Page 86 of My Last Dance

“Man area?” I unscrewed my water bottle for a sip.

His eyes flicked to mine. “My dick area, Piper. My dick area.”

I almost choked on my water.

“Glad you find that so funny,” he scoffed, struggling to straighten his legs.

I had to roll my lips together to keep from laughing.

After running through ballet basics, Polina started guiding us through elegant movements. The first had Kappy bending his right knee, extending his left leg into a pointed toe, and reaching toward me, and I was supposed to smooth into him. We never even got to the smoothing part because he was doingwaytoo much. His exaggerated reach toward me was comical.

Shaking her head at Kappy, Polina said, “Girl is rose, boy is just stem. Your job is let her bloom, let her be beautiful.”

Kappy frowned. “But I can be beautiful, too.”

“No,” she snapped, looking completely flustered. It was probably the first time someone spoke back to her. “You are stem.”

Kappy’s face morphed into a pout.

As soon as Polina walked to the front of the room, he muttered, “I am a beautiful flower.”

A laugh rolled out of me. I automatically slapped a hand over my mouth, but it was too late.

“Collect yourselves!” Polina snapped at us.

Kappy’s lips twitched. “Yeah, Piper.” He reached out and squeezed my waist, making my whole body jolt like it was hit with an electric current. “Collect yourself.”

________

When I returned home that night, Kappy was plopped on the couch, fast asleep with his hair cocked up in a hundred differentdirections and with ice bags resting on his upper thighs, calves, and feet. The glow from the TV reflected on his tired face and guilt speared into me.

I tried my best to not wake him while shuffling into the living room to shut the TV off, but he rustled awake anyway.

“You’re back.” He rubbed his bleary eyes. “Where’d you go?”

“Dinner with Mer and Ali.”

“Al Pal?” His face creased with confusion. “I know I’m only half awake, but isn’t she somewhere on a cruise ship? Did she get back? Does JP know?”

I paused, wondering why JP would need to know. “No, she’s not back. She’s still on tour, but she FaceTimes us for dinner every Tuesday.”

He nodded, taking in this information. Silence descended in the room, making me regret turning off the TV.

“Kappy.” I gently sat on my decorative armchair and leaned my elbows on my knees. “Are you sure you want to do this?” I warily eyed his sore body.

“Yes,” he said automatically.

“But are you sure?” I asked weakly. “You’re in pain.”

“This is a good pain.” His eyebrows flew up. “Wait, are you worried about me?”

The wordNowas at the tip of my tongue, but for some reason, I couldn’t say it. I glumly rolled my eyes.

His hand landed on my knee, making my thoughts completely die away. Instead, all of my energy was focused on that hand, on the way it seemed to warm my entire body.

“I’m not a quitter,” he said with a small smirk. “So stop asking.”

Chewing my bottom lip, my eyes dipped to his bandaged up feet. “You need bunga pads for the sides of your ankles. And lamb’s wool to stop the lace bite.”

---