Match Pointe

by Amélie S. Duncan

  “I got home okay,” she said.

  “Good. I would have taken you.”

  “I was happy you didn’t. I needed the space. Zoey was really upset,” she said.

  “Sorry,” I said quietly.

  “I’ve got some news,” she said. “I just got a call from Christophe. He said he has all the dancers set for your class, but he’s considering using me for demonstrations.”

  I chewed my lip. Demonstrations… “That’s good, right?”

  “It’s a chance to get his attention and advice,” she answered. “I’ll take that over being completely excluded from the program. He was clear I won’t be used in the performance.”

  “That’s crap, sweetheart,” I said without thinking. “I mean, I’m sorry.”

  “I understand,” she said. “It’s fine.”

  Neither of us said anything for a few beats, then I got her talking again, about what she thought of Yankee Stadium—anything to get her mind moving off the bad. I decided it wasn’t a good time to ask her about Yasmine, and she didn’t bring up Zoey trying to set her up on a date.

  When we hit a lull in our conversation again, she said, “I’d like to see you again…for more lessons. After class, next week? I’ll have the rest of the day off.”

  I grinned. A chance to touch more of Scarlet? No-brainer. “All right.”

  My doorbell sounded. Zoey again? Or it could be that locksmith.

  “Okay. It’s a sex date,” she said, laughing, then hung up before I could say anything.

  She had me smiling. She was so different than anyone I’d ever been with, so innocent. I knew I needed to set more boundaries with her, but I was too curious about what she’d do. I liked it. I liked her. Then it hit me: technically, she was now in the class. Didn’t that mean we had to stop?

  Then again, she wasn’t performing. It was a fine line that may or may not get one of us kicked out. Either way, it wouldn’t look good for either of us, but with the pounding on my door, I had the distraction I needed to not dwell on it, or the uneasy feeling that came over me at the thought of disappointing Scarlet.

  The locksmith was at the door, but he wasn’t the only one standing there. Lance was next to him in one of our team tracksuits, smiling shiftily, his daughter Rayne’s teddy bear-shaped bag on his shoulder.

  “Hey. What’s up?” he said, like I’d invited him over, not that I minded drop-ins—I did it all the time at his place. He wasn’t moving, even when I made space for him to come on inside.

  I looked down the hallway. “Are Kayla and Rayne with you?”

  His wife Kayla had a wicked sense of humor, and my goddaughter, Rayne, was my soft spot, which brought me back to wondering why he was hanging back like a weirdo.

  “Not exactly,” Lance said. “Come on out,” he called over his shoulder.

  Ace peeked his big mug around the corner with baby Rayne strapped to his massive body. “Hey, man,” he said, like we were good, not a drop of shame to be found.

  “Hey nothing,” I gritted out. I glared over at Lance, who had a smug look about him. “You’re an ass for bringing him over here after what he did with Scarlet today.”

  “No,” he said, finally walking through the door, and my locksmith got to work. “I’m smart. And don’t curse in front of Rayne.”

  She was now within reaching distance of me. She had her hair in two little pigtails, and her huge honey brown eyes shining reminded me a little of Scarlet. She smiled for me, showing off her new teeth. She was a beauty. Ace tensed when I reached over and rubbed on her chubby cheek.

  “Give Rayne to Lance then I’ll just punch you in the gut and you can go home,” I said cheerfully.

  “You wouldn’t last a minute,” he said, moving past me and over to join Lance on my couch.

  “Ace, I didn’t bring you here for you to talk to Tyler that way,” Lance said. “You clear the air and we move on, that’s how we do. I told Coach Frost I’d take care of it without fighting. The team needs you both to play in all the games.”

  I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to miss a game, but Ace going behind my back irritated me. Rayne chose that moment to coo, and it was hard to hold onto my anger. “Fine, but I expect some groveling after what he pulled today.”

  Ace snorted and bounced Rayne on his lap.

  “It’s still hot out there and we’re parched. Refreshments?” Lance said.

  That was usually my line. I joined in their laughing and brought out the drinks and snacks then took the seat on the couch nearest them.

