Page 151 of Two-Step
“Johnny Depp owns a private island in the Bahamas.” A notch forms between his dark brows. “Matt Damon lives in Ireland.”
Johnny Depp and Matt Damon have both won Oscars. They’ve been in like two million movies. They can do whatever the hell they want.
Iris can’t. At least, not yet.
“Where’s this coming from?” Ramon asks with a scowl.
I shake my head. “Just a question.”
“Hey,” Ramon’s voice pitches lower, and he leans into my space. His eyes are like a viper’s. “I don’t know what the hell you’re thinking, but don’t even go there, man.”
I hold up my hands. “I’m not. I swear.”
He doesn’t ease up. I don’t blame him. In fact, I’m so glad Iris has him in her corner right now. “She’s on an upward trajectory, Beau. You and I both know it. But even a rising star can get knocked off course.”
I grit my teeth. “Believe me, I know that.” I picture the three photographs on Mom’s dresser. The ones of her with the New York Ballet Company. She was the best of the best, and those pictures are all she has to show for it.
My father was the one who took all that away from her. I’d rather step in front of a bus than do that to Iris.
“If you know that, then why are we having this conversation?” Ramon growls.
I blow out a breath. My lungs work fine, but I still don’t feel like I’m really breathing. “She asked me to go back with her. To live in L.A.”
Ramon’s murderous expression eases. “Oh. Cool. Problem solved.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I can’t go.” I don’t think Ramon knows anything about Mom, and I don’t need to go into it right now. “Family stuff.”
He frowns again, but this time, it lacks all the wrath he was giving me a second ago. I know from living through the storm with Iris that family is everything to Ramon. He stares at me for a long moment, and I think I even see compassion in his eyes.
“Dude, you can’t ask her to stay here.”
“I didn’t,” I say with force. “I wouldn’t.”
His eyes narrow. “Did she ask to stay?”
I huff. “More like flat out declared she was staying.”
Ramon rolls his eyes.“Iris.”
Both of us look through the window and watch her own the spotlight. Raven is doing some kind of spell, summoning power from above her while a bright green basilisk-shaped puppet writhes on the floor of the chapel. Iris said that later on, CGI will replace the puppet with an animation that looks like an actual monster.
But right now, her command of the scene is so intense, I almost believe I’m watching someone with supernatural powers face off against a giant serpent.
“She’s so damn young,” Ramon mutters. I glance over at him and realize he and I are probably about the same age. “She and Sally both.”
It hits me that I’m not the only one who’s staring down a broken heart. Ramon and Sally have been inseparable all summer. She starts her new job next week, and he goes back to California with Iris.
“Shit,” I mutter. “What are y’all gonna do?”
Ramon shrugs. “I asked her to come to L.A. She said no.”
Ouch.
“She says she’s been in school forever. She’s worked hard to get a position at this really swanky school in Edmond—apparently, it’s some richy-rich suburb of Oklahoma City—” I think he wants to sound dismissive, but all I really hear is pride. I know how that feels. I’m so damn proud of Iris. “She says she has shit to prove.”
I nod. I get that too.
Ramon whips his head back to me. “You can’t let her stay, Beau. You can’t hold her back.”
