by Dani René
For a year I’ve been good, I’ve been responsible as we’ve worked closely together. Soft touches, gentle words, and now, we’re alone and everything shifts as she peeks up at me from under her long golden lashes. Her chest heaves as her breaths turn ragged.
“This… We should go.”
“No, I know something’s wrong. Is it your parents again?” Her question jolts me from wanting to kiss her to fleeing as far away from my life as I can get. She knows about the pressure I’m under from my parents. They want me to be the perfect son and go to Harvard to study law and follow in my father’s footsteps. Since I chose a different path, they’ve been at me constantly, forcing me to spend time at my dad’s offices to see what I’m missing out on. All I’ve seen are stuffy suits who are fucking their secretaries for some excitement in their lives.
“I’m leaving, Piper,” I tell her. “My father told me that if I don’t do as he asks, I’ll be disowned, so I applied to study with a dance studio in Los Angeles. I can’t be around them anymore.”
“But… what am I going to do?”
“I’ll always be here for you, but this is my life. The problem is, I did something stupid when I was younger. Well, a few stupid things. It was long before your brother and I became friends,” I confess. I remember the night so distinctly.
Her hands are on my knees, holding on to me tightly. My heart riots against my chest, slamming painfully, causing my breathing to come out huskier than I intend. She’s so close, too damn close.
“You know you can trust me,” she tells me, and I nod.
“When I was fourteen…” My words are tentative, but I know I can tell her anything. Somehow this girl has found her way into my heart. She’s become everything to me, which is wrong on so many levels, but I can’t stop it. “I almost overdosed because of depression. I…”
“Oh God,” she cries, leaning in. She wraps her arms around my neck, our bodies flush against each other, and suddenly she’s on my lap. Holding me as if I’d break without her. And I realize at that moment, I will. Without a doubt, I’ll fucking shatter if she ever leaves my life.
That was also when I knew I had to leave. If I needed her this much, she might feel the same and I can’t do that to her. Her small tits are squashed against me, her legs over mine, straddling me. I don’t think she even realizes what she’s doing without doing anything at all.
“I’m so sorry, Ryder,” she mumbles into my neck, the heat of her breath tingling over my skin, and my cock hardens unbidden. I can’t stop it. I can’t make it go away and any second, she’ll notice it. That’s when she shifts on my lap and a soft gasp falls from her lips. “Ryder?” She pulls away, meeting my hungry gaze.
“You need to get off me, Butterfly,” I murmur, using the nickname I’ve given her. She moves across a dance floor like she’s flying, like a beautiful, delicate butterfly.
“Are you…?” she whispers, dropping her gaze between us. The sweatpants I’m wearing don’t hide the erection that’s tenting them and she gasps once more.
“Piper.” Her name is a warning on my lips. “We can’t do this. Friends, remember?” I close my eyes, attempting to think of anything other than the beautiful girl on my lap. I need her to move, or I’m going to do something stupid, but for the life of me, I can’t lift her off or move her. I can’t do anything because I’m frozen.
“Ryder,” she moans my name and I can’t stop myself from gripping her hips as she rolls them on my lap. Her heat against my thickened cock.
My head drops forward, leaning on her shoulder as I try to rein in my need. My restraint is a thin string that’s pulled taut, about to snap. “Jesus,” I hiss as she grinds herself on me. Soft whimpers fall from her plump lips.
“Promise me you’ll never do that again,” she whispers in my ear as she continues her ministrations. The song changes and R. Kelly starts singing “Cookie” and as the bass vibrates through us, Piper mewls as her body shudders all over me and I have to bite down on my lip to keep from coming in my sweats.
I watch in awe as she trembles in my arms, on my lap. She’s beautiful, like a blossoming flower in spring. Everything about her is light, happiness, innocence. Her lashes dance along her cheeks as her eyes roll back. When she finally opens them again, they’re glistening with excitement.
“Do what again?”
