Read Online Hearts on Fire (The Hunter Family) by Ashley Blake - Free Book Online Page A

thought his place would look.  He had pretty good taste for a rocker bachelor and his place was pretty neat, which was a nice surprise.  Zane also lived alone which kind of surprised me. 
     
    “I like your place, Zane.  How long have you lived here?”
     
    “I have been here for about four years.  Logan used to live with me but he moved out a last year.”
     
    “Oh wow.  How long have you guys known each other?”
     
    “A long time.  We went to high school together.”
     
    “Oh cool, I didn’t know that.”
     
    “Yep, he’s my brother from another mother.”
     
    “He seems like a cool guy, from what I’ve known about him, so far.  And he’s good to my sister, which is what matters the most to me.”
     
    “Yeah, I haven’t ever seen him like this with a girl.  Ever.  He really digs her.”
     
    “Good, I’m happy to hear that.”
     
    “So, enough about those two, can I get you something to drink?”
     
    “Do you have any white wine?”
     
    “I do.  Is Pinot Grigio okay?”
     
    “Yes, that would be great.”
       
    “Okay, go relax on the couch and I’ll bring you your wine.”
     
    I settled onto the couch and Zane joined me with our glasses of wine.  He sat down next to me and turned toward me, his arm resting on the back of the couch.
     
    “So tell me what’s been going on.  How has practice been?”
     
    “It’s always pretty brutal right around the time we have a performance.”
     
    “Are you Claire’s understudy again?”
     
    For some reason his question bothered and I found myself feeling a little defensive.
     
    “Yeah, but it’s no big deal.  I didn’t really want the lead anyway.”
     
    “Abby, I’m not trying to piss you off, I just think that you are not being honest with yourself about your dance career.  I can hear it in your voice that you want to be the lead in a major production sometimes.”
     
    I let his words sink in and I had to admit that he was right, I was starting to notice that I was tired of being second best. It’s just that Claire and I were so close and I was always careful not to let any kind of sibling rivalry get in the way of our relationship, but as time went on and I was getting older I realized that I did want to be the lead.  The small lead roles just were not cutting it anymore.  It would take a lot more work and dedication from me and I just had to make sure that I could push myself to that level. I had settled into a second string position for so long that really pushing for first place was going to be different for me.
     
    "You're right.  I guess I do want it but Claire has always been the lead, and everyone just kind of expects that she'll be the lead and I will be the understudy.  I think I’ve just allowed that to kind of be my reality. But we have a performance coming up in a couple of months and I think if I push myself I can really go for it and try to get the lead this time. It would be so weird to have Claire as my understudy but I think she would probably be really proud of me if that happened.”
     
    “You’ve been dancing all of your life and you strike me as a strong, persistent woman.  I bet you can do anything you put your mind to.  I, for one, believe you can be the lead if you really work at it.”
     
    “You haven’t even seen me dance.”
     
    “I know, but I can tell that you are a hard worker and you go after what you want. I know you can do this, Abby.”
     
    I reached out and gently touched his cheek. “Thank you for believing in me.”
     
    He winked at me. “Anytime.”
     
    “So tell me about you.  How are things going with the band, your tour, your nights at the bar?”
     
    “The tour has been pushed back a month but they added another week so it looks like we’ll be on the road for about 5 weeks, maybe six, if they decide to add more venues.”
     
    My heart dropped.  “Really?  That’s a long time, Zane.”
     
    “Yeah, but it doesn’t happen that often.  This is