“Please. Joey doesn’t get jealous. He knows I’m madly in love with him. Just tell me why you won’t go out with Quincy. We paid a thousand dollars for you to win that date with him.”

“Had I known that the reason you brought all your friends with us to the auction was that they’d pitched in toward buying me a date, I never would have gone,” Roni said. “And I told you not to spend that money on him.”

“It was for charity,” Angela said.

Roni glowered at her. “Now I’m charity?”

“No. The event was for charity, silly. You’re my sister from another mother, Roni, and I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy,” she said halfheartedly.

“Sort of. But you’ve seemed lonely since your grandmother died, and I’m with Joey all the time, so we don’t get to hang out as often anymore.”

Roni was lonelier without her grandmother. She had no idea who her mother was, and her father had taken off when she was four, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother. And with her grandmother’s support, she’d spent her whole life preparing for a career as a professional dancer and had even made it through Juilliard. She’d been on her way to the future she’d always dreamed of when the accident had stolen it out from under her, taking with it the only group in which she’d ever felt like she belonged. But at least she’d still had her grandmother, and a place in her life. When her grandmother died, Roni had been left feeling adrift in a world she knew very little about outside of dance.

“I know you’re close with Elisa, but it’s different with a guy,” Angela said in a softer tone. “Life is better when you have someone you care about to share it with. The fact that Quincy respected your need for space when you were grieving but found ways to let you know he was there for you should tell you the type of guy he is. And for the record, I still think you should have let him come over to comfort you during that time instead of holing up in your apartment alone.”

“I could barely deal with it,” Roni reminded her. “I needed time to grieve, not pressure to be funny or sexy for a guy.” The truth was, she’d poured her grief into dancing late at night when no one else was around, and Quincy’s texts had been a bright light during her darkest days. His texts had always been thoughtful, but during that time he’d taken extra care to ask about how she was feeling and if she needed anything.

“I get that, Roni, but I worry about you. That’s why I won the date with Quincy for you in the first place. You’ve had so much happen over the past few years, and you’re wasting away in this studio. You literally come downstairs from your apartment, and you’re in the studio until you go back upstairs after work.”