“Hurt yourself,” she mumbles, with a pout on her full lips. She’s still perched on my lap. My cock is still rock hard, but she doesn’t seem fazed.
“Please, Butterfly, you need to get off me.” I hear the pain in my voice, not because I don’t want her, but because I want her too much.
“Did I… Was it… I mean…”
“You can’t, we can’t do this,” I tell her, noticing the unshed tears pooling in her eyes. “Hey.” I cup her cheeks, holding her face so she can look at me. “I’ll be in big trouble if I so much as touch you, so please, baby girl, don’t make this harder than it already is.” My words cause her to giggle, dissipating the tension that hung heavy between us seconds ago.
“It is pretty hard,” she says shyly as she moves off my lap, giving me a reprieve of her gentle apple scent. She turns the iPod off. “You know, I’ve thought about that a lot.” Her confession stills me for a moment.
“What?”
“Your hands on me. Making me feel good.” Something about the way she says it and what we’ve just done makes me smile. I’ve wanted to touch her for far too long. “Would you promise me one thing, Ryder?” she asks, turning to face me again.
“Anything for you, Butterfly,” I tell her, and I mean it.
“One day, when I’m old enough. I want you to take it.” I know what she’s talking about, but I play dumb. Mainly to hear her say it, to give me the words I crave.
“Take what, baby girl?” I question with a smirk and she chucks her towel at my face. I catch it easily.
Then her face falls serious. “I want you to be my first.” Her words turn me molten and I’m tempted to say fuck it and do it right here for her, but I know she deserves more. And if I’m in prison for fucking her, I can’t be here for her when she needs me the most, and right now, I need to be a responsible adult, even though all my restraint is pulled tight. So, I nod in response to her. “Promise me, Ry? You need to say the words.”
“I promise.”
3
Piper
Stepping into the classroom, I find Christopher corralling the kids into lines facing the large mirror. This is my internship, and soon, I’ll be a fully-fledged dance teacher. I hope one day I’ll be able to have my own dance school, where I can teach hip hop to as many kids as possible. My mother would’ve preferred me to teach ballet, but I’m no longer that girl. I never was, to be fair.
“Ah, Piper.” Christopher smiles at me when I enter the class. “Kids, sit down on your spot. Remember, back straight, head up,” he demands with a wide grin. The tall, dark-haired man has been working here for most of his life. With dark brown eyes and a friendly smile, he offered me a bear hug the first day I started. It’s been almost two years and I’ve never been happier working and learning from him.
“Good morning, Christopher.” I offer a smile.
He leans in to give me a hug, and I return it easily. The man is affectionate, so much so that at first I thought he was flirting, but when he met Preston on one of my brother’s visits, I realized his eyes were for the same sex, and not for me.
“Are we working on the show today?”
He nods. “Yes, Mr. Kingsley will be here soon. He’s going to observe today. He would like to see the skill level of the children and he’ll be working out the routine,” Christopher gushes and I can understand why. Ryder is the best. At least, from what I remember.
“Great.”
“Isn’t he just so handsome?” my mentor says with a sigh. As if he could sense we’re talking about him, Ryder saunters into the room.
His eyes find mine as soon as he’s near and my cheeks heat. He’s always had this effect o
n me. Something I could never stop, never hide. But he told me once, we’re just friends, that I was too young for him.
“Mr. Kingsley.” Christopher smiles. “So good to see you. I was just explaining to Piper that you’re going to be here to observe today. I trust you’ll be comfortable?”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.” Ryder shakes Christopher’s hand, and I’m sure the older man is about to melt into a puddle on the floor.
“Great, I’ll leave you to it.” As soon as I’m alone with Ryder, the air is heavy with tension.
“So, you’re back?” I question, setting up the stereo. The soft whispers of the kids are the only other sounds in the room beside my breathing. It’s so clear that he still makes me nervous.
