by Logan Chance
“A nap sounds really good.” I lay back next to him as his arms wrap around me, holding me tight.
“I don’t want to mess this up, Emma.”
I don’t say anything, instead I just lay on his chest, listening to his breaths become steady as he drifts off to sleep. I don’t want to mess anything up either.
Over the next two weeks, we fall into a pleasant routine. Axel comes over and plays with Felicity, building onto her play structure to her delight. I go over two times a week and lead everyone through a yoga class.
Sindy and Lacey come over too, and we finally ask the Trifecta to help us with a routine. Clara’s the one who made our logo for us and the Triplets were born. We became an overnight sensation.
Axel and I have to steal moments alone, which doesn’t happen as much as we want it to. He’s busy with the club. And with the Triplets in such high demand, I’m dancing more than ever. I’m also making more money than I ever have in my dancing career. I haven’t told the girls that when I save enough, I’m dropping out to start my own business. I don’t want to ruin all the excitement they’re having of us being so popular.
Axel knows my plans. He listens when I talk about what I want to do and his interest in it makes me feel special. I want to keep him from getting into my heart, but it’s too late. I should have known I was a goner from the first moment I laid eyes on him.
I text him goodnight after I crawl into bed, wishing he’s home so I can sneak over to his place, but he’s doing another late night working on the club. I’m about to fall asleep when there’s a knock on the door.
My wish just came true.
I jump out of bed and throw on my robe, running down the hallway. When I open the door, my smile fades when I realize it’s not Axel.
“What are you doing here?”
13
Axel
“I’m calling it a night,” I say, stretching my back out when I stand up. “This area looks good.” We’ve been working overtime trying to get this place in the best possible shape before we take over.
We’ve been working all night renovating the backstage area.
Clara’s sitting on one of the couches we pushed in the corner talking to Ben as he paints a wall. Damien’s in the bathroom tiling the shower, and I was installing the baseboards until I couldn’t focus anymore. I haven’t seen Emma nearly enough in the past three days. And I’m willing to admit how much I miss her.
She understood when I explained we were going to get busy the closer the take over of the club got, but I’d gotten used to our routine, and like I said, I miss her.
“Going to get your neighbor fix?” Damien says from inside the bathroom area.
“Stop it,” Ben and Clara say at the same time.
“Go, tell Emma we said hi. We want to do a yoga class tomorrow if she’s in.” Clara gives a little wave, not wanting to get up with all the open paint around her.
“See you tomorrow,” Damien says, as Ben humps the air with his paint roller.
I jog to my Range Rover, excited to see Emma after all these days. When I turn on the car I notice the time, disappointed Felicity will already be in bed. I’m startled when I realize just how much I miss Felicity, too.
I jump out of my car going straight toward Emma’s house when I get a whiff of myself. Annoyed, I go home to shower in record time, throwing on a hoodie, and gray sweats before finally heading over to Emma’s house.
I knock on the door, and when she opens it I pull her to me, kissing her deeply. Emma doesn’t resist, and she melts into me.
Have I mentioned how much I miss her?
I grab onto her ass ready to carry her to her room when I hear whistles. Emma pulls away and her eyes are glassy. Has she been crying? I glance over her shoulder and spot Lacey and Sindy smiling back at me.
Emma clears her throat and steps away from me, “So, Sindy and Lacey are here,” she says, grabbing my hand and leading me into the living room.
“Hello,” I say, clearing my throat, not from embarrassment but from the disappointment Emma wasn’t alone.
“Good, maybe you can talk some sense into her,” Sindy says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Yes, please tell Emma it’s a bad idea. We’re making so much money,” Lacey interjects.
“Stop. We’ll talk about this later,” Emma says, not meeting my eyes.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Emma says, narrowing her eyes at her friends.
Sindy speaks up not intimidated by Emma’s death glare, “Emma wants us to stop doing the Triplets”
“Yeah, we’re making more money than any of us had dancing by ourselves. You have to tell her not to stop.” Lacey gives me a pleading look.
“You guys can find another girl to do it. You don’t need me.” Emma still refuses to look me in the eye, letting me know there’s more to this story.
Lacey and Sindy aren’t convinced.
“We don’t want another girl. You’re a part of the Triplets,” Lacey says.
“Emma, quit being stupid. You know this is the most fun you’ve had on stage. I don’t know what made you think quitting is a good idea, but it’s not.” Sindy crosses her arms again, pacing the living room.
Emma stares up at the ceiling, and I wonder if Sindy is onto something. Maybe something happened that has made Emma want to quit the Triplets. Seeing the stubborn look on her face, I know I won’t get it out of her while the girls are here.
“I’ll talk her out of quitting,” I say.
Emma’s head snaps toward me, anger and something else swimming in her eyes. “You can’t convince me to change my mind. It’s done. No need to keep talking about it. I’m out of the Triplets.”
Before Sindy and Lacey can protest, I hold up my hand. “Why don’t you two go home. I’ll talk to her.”
Emma’s eyes shoot lasers at me, but I ignore her for now wanting to get her alone before I find out what’s going on.
