Page 37 of I'm Yours

Her beautiful eyes widen. “Really?”

“Really.”

Then her face changes and her little nose scrunches like she just ate something gross. “But I thought my teacher is a girl.”

I smile at her sweet question and reaction. “She is.” Well, woman, actually. Beautiful, strong, brave woman. “Boys and girls can be friends.” I think. It seems to me that usually it turns into something more and that there are very few exceptions to this rule. Which makes me want to retract my statement that boys and girls can be friends because she’s never going to date.

“I know that, Daddy. Butmybest friend is Erica. Not aboy.”

I chuckle and help her get unbuckled while grabbing her bag. “Well,mybest friend in high school was a girl. And now she’s your dance teacher.”

“Is she nice?”

I want to be sarcastic and tell her ‘no, she’s a huge meanie and that’s why I’m leaving you with her for an hour’ but I can’t. She’s a little fragile at the moment. “She’s very nice. I think you’ll love her.”

She looks at the studio then back to me and nods once. “Okay. Let’s go.”

We walk hand in hand to the front door and when we’re inside, my heart sinks. Girls are flitting about happily, their moms and dads huddled together talking, but what I notice first is that they’re all so… put together. And one glance down at Emmy tells me she notices the exact same thing. Her hair looks like she got in a fight with a honey badger on the way here, and the rest of the students have their hair pulled up in perfect buns or braids. She looks up at me, hand gripping mine tightly, with tears in her eyes and panic sets in.

I’m not one of those prepared parents who has a magic bag ready to take on any challenge laid before me. She looks around and I do the same before my eyes land on Sadie. She’s standing in her office door staring at the two of us, her eyes going from me to Emmy to our hands then back to Emmy and eventually landing on me again. I take a step forward then stop when I feel my hand being tugged on.

I bend low when Emmy pulls me down. “Daddy. My hair.”

Yup. Dad fail. Big time. I should have known. In fact, I think there was something about having hair pulled out of the students’ faces on the sign-up sheet that specified the clothing requirements for class. “I know, sweet thing. I’ll figure it out, okay?”

“But…”

We’re interrupted when Sadie comes to stand next to us. “Well, hello there.”

She’s not looking at me, her gaze trained solely on Emmy. A smile breaks out on her face and she glances up at me, holding a hair tie between her fingers. I nod and stare down at her. Sadie returns her eyes to Emmy and holds out her other hand, crouching down so she’s at her level. “I’m Miss Sadie. What’s your name?”

Emmy steps forward to Sadie and introduces herself quietly. “I’m Emerson Sanders but my daddy calls me Emmy.”

“What would you like me to call you?”

“Emmy. I like Emmy.”

“Me, too. It’s a very pretty name. Are you excited for dance class?”

She looks so sad when she whispers, “Uh huh. But my hair isn’t right.”

“Would you like me to help with that? We like your hair out of your face so it doesn’t get in the way of your amazing dance moves and you don’t miss anything.”

Emmy looks to me for permission and I nod, releasing her hand only for Sadie to take it. I have to swallow down the emotion when I watch Sadie and Emmy walk to Sadie’s office together and Emmy sits on a chair in front of her. Seeing the two of them together does things to me that it absolutely shouldn’t.

They talk while Sadie brushes through Emmy’s hair then pulls it up into a bun faster than I’d ever be able to manage. I manage to take in Sadie’s clothing while she’s helping Emmy with her hair. She’s wearing a grown-up version of what Emmy has on, and it leaves nothing to the imagination — it’s also hot as fuck. I can’t stop staring like a teenager. Her strong legs on display, a tiny pink skirt falling just over the swells of her perky ass. Her breasts are still full even under the tight spandex of the leotard and her bright blonde hair is pulled up out of her face which is makeup free.

She’d look adolescent if she wasn’t so fucking gorgeous.

And she also just caught me staring.

Her cheeks flame red and she gestures to her outfit. “I only wear it on the students’ first day of classes. I learned that it helps the girls feel more comfortable if they see me wearing something similar.”

I smirk at her explanation. “Right. You sure that’s not what you wear to the store to get groceries?”

“Ha ha ha.”

“Daddy said you used to be his best friend,” Emmy says. Sadie turns her head toward me and I shrug.

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