  Ace handed Rayne to Lance. “She’s hot, so I offered her a tour. She didn’t tell me she was with you.”

  “She doesn’t have to tell you anything. I told you all to stay away from her,” I hissed. “You treated her like she was some cheap slut with your ‘tour’.”

  Ace held up his hands. “Nothing happened. She showed up and expected a real tour.”

  “Lucky for you,” I growled, though inwardly I was smiling. Scarlet was clueless. She’d probably had a map with a bunch of questions, throwing his coming-on-to-her game right off.

  “That’s all you’re worried about, Tyler?” Ace said. He looked at Lance like they were in their own private conversation.

  “I’m not worried about anything. I’m upset because she’s my sister Zoey’s best friend,” I replied, but even to me that sounded weak.

  “It doesn’t matter. She’s with the ballet,” Lance said, cuddling Rayne. “If he goes there and it goes wrong—and I love you, man, but it will, just like it does with all the other women you’re with—it won’t just be on you this time. You’ll mess up opportunities for the team and management.”

  My mouth went dry. “I’m not doing anything for you to worry about. So, are we done?”

  Lance’s mouth twisted up like he didn’t believe me, but he blew out, letting me know he was dropping it.

  “Fair enough,” Ace said and then turned on my television. “We good?”

  I nodded and took Rayne, and we eased into conversation about the game and the game we were watching. I cuddled Rayne for a while too, until she cried and I passed her back over to Lance for the diaper change. Seeing how happy Lance had been with the baby made it not so scary, and Kayla trusted him to take her out and look after her. I was years from having a family myself, but I had to admit Rayne was good for them.

  We were talking like normal, but I hadn’t forgotten what had been said. They were both sure I’d screw Scarlet up, and a part of me was fired up to prove them wrong. That was how I handled most things. When someone told me I couldn’t do something, I worked my ass off to do it. It happened with school, college, and even at the New York F.C. I broke my leg my first year, and everyone was sure I was done before I’d even started. I cut my rehab down and was back playing in record time.

  I wasn’t going to hurt Scarlet. Most people judged me on my past or how I’d behaved at the beginning of my sports career. I put myself before the team, and sometimes it didn’t work out well in the end. That was part of life. Things don’t go right sometimes, but that didn’t mean I set out for things to go that way, not when I was interested in spending time with someone. I liked spending time with Scarlet. In fact, I was going to make things better between the two of us.

  When they left, I dialed her up again.

  “Everything okay?” she asked when she answered.

  “Yes. I’ve been thinking—we should talk and hang out too, besides the lessons. It’ll make you more comfortable with me.”

  “Oh, I’d love that,” she said, and from the sound of her voice, I knew I’d done right. “Maybe as much as I loved kissing you.”

  My lip curved upward. “I did too. We do some more, and I’ll give you a lesson in dirty talk.”

  We laughed.

  “I’m not much for that,” she said. “I’d rather be in the same place.”

  “That won’t always be easy. I work a lot too,” I pointed out. “We train a lot and travel for games, and then there’s my volu
nteering.”

  “Yes, and you know how much time ballet takes up from Zoey,” she said quietly.

  “Yes, I do,” I said. “What my dad used to do for her is add in fun hours. She’d pack in a lot of things on her list to do in an hour or store them all up for days off.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” she said.

  “Then that could be our thing,” I half-teased.

  “Besides the sex,” she teased back. “Do you think I’m ready?”

  “There’s no timeframe,” I reminded her.

  “I guess we’ll see how I respond to your next lesson,” she said with a lift in her voice.

  My chest warmed. Everything about her was perfect to me. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  When we hung up, I noticed a text from Eve.

  Eve: I’ve got an old client I’m doing some physical therapy with nearby. Want me to come over?

  Tyler.Wilson: Busy

  Another message came in, this time from a number I didn’t recognize.

  It’s Gina. You said I was a lot of fun and you’d see me again. I hear there is a party at Steven Perkins’ place tonight!

  I smirked. And you need me to get you in. The rest of her message wasn’t any better.