“Well, hopefully you’ll have better luck than we did.” Lacey bends over and kisses Emma on the forehead. “We love you. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Just listen to Axel.”
Sindy comes over and hugs Emma. “Just talk to Axel.”
The two girls close the front door, leaving me alone with a very pissed off Emma.
“How could you do that to me?” I know she wants to yell, but Felicity’s sleeping so she has to whisper her anger.
“I just wanted them to leave so we could talk.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Emma, what’s going on? Did something happen? Did you already save enough money to open your yoga studio?”
I can see the indecision on her face. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
My instincts roar inside me. She’s mine, and I want to take care of her and eliminate anything that’s bothering her. I have to stop myself from taking control of the situation. She’s been surviving by herself for so long, taking care of her parents and Felicity. I’m sure she’s not going to let me barge in just yet.
“I’m sure it’s nothing you can’t handle. You’re the strongest woman I know.” She shakes her head and I refuse to let her deny the truth. “You took care of your dad’s medical bills. You set your dreams aside to keep your family out of debt. You are a fantastic mother. I don’t have any doubt you can handle anything life throws at you.”
“But?” she says, her eyes curious.
“But, you don’t have to. I want to help you, not because I don’t think you aren’t capable, but because I know you are very capable. You’ve been through so much. I’m here if you let me help you. I don’t want to take over. I want to be here to support you.”
She hesitates. We watch each other, knowing we’re on a precipice of taking what we’re doing to the next level. What she doesn’t seem to understand is I’m already on the next level just waiting for her to catch up. There’s something holding her back, and I want to figure out what it is.
A whimper down the ha
llway stops us both. I cock my head, but Emma’s already jogging toward Felicity’s room. I’m half a step behind her when we get to her room. Felicity’s face is scrunched up, her little body is tense, showing signs she’s in the beginning of a nightmare.
Emma runs over to her and I watch helplessly as Emma comforts her. Leaning against the doorframe, suspicion flooding through my veins. Felicity hasn’t had a nightmare since I read her a story and informed her she had superheroes next door. The timing could be a coincidence, but I can’t shake the feeling this has something to do with Felicity’s dad.
The badman.
I enter the room, Felicity brightens up when she sees me. “Hey, were you having a bad dream?” I ask, sitting on the opposite side of the bed from Emma.
Felicity nods her head, still half-asleep and obviously having a hard time fighting it off.
“Do you want me to read you a story?” Felicity nods her head again pointing to the ballerina book sitting on her nightstand. I catch Emma’s eyes, as she hands me the book as she moves to the rocking chair in the corner. Her face lets me know she understands I will be asking for an explanation when Felicity goes back to sleep.
Felicity doesn’t get past page four before she’s snoring lightly with her stuffed animal clutched in her hand. I continue reading, giving Emma more time to compose herself. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as she chews on her bottom lip, not paying attention to the book, and most likely lost in her own thoughts.
When I finish, I put it back on the nightstand, getting it ready for it’s next performance. Emma glances up and her eyes are glassy, breaking my heart which I now realize belongs to her. My thumb traces her tears, wiping them away just to be replaced by another.
“Don’t cry.” My tone is hushed, not wanting to wake up Felicity.
Felicity moves in her bed. I put my finger to Emma’s lips before picking her up off the rocking chair and not letting her go as I carry her outside. It’s time for us to talk, and by the determination on her face she knows it.
14
Emma
Watching Axel read to Felicity is the sexiest thing he has done since coming into my life, which is saying a lot because I’ve been on the receiving end of one of his lap dances. This is the second time he’s read my daughter to sleep because she’s had a bad dream and this time is better than the last. To see the true concern and love on Axel’s face for Felicity makes it impossible to keep my heart from him.
When I got up to sit in the rocking chair, his face showed we’d be talking later. I tuned him out while he read, trying to think of what to say to him when the book finished. In the end, I decided to tell him everything. He deserves to know what happened. He deserves to know what he’s getting into.
The tenderness Axel showed putting the book down on the nightstand before pulling the cover up over Felicity’s shoulder was my undoing. The tears couldn’t be stopped, when he wiped them away with this thumb it made them come even faster. Axel might be trouble, but he’s good trouble. All I have to do is let him in.
Axel carries me out into the warm night, placing me on one of the swings of the playset, and sits down on the one next to it. For a while we push back and forth on our feet, swaying in the night. I wait for him to question me. He has a right to know, but after minutes of quiet I realize he isn’t going to. He’s waiting for me to open up to him.
My hand lets go of the chain and I reach out to him. His strong fingers entwine in mine, a sense of security washes over me. He never forced me to open up to him, he told me he knew I could handle life. He just wants to help. He trusts me, and now it’s my turn to show him I trust him too.
“Harrison, Felicity’s dad, showed up here a couple of days ago.” Axel’s fingers squeeze mine, but he remains silent to let me finish. “Felicity was asleep. She has no idea he was here.” I frown, wondering if she somehow woke up and saw him, causing her to start having nightmares again.
“She probably saw how stressed you were. It might have triggered her nightmares.”
