"Mase..."
"I'm good. Just tired. It's almost the end of the season, it's normal." He glanced up at the wall clock. "Come on, I've just about got time to grab some food before I have to be back here." He was on his feet again and grabbing his coat and boots, before Adam could breathe, let alone speak.
"You'd tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn't you?" Adam asked, as he switched his own shoes over.
"Travelling all the time is hard," Mason replied as he pulled his coat on. "I've been doing it for three years. It might be time to try something new. But you won't have that problem when you get into Ballet Torsion. You ready? I'm starving."
"You could apply too," Adam suggested as he joined Mason at the door.
Mason shook his head firmly. "Nope. I'm not going to tread on your toes. If I decide I'm done travelling, I'll find another company to apply to."
"Afraid I'll beat you?" Adam asked playfully.
Mason wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, a little."
Adam's eyes widened. "I wouldn't, you know that, right? You're an amazing dancer." He nudged his shoulder against Mason's. "Believe in yourself."
Mason rolled his eyes. "You're a jerk sometimes, you know that?"
Adam draped his arm over Mason's shoulders, pulling him close so he could use his other hand to rub Mason's head with his knuckles. "Only to you, because I care."
"Lucky me." Mason twisted away and grabbed Adam's wrist, pulling him out the door. "Food. Now."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Luc
"Luc?" His mum stared at him as he stood on the doorstep, hugging a folder against his chest.
"Can I come in?" he asked curtly. "Or shall I just give this to you now?"
Her gaze dropped to the folder in his arms. "What is it?"
"A marketing plan for the dance school." He held it out to her.
She didn't take it, instead she stood aside and gestured inside the house. "You'd best come in."
Luc exhaled. He'd half expected to have the door slammed in his face. He hoped the fact it hadn't been was a good sign.
He wandered through to the kitchen, where Ken was already sat drinking a large mug of coffee. Ken glanced at him.
"Adam's not here," Luc told them both, as his mum took the seat next to her husband.
"Luc brought us a marketing plan," she told Ken.
"You came all this way?"
"Three hours, each way," Luc replied, taking a seat opposite them. He put the folder on the table and slid it towards him.
"Where's Adam?" his mum asked.
"He's gone to visit Mason for a few days." He wasn't going to explain why, that was Adam's news to tell. He opened up the folder. "There's a full twelve-month plan in here," he explained. "Everything from how to continue running your social media campaigns, to offers and dance demonstrations, broken down on a week by week calendar." He took a brief pause to register the softness of his mum's eyes and the way Ken's jaw had relaxed, before carrying on. "It concentrates on bringing in younger pupils and increasing class sizes at that end of the dance school, but I've also put suggestions for starting adult classes. I've already arranged your first wave of dance demonstrations. All the contact details, dates and times are here," he leafed through the plan to find the right page. "You just have to have dances ready and turn up.
"Adam's been continuing to run your social media stuff, but you both need to take over. So I've put together a selection of posts for each platform for you. I think there's roughly fifty of each. By the time you've used those up, you should have a good handle on what to put on Facebook and Twitter." He handed them a USB memory stick. "This has all the photos I took." He leafed through the folder again. "And here's a list of each photo and a caption for you to put on Instagram. You'll use lots of them on Facebook and Twitter, too, but it's all written down."
He took a deep breath. "Basically, this folder is a step-by-step guide to promoting and building up your business. Follow it and I guarantee you'll have things turned around within twelve months."
He dropped his hands to his lap. Waiting. Hoping.
"This must have taken you hours to put together," Ken said quietly.
Luc shrugged. "I'd already started it before..." he glanced away. "Anyway, I said I'd help you. I—we—don't want you to lose the dance school. We know how much it means to you." He pushed his chair back and stood.
"You don't have to go," his mum said, standing with him. Her voice was soft, but quiet.