“I’m back for a while. I’ll be heading to LA once I’m done here to open a studio of my own,” he tells me with a confident tip of his chin.
“Wow.” I turn away, knowing the tears that prick my eyes will tumble if I keep looking at him. Pride for what he’s accomplished makes me emotional and I want to hold him. I want to tell him how much I still love him, but I can’t.
“Yeah, so, what were your plans with the song for the showcase?”
Shrugging, I turn to the class and clap my hands. “Okay, my lovelies, let’s get up and start stretching,” I tell them to a chorus of squeals. They love the class and it’s their happiness that makes me smile every day I walk into this room. “I was thinking of something fun, perhaps a pop song of sorts.”
“I’ll watch your warm-up and then we’ll talk about the music,” Ryder informs me, settling on the seat beside the stereo. “How about you show them our warm-up?” He suggests, causing my breath to hitch.
“You remember it?”
He stares at me for a moment. The coldness in his gaze tells me he doesn’t recall it for the same reasons I do. No, we’re just friends. But the way Ryder is looking at me now, I don’t think we’re even friends anymore. What hurts is that I don’t know why.
“Piper, this isn’t time to run down memory lane,” he bites out.
Stalking toward him, with rage burning through me, I lean in, so my face is level with his. “If you’re going to be in my classroom, I suggest you leave your assholeness outside. Are we understood?”
His gaze burns bright at my retort. Desire flickers there briefly, then, back to the cold hardness that is Ryder’s new expression. “Let’s start the class,” he utters, crossing his hands over his chest, pinning me with a severe glare.
Spinning on the heel of my sneaker, I turn to the class that consists of five boys and seven girls. They’re all so passionate about dancing and love it when we experiment. Attempting to ignore Ryder glaring at me from the corner of the room, I start the class, giving them the new steps we’re learning this week.
I press the button on the remote control and the song pumps through the speakers. I want to look at Ryder, to see his expression, but the anger at his aloofness holds me hostage. I no longer want to play this game with him.
He was the one who walked out, I was the one who waited, and he acts like I’ve hurt him. But I’m the one who’s hurting. I have been for four long years and he doesn’t care. When he left to go to LA, I spent my time focused on dancing. I chose to teach it rather than be on stage because this is where I can guide those who feel like I did when I was younger. Alone, frustrated at having to strive for perfection in a world that just wasn’t.
“Okay, that’s perfect,” I tell them with a smile, watching them count as they move in sync to the song. It took a while for them to work as one with these steps, but practice has made them master the moves in no time. “Now, I want you all to meet our new instructor. He’ll be helping us with the showcase that’s coming up,” I tell them excitedly.
“Yay! Is he a famous dancer?” Brianna, one of my girls, questions.
“He is super famous, and you know what?” I tell her. “He was the one who taught me how to dance. He made me love everything about it.”
The class goes wild with squeals and each of them leaping around like I’ve just told them they’ve won a year’s supply of candy.
“You shouldn’t lie to them,” Ryder whispers in my ear, causing me to turn my attention on him. His eyes are dark green today. The hazel color is gone and there’s only frustration evident in those familiar orbs.
“I didn’t. Not about dancing, and not about love. You did make me fall, you just weren’t there to catch me.” Without waiting for his response, I step farther away from him and turn toward the kids, clapping my hands. “Okay, everyone say hello to Ryder.”
Even though he’s livid at me, he smiles down at them, answering questions and telling them about his time in Los Angeles, teaching at one of the schools there. He tells them things he’s never even bothered mentioning to me.
And my heart breaks just a little more for the boy who returned a broken man.
4
Ryder
I should have never come back. It took all my restraint to not kiss her today. But my anger at the way she looks at me, is enough to make Piper understand I’m no longer the boy who walked away. I can feel her pain when I bite out my responses at her.
She’s always been an empath, feeling my pain and agony, but this time, we swapped roles and I hated every moment. I don’t want to hurt her, I don’t want her to break even more than she did the day I left.
