Page 19 of On Dancer
“Perhaps.” I sniffed like a bored prince.
“Never change, Alexander. Never change.” Rudy shook his head at me before pulling up short in front of a small stationary store with a lit Christmas tree in the window. “Look! Holiday decorations are starting to go up. Thanksgiving is almost here. Isn’t this the best time of year?”
“Not usually.” Where Rudy saw magic, I saw work and more work. “It’s the annual sludge of rehearsals, tech week, promo, crowded performances, and rushed holiday celebrations.”
Rudy responded by humming the theme song fromThe Grinchat me.
“I’m not a Grinch.” I held up my hands. “I’m a realist.”
“If the costume fits…” Rudy taunted in a singsong voice.
“Take that back.” I stomped on toward the ballet school. I wasn’t sure why I was letting Rudy rile me up. The holidays meantThe Nutcracker, andThe Nutcrackermeant work, and if my inability to appreciate the season made me a Grinch, so be it. I needed to drop the argument. I made a frustrated noise as Rudy hummed that much louder.
“The image of you dressed as a Grinch is stuck in my brain.”
“Unstick it.” I got in his face as we reached the back of the school.
“Make me.” Laughing with his dimples on full display, he stuck his tongue out at me again.
Like earlier, arousal slammed into me. However, now there was no game to distract me. Instead, I did the only thing that seemed to make sense and closed the distance between us, backing him against the brick building and stepping so close our coats brushed.
“Make me,” he repeated in a husky whisper.
“Gladly.” And with that, I lost the last of my brain cells and kissed Rudy.
Ten
Relevé:to rise up onto demi-pointe (balls of the feet) or en pointe (to the tips of the toes in pointe shoes).
Rudy
Alexander Dasher was kissing me. My inner teen all but squealed as my adult self reveled in this turn of events. In all our evenings playing board and card games, I’d figured out that Alexander never shied away from a dare. But I hadn’t expected my taunt to work quite this well.
“Make me.”
My heart nearly pirouetted out of my chest when Alexander leaned in. That I was still upright now as he kissed me was entirely due to the building behind me and not any strength of my own. He kissed me like I was the last whoopie pie on the buffet table, with a hungry ferocity that made me tremble in ways that had nothing to do with the chilly night.
I’d already been soaring like one of Alexander’s trademark jumps after the success of the gaming party. Watching Alexander have fun despite himself was a pleasure, and he seemed to genuinely get along with my friends. A deep sense of contentment had settled over me as we’d walked back. We’d bantered as easily as if we attended game night together weekly.I wish.
Kissing, however, stole all sense of familiarity. His mouth was a revelation, and memories of all prior kisses fled. I’d been kissed before, but never like this. Alexander’s kiss was bold and assertive, like a spicy curry that took over all my senses. His tongue demanded entry, and I gasped, welcome and surprise rolled into one single, sharp inhale.
And then we were kissing even more deeply. My grip on the grocery bags loosened under the overwhelming urge to pull Alexander even closer. Down the street, car tires skidded, and music drifted over from the bar on Main Street. We were hidden by the backside of the building, but not hidden enough for what I truly wanted.
“Let me unlock the door,” I said against his mouth as I fumbled one-handed for the keys in my coat pocket.
Alexander pulled back to gaze down on me with glassy eyes. “We should?—”
“Don’t say stop.” I cut him off by stretching for another kiss. Bags in one hand and his coat in the other, I hauled him a few steps over to the door that led to the back stairs. With a dexterity I hadn’t known I possessed, I managed to turn the key between kisses. I was determined not to give Alexander a chance to reconsider.
Not that he seemed particularly inclined to do that as he kissed me back with even more intensity than the initial kiss. We stumbled into the stairwell together, bags hitting the scarred tilefloor as I kicked the door shut. I didn’t bother trying to find the light switch. I had a far more important mission for my hands.
His wool coat had wide lapels, and I used them to tug him closer. Continuing to trade kisses, I trailed my fingers from his collar to the large, flat buttons lining the front of the coat.
“Stellar idea,” he murmured as my hands found the soft blue fabric of his pullover. His torso was toasty warm, and I gasped from that as much as from Alexander reaching for my zipper. He unzipped my far more utilitarian coat, sweeping the slick material open to rest his hands on my sides. I’d dressed up for the school visit earlier in the day, a white dress shirt under the sweater vest my mother had gifted me last year. Professional but warm. Of course, at the moment, I cursed every last layer between us.
I wanted to feel his skin, to see if the heat coming off him burned my fingertips, to see if I could inspire the same surprised noises that kept escaping me, and to see what could come of a connection this electric. As we traded kisses, I played with the hem of his pullover, fingers venturing a little farther with each kiss until I found bare skin, and he hissed.
But Alexander didn’t stop me, so I took the victory, dancing my fingers along his waist, up the curve of his ribcage, reveling in how he arched toward my touch. His skin was as warm as I’d suspected but softer, offering a contrast to his demanding kisses. He kissed with the single-minded focus he showed for the game and dance, making me feel like I was the only thing in the universe that mattered to Alexander in that moment. I wasn’t much of a drinker, but all his attention made my head swim and my limbs heavy, like I’d had one too many. Of course, with him, there was no such thing as too much.
