Mr. Bad Influence

Chapter 8 - Part 3

Cringing ever so slightly at the reminder of those days, she covered her face with her hand.

"I was heartbroken when you decided to give up dancing. I watched every single episode."

The reality show recording her competitive dancing days was her mother's doing, and Kerri had hated it. She'd picked up dancing because when she was at the studio, she was a dancer. She wasn't John and Claudia Adams's daughter; she didn't have paparazzi trying to get photos of her.

But the moment she started getting trophies, her mother began negotiations with the TV station. Kerri endured it for nearly four years, then she was done. Besides, by then, she had two regular shows. "My schedule for filming had started clashing with my training. I couldn't handle both at the same time."

"But it helped in your audition."

"I think I was the only one who was able to get most of the moves after one demonstration, but I need to work on looking stronger, tougher. That will make the moves more realistic."

"I can't wait to see the results." Then, of course, the questions moved on to her love life. "I had actually prepared some questions regarding you and Taylor, but I noticed an interesting tweet that went viral yesterday."

"Did you?" Kerri said and laughed.

"So, are you and Nick back together? There are a lot of fans hoping for that."

"It's been nice seeing him again, and I'm really excited about his album."

"So you've heard it."

She nodded. "A couple of songs are about me, so he thought it would be polite to give me a heads-up."

"Do you like the songs?"

"Yes, even the one that talks about how fickle-minded I am." She laughed.

"Did you guys have a long talk after the interview?"

"Not really, not immediately after."

"He was quite protective of you."

"He always has been. Looking back, most of the time we quarreled was because of concern and the fierce sense of protectiveness we had toward each other."

"I noticed you haven't answered my question. Are you two back together?"

She smiled. "No, we're not."

"Do you think you'll ever get back with him? After what he did."

"I can't predict the future. I don't know what will happen a week, month, or year from now. But I've forgiven him for cheating. We were both young and stupid."

"Did you cheat on him?"

"No."

"So you weren't as stupid as he was."

Kerri pursed her lips, but allowed the corner of her lips to curl. "In that aspect—perhaps. Regardless, it was all in the past."

"So you've forgiven him."

"Completely."

"But you're still heartbroken."

"No," she said with absolute certainty. Any hint of sadness would only result in more hatred against Nick.

"But on the interview you did with him, you started crying when that topic came up."

She pinched her lips and thought about what Kimberly had said. She formulated the answer in her head before voicing it. "We broke up around a week after I found out he'd cheated. I ignored him for most of that week, so we didn't really get to talk much about that," she said. "I mean he apologized—profusely. But I'd never sat down and talked to him about it."

"The questions must have brought up a lot of memories."

She drew a deep breath through her nose as she nodded. Truth was, the good memories brought more ache then the bad.

"Do you still love him?"

Kerri laughed and shook her head. "You know he's attached now."

"So you do love him, but you can't say yes because he's attached."

She didn't want things to get murkier. "I was with him for five years, and we were great friends before we were a couple. So in some ways, I'll always love him."

"I know you've said before that you're not really into social media, but I was wondering if you saw what Hannah posted after you posted your statement."

She shook her head. But I can guess.

Kimberly tapped on her iPad and moved it toward her.

A photo of Hannah and Nick kissing was on the screen. She had expected it, but it still took effort to maintain the casualness of the atmosphere. She laughed softly. "Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the part about how I'll always love him."

Kimberly laughed. "Can we expect to see more of you two together?"

"Maybe. We do go to the same church."

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