Petal left Lennon, who had been sitting on the floor with her, and crawled toward her daddy, who bent forward and scooped her into his arms, throwing her into the air. “So what’s holding you back?” he asked between blowing raspberries on Petal’s tummy.
The truth was he was no longer sure. She’d shared some of her problems with him, and he couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be accused of or held responsible for the death of your own parent, especially if the person doing the accusing was your own father. Part of it was the simple fact that he enjoyed his time with her too much to spoil it with old stories and old feelings.
But maybe Dred was right. Maybe it was time.
* * *
“Lexi, you are going to be the death of me,” Penny, one of the costume makers for the show, said. “This is way too loose at the waist. I’m going to have to pin this and alter the seam.”
As Penny fiddled with the fabric of one of her Sleeping Beauty costumes, Lexi looked at herself in the mirror. It had been nearly three weeks since she’d decided she needed to lose some weight, and it was really starting to show. One of the things that had always surprised her was how her body responded to changes in her diet. The combination of eliminating all unnecessary calories, skipping meals on her days off, adding sauna time, and doing extra rehearsals with her father was working its magic. She was already down seven pounds.
Beyond trying to reassert that he was head of the household and that she needed to follow his rules, her father had refused to talk to her about his embarrassing behavior the night she had taken Jordan home with her. He hadn’t responded well when she had marched to her apartment, pulled out the mortgage statement, and walked back upstairs to show him whose home it really was, nor had he taken kindly to the suggestion that he could move out at any time he felt so inclined, though she’d never kick him out. Though he’d blustered like a man trying to convince the world he still had options, they both knew she was right. She hadn’t enjoyed embarrassing her father that way, but it had been necessary for her own peace of mind.
With rehearsals over for the day, Lexi was ready to start choreographing one of the songs Jordan had written. “The Darkness of Light” had been on her mind since she’d found it waiting on her laptop right after she’d argued with her father. Almost immediately, she found herself planning contemporary choreography for it. If she could perfect it, she would use it to try to persuade one of the artistic directors to give her a shot in a lead role in a contemporary ballet.
“Okay, I’m all done, Lexi.” Penny began to lift the dress carefully up over her head. Underneath, Lexi was wearing a leotard.
She stepped down off the box on which she’d been standing while Penny had fitted her for alterations and pulled on her harem capri pants. They were a little loose, sliding on her hips as she moved, and Lexi smiled as she tightened the drawstring. Yet more proof that she was losing the weight where she needed to. Her initial thought had been to lose ten pounds, but seeing as it was coming off so easily, she decided to see if she could make it to fifteen.
“Thank you, Penny,” she said, picking her things up off the floor. As she stood up, the room spun a little, and Lexi shook her head to clear the sensation. She’d been experiencing moments of dizziness for a few days, but knew they were from a combination of lack of sleep (even though nights spent with Jordan were heavenly) and the changes to her diet and metabolism. They’d go away once she’d lost the weight and got back to her usual regime. Well, perhaps a reduced version of that regime, since she didn’t want to put the weight all back on. And Sleeping Beauty was still far enough away that it wouldn’t be an issue while performing.
“No worries, Lexi. Just don’t keep losing too much weight between now and the show. There won’t be a ton of time for me to fix this again.”
As if on cue, her stomach rumbled. Lexi hurried out of the costume department, which was on the fourth floor, and took the stairs down to the third floor to check the Founders rehearsal space. It was completely empty, which was perfect for what she wanted. It was the only one of the rehearsal spaces that wasn’t on the main floor, meaning there were fewer people around.
Lexi grabbed a water bottle and took a large drink, using it to temporarily kill the hunger pangs. Not that she would give in to them. Dehydration would only make the lightheadedness worse, so she took several large gulps. She glanced at the small bag of chopped bell peppers in her bag for if she got really hungry. Being low on the glycemic index, they wouldn’t spike her blood sugar, but her goal was to not need them before dinner.
She found Jordan’s song on her laptop and let it play through the studio. Because the music was angry, her goal was to portray control over one’s self. She intended to start with percussive movements that were jerky and staccato, reflecting the loss of connection to the self, but over the duration of the dance embrace the anger within and turn them into something more legato, representing a more fluid form of anger, something that was capable of being turned on or off.
She started to play around with some of the steps that had been on her mind to see if they worked as well as she thought they would. In her head, one such sequence was as clear as day, but while she could nail the steps slowly when she tried to execute them, they became the dance version of a tongue twister as she sped them up, one move blurring with the other until they became a mess.
She repeated the run up to the sequence again but failed to land the jump. She bent forward with her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
“Want help?” Alain Descoteaux, principal dancer and choreographic associate, entered the room, still in his dance clothes. “I hope you don’t mind, but I watched from the door for a moment. I loved what I saw, Lex. I didn’t realize you could dance like this.”
Holy shit. Lexi stood. Coming from Alain, whose repertoire and choreography was incredibly technical and fast, it was a huge compliment. “Thank you. I’d love that,” she said. Although she’d intended to rehearse alone and reveal when it was finished, this would give her a chance to dance with someone she rarely partnered with.
