‘You’ll never guess what!’ she exclaimed, getting up from Hunter. She didn’t normally get that excited so it didn’t take long for me to take the bait.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Well, Hunter says that there’s a dance troop downtown looking for new recruits!’
I raised both of my eyebrows. That wasn’t what I’d been expecting. ‘Really? Breakers?’
She nodded quickly, grinning from ear to ear. ‘So go and get ready. Hunter has their number!’ she squealed and jumped on him in a hug, causing me to raise my eyebrows again.
‘Right, I’m going,’ I replied. I ended up speaking to myself because Hunter and Kenzi were talking between themselves.
I grabbed my vans and jogging bottoms, matching them with my tank top and mascara before reappearing in the front room. Despite expecting them to be sucking face with each other, Hunter was gone and Kenzi was smiling with a dreamy look on her face.
‘Hunter’s waiting outside for us,’ she informed me and I smirked.
‘In a shirt, I hope,’ I muttered. She glanced over her shoulder at me, allowing me to lock the door.
‘I don’t,’ she scoffed and I laughed, patting her back.
‘Stop being so perverted and get down those stairs.’
‘I can’t believe he’s doing this for us!’ she exclaimed when we reached the lobby.
‘He wants to get in your pants,’ I answered bluntly, causing her to gasp, faking shock.
‘To hell if he does, he’s hot.’ She shrugged.
‘Kenzi, he’s a walking STD,’ I muttered. Kenzi laughed.
Hunter was nowhere in sight by the time we’d left the block of flats.
‘Where is he?’ Kenzi’s voice was soon drowned out by the roar of an engine, and a black jeep pulled up with a very hot guy in a leather jacket behind the wheel gesturing towards the door.
‘Climb aboard,’ he invited, patting the passenger seat. As my friend clambered inside, I narrowed my eyes. If getting with Kenzi was his idea of playing games, he was not going to win.
It was safe to say that I’d found two more things that I hated about Hunter. His car and his music.
‘So, you guys are full on dancers?’ he asked, glancing over at Kenzi. One of his hands was on her knee and the other was on the wheel, driving along lazily. I didn’t exactly trust his driving skills, either, making me all the more nervous.
‘Yeah, breakdancers,’ she chimed, looking over at him adoringly with a smile.
‘Can you guys tone it down? I feel like a spare part,’ I said, leaning back on the hard leather seat.
Hunter looked at me in the rearview mirror with one side of his mouth quirked. ‘Is there a problem, princess?’ he mocked, only causing me to narrow my eyes so much that I couldn’t see his face properly. I didn’t need to see his mouth to know that it was already contorted into that irritating smirk.
‘Yeah, you are the problem. Stop flirting with my best friend and drive,’ I said, folding my arms over my chest. I could feel my heart hammering against my bare forearm.
We didn’t know this new crew, nor did we know how well they danced, so this could’ve been a load of crap. Not to mention that they were friends of Hunter’s.
‘I’m not flirting. I’m enquiring,’ he retorted, feigning innocence. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the window.
The area that I had moved to really wasn’t that bad. Despite what my flat looked like from the outside, it was amazing on the inside. The brown and cream colouring of the buildings gave them a vintage look, mixed in with modern office buildings as we weaved through the main streets. The backstreets were a completely different story. The people there frightened me, but I wasn’t about to tell Hunter that.
‘We’re here,’ Hunter cooed when he’d pulled up outside what looked like an old factory warehouse. It didn’t look all that bad and I could hear the beat of the music pumping from the inside, but I still wasn’t convinced. Kenzi, however, was a completely different story and was bouncing with excitement in her seat.
‘Are you sure that you didn’t just bring us out here to rape and kill us?’ I asked. ‘Because I have pepper spray with me,’ I finished lamely, leaving him smirking. His shoulders shook with his laughter and it didn’t take me long to realise that I liked his laugh. It was friendly and welcoming. Everything that Hunter wasn’t.
‘Andy, if I was going to rape and kill you both, do you really think that it was a good idea telling me that you have pepper spray on you?’ He raised a quizzical eyebrow when I huffed. ‘Thought not. Now c’mon, you two,’ he drawled, slipping his keys into his back pocket.
‘You know, maybe we should wait until we can find a troop at uni, I have some reading to do anyway...’ I trailed off, keeping my distance behind them.
Hunter looked over his shoulder at me. ‘Live a little,’ he hollered and I frowned, shoving my bag over my shoulder as we walked to the door. The beat began to get louder, going straight through my chest and matching my heartbeat.
‘Hunt!’ I heard a guy call and when I had stopped looking around at the surprisingly homey interior, I noticed a dark-haired guy strolling over to us. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and he had a dancer’s body: toned chest but not bulky and a slim waist where his jeans were hanging. There was another girl in the troop; she was standing in the corner, doing some simple break moves to the music.
‘Kyle, man,’ Hunter answered. Kenzi joined my side and nudged me with her elbow, gesturing to Kyle, who had made his way over. He looked at us, skimming over our bodies with his piercing blue eyes.
‘So, you guys can dance, then?’ Kyle asked, side-stepping Hunter to speak to us.
‘Yep,’ Kenzi answered, confidence wound through her voice. She altered her posture so that she was standing straight. I rubbed my arm nervously, doing a quick spot check for the exits in case something went wrong.
Kyle smiled and stood aside, gesturing for us to walk in front of him.
‘Right, we’ll shove some music on and we’ll give you both a dance off,’ he replied, glancing over at the girl by the CD player, who was coming over to meet us.
‘Hey,’ the girl said cautiously. She scrutinised me and then glanced at Kyle as he introduced us. I’d already dumped my bag on the floor so was quickly stretching my muscles before starting.
Now that I was sure I was safe, I wasn’t nervous. Both Kenzi and I were confident in our dancing abilities and knew we would be able to match them. I just wasn’t keen on Hunter and how he seemed to be lingering, watching my every move. The longer Kyle spoke, the easier it was to ignore him.
It wasn’t long before Kenzi and I were set by the music player and Kyle’s crew were standing opposite. I closed my eyes and took in the beat of the song, letting it guide my mind to the dance moves. I gave Kenzi a quick look and got an idea.
‘Haze routine,’ I whispered and her eyes widened before she nodded at me with a grin.
At Haze, a nightclub at home, we managed to do a huge routine, the one that made us known among the troops and clubs. It was our first official gig and one of our best ever routines. It was also the start of our dancing career and included a few hip moves that would probably make my mother cry if she saw them.
Kyle’s crew started the dance first. They both moved well and I had to admit, I was beginning to get nervous about facing them. The standard that they set was