and his eyes stayed glued to mine until it became slightly uncomfortable.

"Nice to meet you...too." I breathed out awkwardly, rubbing my hands on my pants. "So...let's get started, huh?"

Practice went amazingly. She gave me a lot of solid information, some of which I should've already known. But something I didn't notice was that the show favored high tempo dances with a lot of energy, so that's what we decided I would do. It wasn't my favorite style of dance, but I could do that to win a show. I wanted the promotion that this show could bring.

After the song cut off, I was sweating way too much to just be sitting down. I grabbed my towel out of my bag and wiped at my face. I reached to pull my shirt off before remembering present company. I looked towards the two of them, a slight blush on my face. "You guys mind?"