Shoving the door to my apartment open, I step inside to find Jeremiah and Preston already settled on my sofa, both gripping PlayStation controls like their lives depend on it. The speakers screech and I recognize the sound of cars racing.
“Shit,” Preston grunts. “Fuck, Jeremiah, stop being an asshole.” He sways toward our best friend and I can’t help chuckling. I’ve known both of them nearly all my life, and I couldn’t have asked for better friends. Even though we’d fucked up on occasions in the past, we still stood by each other.
“Pres, why don’t you get your ass out of my way.” Jer chuckles, and a loud crash thrums through the speakers. It’s been a long while since that sound would send me spiraling.
“Are you two fucking up my high score?” I question, sitting my ass on the armchair, far from the couch where both guys are practically shoving each other off the cushions.
“Jeremiah’s being a pussy ass bitch as usual.” One thing about Piper’s brother is that he loves cussing. If he could’ve gotten a degree in it, he would’ve.
“Yeah, sure, Pres,” Jer announces. “And I’m the one losing, am I?”
“Fuck off,” Preston bites out, tapping the buttons as if hitting them harder would make a difference to the game.
Shaking my head, I rise and head into the kitchen. “Did you guys fill my fucking fridge with beer?” Silence meets my question and I can’t help the frustration flowing through me.
“There’s soda in the bottom drawer,” Jeremiah finally responds, and I find a neat stack of cans in a corner. “Can you grab me a drink please, bro?”
“Yeah.” I instinctively take two cans, along with my soda, to the living room to find my friends sitting back, the game on pause and both sets of eyes on me. “What?”
“How was school?” Preston asks, cracking open the can. I know what he means, how is Piper, but he doesn’t voice the question.
“It was fine. Kids are damn good for being ten-year-olds.” I watch them watch me and I wait for it. Both Preston and Jeremiah know about Piper’s crush on me, and they also both know I’ve held a forbidden flame for her for years. Only, Preston’s never given me his blessing to come back and be with his sister. Not that I deserve it, because everything I touch turns to fucking ash. And Piper is far too precious for me to burn with my sins.
“And your little blonde?” Jeremiah takes the chance to ask me, their eyes searing me with unasked questions.
“She’s okay. Doing a great job with the class.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Ryder,” Preston smirks, sipping his beer. “I know you have the hots for my sister. Everyone
knows it. So don’t sit there and tell me it was just like any other day.”
“It was. I told you, Pres, I’m not back here to start a fucking relationship.”
“You didn’t tell her, did you?” He shakes his head, the guilt eating away at me because he’s right. I should’ve told her the moment I returned, but I’m too much of a fuck-up to confess what I did.
“Why would I tell her?”
He glares at me, anger simmering just below those blue-green eyes that are a mixture of mine and Pipers, a strange mix, but they’re unique to Preston.
“What?” I take a swig of my soda, ignoring his penetrating stare.
“Just wondering why you’re so fucking scared to tell her. Piper is not going to judge you for what happened. If anything, she should blame me.” He’s right, but that doesn’t mean shit to me right now.
“Play the fucking game, asshole.” I tip my can toward the television.
“Preston is right, man,” Jeremiah offers. “She’s a sweet girl, she loves you, and there’s nothing that is going to make her change her mind or her heart for that matter.”
“Fuck off, Jer. Don’t talk about my sister being in love.” Preston acting like a big brother is strange, which only makes Jeremiah and me chuckle.
“I’m dead serious, Ry,” he tells me, his dark brown eyes locked on my green ones.
“Doesn’t matter,” I tell them both, “she’s out of my league.”
“Too fucking right, she is.” Preston nods, and I can’t help chucking a cushion at his head in frustration.
“Fuck you, Pres.”
“You wish,” he retorts, taking a long gulp of his drink. Turning his attention on me, his expression turns serious, before he continues. “You need to tell her.”