“Tell me about the music,” Alain said, cocking his ear toward the speakers. “This is an awesome piece.”
“My boyfriend wrote it,” she said proudly. “He’s a musician. It’s called ‘The Darkness of Light.’”
“He couldn’t have written a better piece to dance to. Does he do orchestration work usually?” Alain said, stretching his calves in warm-up.
Lexi joined him just to keep her joints loose. “No. Far from it. He plays bass in a metal band called Preload.”
Alain stopped what he was doing and looked at her. “The big guy with one side of his head shaved?”
Lexi nodded, a grin on her face.
“Wow. I’d never have guessed he’d write something like this. Shows you can’t judge a book by its cover. Why don’t you talk me through what you were working on when I interrupted?”
Step by step she took him through her concept, how she wanted the dance to flow, and the steps she’d already choreographed. They worked together on the parts she was stuck on. By the end of an hour, Alain had helped her develop her own choreography while sharing some of his own ideas that enhanced, rather than took over, hers.
They started to cool down and stretch their limbs out. “I’m so glad I walked by the studio, Lex. It’s a shame you are the darling of the classics or I’d steal you away for something I have in mind for November.”
“Steal me,” Lexi said quickly. “Please. I’m desperate to do more contemporary ballet. I mean, I know classical is what people expect from me. And I’m not so naïve that I don’t know I’m great at it. But, I just want something . . . more. More challenging to me as a dancer from a growth perspective.”
“You know, your father’s pretty vocal around here, telling everyone what you want.”
“I’m in the process of dealing with Dad. He doesn’t speak for me. I’m more than happy to do the classics, but I’d love a more mixed and challenging re
pertoire.”
“Let me think on it,” Alain said. “And in the meantime, think about whether you’d be up to turning this into a partnered choreo. I think it would be great to work on it together some more. We come from different ends of the dance spectrum, so I’m sure between us we could figure out something spectacular.”
Lexi’s head began to spin with the possibilities. Working with Alain would give her access to all his knowledge, and it was well known that he had every intention of moving into development roles within the ballet. Being considered for one of his roles would be incredible, since they were bound to be cutting edge.
“I’ll catch up with you soon, Lexi,” he said as he left the studio.
Lexi looked at herself in the studio mirror and turned from side to side. She’d never be as petite as Li Yan, and she hoped that wouldn’t be an issue for Alain, who preferred Li for his performances. But knowing she stood a chance gave her the boost she needed to stay the course and lose even more weight.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Jordan looked toward the door for the hundredth time, and then across to Nikan, who might as well be fucking the chick he had up against the hallway wall. It had been a great idea to pull a social media stunt. To do a free concert at the Sound Academy, which had obviously been booked well in advance. But the announcement had gone out on their social media pages only five hours earlier. It had already gone viral, and apparently the place was already packed, with fans currently enjoying the first of two opening acts.
He was nervous as hell. Stupid, he knew, but it was the first time he was going to play in front of Lexi, and the idea was driving him slightly crazy. The first time Dred had played live in front of Pixie, he’d actually forgotten the words to the very first song they’d played, which had given the guys no end of entertainment. But it was different now that it was him, and he sure as shit didn’t want to fuck up in front of her.
Nikan finally took his hands from under the skirt of the girl in the hallway, and Jordan breathed a sigh of relief. What his brothers got up to backstage before a gig didn’t usually bother him, mainly because he was usually doing the same thing. But any minute now, according to the text Lexi had just sent to let him know that she had just pulled off Lake Shore Boulevard, the woman who was becoming more and more important to him was about to arrive. For the first time, he realized that the band did the clichéd rock star thing a little too well.
Girls in every size and color were everywhere, and most of them had two things in common: too little clothing and a burning ambition to hook up with one of the band members. He shook his head just as Elliott walked out of his dressing room with the girl he’d been on the verge of fucking the night Jordan had needed to buy his phone. Elliott kissed her and then slapped her ass as he sent her on her way.
Jordan downed the rest of his water. Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t like alcohol before he performed. He was dehydrated as fuck when he got off stage at the end of a gig, so he definitely didn’t need alcohol jump-starting that before he even stepped in front of the crowd.
“You’re looking kind of tense there, man,” Nikan said, flopping down on the sofa opposite him. “You and the lovely Lexi should go burn off some of that frustration.”
“Shut the fuck up about Lexi. She’s not that kind of girl,” he said.
“Oh, they’re all that kinda girl. Doesn’t matter whether they are married, engaged, or single. They all want a bit of nasty every now and then.”
Jordan rolled his eyes and then he spotted Dred talking to a girl who had her back to him. She wore black boots that went over her knees and had heels as high as any he’d seen. They were pretty fucking hot boots, and he was just imagining what they’d look like on Lexi when the woman turned around and walked toward him. He jumped to his feet, uncertain of whether his heart was going to start beating again. Lexi grinned when she saw him.
She was wearing black leggings and a black jersey dress that hugged her ass and slouched sexily off one shoulder. And holy shit, she done all kinds of makeup stuff, like black eyeliner, which he loved. He started to walk toward her and grinned. Perhaps Nikan had a point when he said that they should go burn off some frustration. She looked like a cross between a rock chick and a Victoria’s Secret Angel.