  We can go and then go to my hotel. I’m at the 76th Hotel, room 243.

  I pressed delete and went back to my workout.

  “YOU WANT US TO GO out in public together?” Scarlet said during one of our phone calls. “I mean, I’d like to, but I thought we were only doing lessons.”

  I had agreed to the sex lessons, but I didn’t really like playing doctor, and even though she was acting like she didn’t care, I was sure she did. “As I told you before, sex is much more fun when you know each other. I’ll take you out for a couple of hours, anywhere you want to go.”

  “Okay, I have to be up early tomorrow,” she said. “Some of the dancers used to talk about going out to a place called Blitz Bar.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been there,” I replied. “The team goes there often, so we could be spotted there.” I’d also been there too frequently in the past for women to just have sex with. The place was known for it, just like I’d been known for going there for that reason. “Any other ideas?”

  “Oh, there’s a place I saw in one of the papers, the Holiday Lounge. It’s kind of…cheesy.”

  She may have tried to downplay it, but she wasn’t good at hiding the excitement in her voice.

  “We’ll go there,” I told her. How bad could it be?

  “Oh my God,” she said excitedly. “I can meet you there. I’ll just have to let Priscilla and Michel know I’m not staying for dinner.” Her tone was hesitant.

  “That working out all right?”

  “At times, I feel like I’m on my own, but other times, not so much.”

  “Well, we could just keep talking on the phone if that will be easier,” I offered.

  She paused for a few moments. “No. I really want to go, and this will help with the lessons,” she added.

  I let out a sigh of exasperation. “Let the lessons go for the night, all right? We’ll just have fun.”

  The Holiday Lounge was a gimmicky bar with mismatched stuff you’d pick up at a garage sale. It had worn couches, card tables, and a variety of lamps. All the tables faced a small wooden platform where a woman sat perched on a stool, singing old folk songs out of tune. Tourists were recording themselves singing along or worse, taking pictures of their food. It wasn’t a place I’d go or thought Scarlet would want to go, but when we sat down at our booth, she and her round tits were bouncing in the seat. She looked beautiful, though she kept looking away from me when she noticed I was staring at her.

  She giggled. “Why do you keep staring at me?”

  Before I could answer, a couple of females, one blonde and one brunette, approached our booth.

  “I told you that was Tyler Wilson,” the blonde said to her friend. “Hey, it’s Vivian,” she said like I should remember her.

  Scarlet was pretending to study her menu intently, but I could see her eyes shifting between me and the women.

  I pressed my lips together. “I don’t remember you, sorry.” I didn’t like anyone approaching me like that, especially when she could obviously see I was with someone. “Excuse us, we’re here for the show,” I said plainly, hoping they’d take the hint.

  Someone twirling a baton was on now and was about as entertaining as watching paint dry, but I thought she’d buy it. The brunette settled for a selfie with me in the background, and then that made the tourists decide to take some of me too. That should have been the end of it, but Vivian wasn’t done and gave Scarlet a once-over.

  “When you’re done with this, we should hang out.”

  It was a bold bitch of a move, and not one I’d put up with.

  “No, I don’t want to hang out. Stop being rude to my date,” I said in a curt tone.

  The host finally came over to move them back to their seats and I turned toward Scarlet, dreading finding her upset, but I found her grinning.

  “I’m your date?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “We’re out listening to bad karaoke at a theme bar eating sparkly food together, close enough.”

  She glanced in the direction of the women. “I didn’t know you did dates.”

  “I don’t usually,” I admitted. This didn’t feel like a date; it was just fun. “Hey, let’s forget the date part and I’ll get you an exploding load of frosting for dessert.” I had her laughing and at ease again.

  We sat and listened to a few more singers before her big boat of food came out. Scarlet reached for her bag, then hesitated.

  “You want a photo, don’t you?” I teased.

  “Don’t judge me,” she said, hiding her laugh.

  I took a photo with her phone and then a few more with mine, most of them without the food. She was so happy sitting there, singing along, and even more so when I joined in singing with her. After a while, it wasn’t all that bad. When it was time to take her back home, I realized we hadn’t talked all that much. So, I said, “We should keep talking. You can send more photos of food, but make sure you’re in them.”