Axel’s uncanny way of reading my mind should be frightening, but it’s not. I like that he understands what I’m thinking without me having to tell him. He’s most likely right. Felicity would’ve been a lot more upset if she’d seen Harrison. I didn’t realize how stressed I’ve been, but of course Felicity would pick up on it.
“What did he want?”
“He wanted me to end the Triplets.”
“Why? Is he jealous?” Axel’s tone brings a smile to my face. Harrison’s the opposite of jealous, but hearing Axel it’s impossible to miss that he is.
“No, he isn’t jealous. Believe me when I say he wants nothing to do with me. He wants me to end the Triplets, because his club is losing business. As soon as we started dancing as the Triplets, our club became the busiest one in town. Harrison doesn’t like it.
Axel just stares at me, listening.
I continue, “I thought if I dropped out of the Triplets at least Lacey and Sindy could continue to make money. I don’t want them to lose out because of me.”
“What did he threaten you with?” Axel asks. I can barely make out his face in the dark, but the little moonlight shows his jaw is clenched tight. “Tell me where he is, and I promise he won’t bother you again.”
I shake my head in horror. “No, Axel. I don’t want you to confront him.”
He pushes up off the swing, coming behind me to grab the chains. “I have a lot of pull in this town, Emma. I can make him stop.”
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end at Axel’s menacing tone. I’ve never heard him sound so mad or dangerous.
“I don’t want you to meet Harrison. I don’t want you to meet my biggest mistake. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll never regret Felicity for a second, but the way she came to be is something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life. When she gets older I think she’ll find out her dad was a married man.” I press my hand against my stomach, hating the fact that it’s a possibility Felicity will find out one day.
“If she finds out, she’ll understand. You were dancing to keep your dad alive, and you took comfort in someone you thought was someone else. It wasn’t your fault he lied to you.”
Tears slip down my cheeks. Axel’s too good for me. Here I thought he was the one who would ruin me. Now I’m starting to think it’s the opposite and I’ll ruin him. He’s making excuses for my fuck up, and he’s good enough to make them convincing even to me, the guilty party.
“Felicity's going to see what a strong independent mother she has, and she’s going to be proud of you. You made a mistake. But, instead of running from it, you made the best out of a shitty situation. You’re an amazing woman Emma don’t let some asshole make you think any less of yourself.”
The sob I’ve been holding back heaves out of me.
Axel moves to my front and gets down on his knees. His warm calloused hands cover my thighs as he stares at me. “Do you want to quit the Triplets?”
“Eventually I do, but not right now. Starting the Triplets has gotten me closer to my yoga studio than I’ve ever been. I figure if we can keep up the momentum for two more years, I’ll have enough to quit and start my own business.”
“Then do it for two more years.” I want to argue with him. Explain to him how pissed off Harrison was when I opened my door, but Axel keeps talking, “Don’t worry about some scumbag ex of yours. We can deal with him. You keep doing what you’re doing. We’ll figure out how to keep him away from you.”
“You don’t understand how powerful he is,” I whisper.
“You don’t understand how powerful you are.”
“What do you mean?” I ask as my tears dry up.
“Emma, you have the upper hand. He just doesn’t want you to realize it. Why did he make you leave his club? Why did he stop you from putting Fel in that preschool?”
“Because he didn’t want his wife to know about her,” I say, understanding what he is getting at.
“See you have the ace he
re. He doesn’t want his wife to know about Felicity, and so far you’ve done everything he’s asked you to do. He thinks he can order you around, but all you have to do is hint that you’ll tell his wife about Felicity and all his power is gone.”
“You’re right. Before I left one of the bartenders was talking about how Harrison’s wife owns the majority of the club. If she were to take it from him, he’d have nothing.”
Axel smiles at me, kissing my knees. “See, you just have to let him know you’re not going to let him push you around anymore. Two more years, and you’ll be out of the game for good. You just have to be strong for a little while longer. And I’m here to help you if you’ll let me.”
The vulnerability on his face is sexy as sin.
“Are you sure about this? I’m kind of a hot mess. I wouldn’t blame you if you cut your losses and ran now.”
Axel smiles as his mouth nips my thigh. “I like a challenge. And I like you.”
“I like you, too,” I admit.
“Promise me, you’ll let me know if he bothers you again. I don’t want you doing this on your own anymore. You let me in, and by the way I’m here to stay.”
My heart clenches from his words. He’s laying it out there, letting me choose him or deny him. Terror fills my stomach. If I let him in and he hurts me I don’t think I’ll be able to recover.
I look down and see the strength shining through him, and decide to jump.
“I promise, if Harrison shows up you’ll be the first to know. I’m in.”
Axel gives me a huge smile, leaning over me to plant his lips against mine.
15
Axel
She tastes of salt and sin my two favorite things. I drink her in pulling her bottom lip in my mouth sucking on it, savoring it. I grasp the chains of the swing getting her as close as I can. Emma opens her legs, enveloping me in her heat. After kissing her until her lips are swollen with my mark, I move down her face kissing her cheeks and nip her chin.