Jordan reached Lexi and put his hands on either side of her face, savoring the comfort he always felt when her eyes were on him. “Me and my dick both think you look fucking hot,” he said and kissed her. In the boots, she was much closer to him in height, meaning his cock lined up against her perfectly. Yeah. She’d be leaving them on for him later.
Lexi’s arms slipped around his waist and into the back pockets of his jeans. She pulled back from him a little. “You might have to carry me out later,” she said with a grin. “I almost ruined my dance career attempting to walk from work to a cab. They’re treacherous in snow.”
Jordan laughed. Any other girl would’ve played it cool, tried to seduce him with the sexy outfit. Instead, she made him laugh, and that seduced him more.
“What did you do to score one of these?” Jordan joked, tugging on the all-access pass he’d left for her.
“I promised the bassist a lap-dance,” she said, teasingly.
“Mmm. Yeah, you did. Maybe tonight you and the boots can pay up.”
“You like the boots?”
“Yeah. Me and half the men in this building love the fucking boots,” he said, looking around them. He glared at the two guys standing behind her checking out her ass.
He led her back to the private dressing room area and pushed the door open. Lexi ducked under his arm to step inside. Dred was already there with Pixie and Petal, who was wearing headphones. Lennon was lying on the sofa, eyes closed. The guy was like a whirlwind ninety percent of the time, but in the last thirty minutes before a gig, he’d stretch out as still as the dead.
“Fucking crazy out there,” Elliott said, barreling into the room with Nikan.
Jordan sat down in a black leather chair and pulled Lexi down onto his lap. He ran his fingers from the top of her boots to slightly under the hem of her dress, back and forth, until she started to wiggle on his lap. Eventually, she slapped his hands to stop it, and he grabbed her fingers, bringing one of them to his mouth, where he pretended to bite it.
“Okay, guys,” the stage manager called out. “Five minutes.”
Lexi stood. “Whoa,” she said, putting her hands out to find her balance.
Jordan slipped his arm around her waist. “Are you okay there? Did the boots get the better of you?”
“Ha ha. No, I think I just stood up too fast,” she said a little too quickly.
He grabbed a bottle of water, cracking the lid open before handing it to her. “If you don’t feel too great, I don’t mind if you just want to sit out here and wait.” He’d be disappointed, of course, but he’d never say it. She’d been in rehearsals all day, which had been increasing in duration. He’d never considered whether asking her to come watch him perform was too much on top of it all.
She took a sip of the water. “Are you kidding me? I can’t wait to see you play,” Lexi said as they walked through the hallway. “I’ve spent half my life in the wings of a stage, but this is way cooler. Plus, I have all these rock star fantasies that I want to live out.”
Their favorite Metallica song was playing in preparation of their opening, and the guys started to collect instruments, drinks, and towels.
“Stay right here, Angel, where I can see you. And then when we’re done,” he said, leaning close to her ear, “we can go home and act out as many of those rock star fantasies as you want. As long as you leave those boots on.” He gripped her ass and kissed her.
“Gotta go, bro,” Elliott said, hitting him on the shoulder.
The roar of the crowd got louder, and Jordan could feel the vibrations as Lennon gave his telltale thump on the drums.
Lexi blushed and ran her fingers through his hair. “Merde,” she said.
“Shit?” he asked, transl
ating her French.
“It’s what dancers say instead of ‘good luck.’ Actors say ‘break a leg,’ but you can’t exactly say that to a dancer. So we say ‘merde.’
Jordan kissed her one more time. “Can’t wait to play for you and with you tonight.”
He walked onto the stage and embraced the familiar feeling that came from thousands of people getting to their feet and screaming and clapping the band’s name. It was the best feeling in the world to know that the music they’d written had such an impact on people. He hooked up his bass guitar, one of his new ones, the white Ibanez. It was one of a few things he owned that wasn’t black. As Lennon counted them in, Jordan looked over to where Lexi was standing and then played the opening chords to “Drenched,” one of the songs he wouldn’t let her listen to when they were at the restaurant.
Lexi was dancing, those sexy-as-fuck hips of hers swaying from left to right, and she had a giant grin on her face, one that Jordan couldn’t help but mirror. He’d never been happier to let Elliott, Nikan, and Dred take the three front-stage spots. Being right of center behind Dred kept him further away from the spotlight, and tonight it had the added benefit of keeping him closer to her.
Two hours later, it was almost impossible to resist the urge to run off the stage, take her back to the dressing room, and fuck her where she stood. He was wet through with sweat, but performing always got his juices going, and knowing Lexi’s eyes had been on him the whole time had left him all kinds of horny. The crowd was roaring for more, and he just had to make it through the last song of the encore. Then he was going to get her out of there as quickly as he could.
Lexi lifted her hand to her head and rubbed it across her eyes. She placed the water bottle in her hand at the base of her neck. Jordan took a step toward her and only just avoided Nikan, who jumped back energetically as he often did. Something was wrong, he could feel it. She didn’t look right. When she lurched forward, he hurried to the side of the stage, but it was too late.
Jordan Reclaimed Page 16