  “I’d like that.”

  There came that smile she tried to cover again.

  I reached my hand out, pulled her hand down, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She gave me a couple more kisses of her own, and I smiled at her.

  “I still want lessons,” she called out on the sidewalk then ran off in the direction of her building. It was the most innocent night I’d ever spent with a woman, and I found it all refreshing.

  “Put that thing away. No one wants to see it.”

  Erik was the first to comment on Javier strutting into the ballet studio wearing a spandex shirt and tights. Just guess which part was the problem.

  It wasn’t that he had on tights—the men in the class all wore them. However, theirs weren’t sheer, and they wore something underneath. Knowing Javier, he had an endgame, one he’d clue us in on after he was done showboating his junk.

  “Jealousy is a cruel thing,” he quipped.

  “Is that what you call it?” Ace said, laughing. “You look like a tool.”

  “I don’t.” He lifted his leg on the barre, talking louder over our collective groans. “I’m upping my game.”

  “It’s nice to show some initiative, Javier, but I have to agree with Ace,” Christophe said, walking up to us wearing proper danseur clothing. “If you had on a dance belt, I would have left you to dance in them. If you want to know where to shop, I’ll meet with you after class and you can dress in what I expect next time. As for now, I hope you have shorts to put on like the rest of your teammates. You have five minutes. Don’t be late.” His tone was a command and had Javier darting off to follow his orders. Hell, the guy wasn’t one to suffer fools, and that earned all our respect.

  As for Javier, I understood why he was upping his game—he had to, him and Coach Frost. His contract was high for New York F.C
., and he was, by their expectations, barely scoring.

  I, on the other hand, had no problem with scoring, although even I couldn’t get ahead in our recent game against L.A. Galaxy. Of course, when we lost, Coach Frost had no problem with me standing beside him while he did his press. The only thing that kept my head were the calls and messages from Scarlet. Since going out, we had been talking regularly on the phone, more about what she wished to see and do in Manhattan. I offered some ideas, though it was tough with our busy schedules. Still, we found time. She also brought up the lessons. I’d get her talking about what she did. She’d been uneasy about it because most of what she shared was work-related, but I didn’t care. What I liked was the enthusiasm in her voice, along with the pictures of her she’d send at the end. The pictures were my idea. Still, she sent them to me, and I was in awe at how beautiful she was. Everything about her was making everything all right, and that evening I’d get a chance to take her out. She was expecting her next sex lesson and every time I thought about it, I felt bad, but not bad enough to stop.

  The dancers came in next and Christophe had us place ourselves by the barre. From where I stood, I could still see the door, and I watched as Zoey came in. We nodded in greeting. We weren’t where we used to be with each other, and Scarlet said they weren’t talking much either. I felt bad about that. Then again, Zoey needed to learn to mind her own business.

  Scarlet was the last to come in. Everything she had on was a shade of purple. She could wear a bag and still be beautiful. Her eyes found me and when our gazes connected, something electric passed between us. It brought back how good it had been kissing her. I could see from her expression she remembered too. She smiled and shyly turned her head away, but I didn’t. I couldn’t get enough of looking at her.

  My eyes went down to her round, firm breasts. What would she do when I kissed and sucked on them? My mind flashed to her sweet moans as I showed her how to kiss. It hadn’t taken much before nature took over. She arched into my body, moving her hips on my lap, begging for more. After she did that, I was sure when I got her alone, she’d let me do more, and what I’d do first was suck on her tits. I wouldn’t stop there. She’d let me rub on her pussy while I did it. Fuck. Just thinking about how soft and wet she’d feel and how much she’d moan moving against my hand had my cock thickening in my shorts. Bad timing. I had to get ahold of myself. Turning away, I conjured up Javier in his tights and that set me right, though now I knew Scarlet would be a challenge for me, even more so if Christophe let her dance and put her with me again. Yasmine had me thinking she might be the one I got partnered with, but then again, I hadn’t spoken with her since her call.