Luc hesitated. His plan had been to turn up, drop off the marketing plan and a brief explanation and leave. But his feet were betraying him. They didn't want to carry him out of the house and away from his parents forever. He only hoped Adam wouldn’t be angry when he found out that Luc had not only visited their parents without him, but without his knowledge, too.
"Are you both okay?" his mum asked.
"Yes."
"Really?"
He hunched his shoulders. "We're both upset," he told her. "Adam feels betrayed." He glared first at her and then at Ken. "After everything he's done for you over the past few years..." He shook his head. "I didn't come here to fight. I came here to give that to you." He nodded towards the folder. "That's all."
"When's your train back?" Ken asked.
Luc fought to stop his mouth from curling into an angry sneer. Trust Ken to get straight to the point. "In a couple of hours." It was even harder to keep his voice civil.
"Would you stay for some food?" Ken asked. "I can give you a lift to the station afterwards, so you don't miss your train."
Luc stared at Ken, guilt tugging at his gut for immediately thinking the worst. But what else should he have thought? Neither of them had offered him any form of apology. Neither of them had picked up the phone to speak to him or Adam in almost two weeks.
"Stay?" his mum asked.
He sat down, too shocked to walk out.
"How's work?" his mum asked as she began to make them all sandwiches.
"Good. Adrianna, my boss, let me have the day off to come and see you."
"She's been very good to you," Ken observed.
Luc forced himself to smile. "So she likes to keep reminding me when she wants me to work overtime." He'd make all the hours back up to her, sooner or later.
The truth was, he'd always been happy to work as much overtime as had been necessary, but that was before he'd had Adam to go home to. He hoped he'd continue to have Adam to come home to for a long time to come.
"How long have you worked for her?" Ken asked.
"Four years now. It was pretty much my first job after uni." He drummed his fingers against his thigh. "Are we just going to engage in small talk for the next hour or so?" he asked. "Or are we actually going to talk about something that matters?"
"Luc..." his mum said in a plaintive whisper.
"I love you both, but I can't pretend everything's okay. I can't pretend there isn't a huge fucking elephant in the room."
"Language," Ken growled.
Luc coughed and shook his head. "Thanks for the offer of food, but I think I've lost my appetite." He stood again, but froze when his mum turned to face him, her chin wobbling and her eyes sparkling with tears.
"Do you think this isn't hard for us, too?" she demanded.
"I'm sure it is. But I think the person that's hurting the most is Adam. He thinks you've thrown him out of your lives for good."
His parents exchanged a glance.
"I've spent the last couple of weeks telling him you'll come around and that everything will work out okay. But I'm pretty sure the two of you are going to make a liar out of me."
"Don't speak to us like that," Ken said.
"Why shouldn't I?" Luc demanded. "I get it. We dumped something on you that you hadn't even considered could be a possibility. But you have to face the fact that Adam and I are together and that isn't going to change." He leaned forward, pressing his palms against the table. "We love you both so much and we want you back in our lives, but we're not goi
ng to break up to make that happen." He hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "I hope someday you’ll understand." He hoped they would for Adam’s sake, but he wasn’t counting on it.
He pushed away from the table and walked out, a feat that was made easier by the deafening silence that responded to his heartfelt words.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Adam
Adam flicked through the post, his excited smile fading as he realised none of it was for him.
"Give it time," Luc laughed, as Adam chucked the post towards him. "You only sent your application off two days ago."
Adam rolled his eyes. Logically, he knew it was too soon to hear anything from Ballet Torsion, but his heart was desperate to know if they wanted him to audition. Now he'd decided it was finally time to chase his dreams, he was too impatient to wait.
"I think I'm going to go crazy if I hang around here all day," he said, sitting down opposite Luc at the folding table, only to jump back up again and begin to pace.
Mason's inability to stay still must have rubbed off on him, because ever since he'd got back, late last night, he'd felt like a live-wire.
"We can do something," Luc said. "Anything you want. Or we can stay here and you can burn off some of that energy in bed."
"Do you ever think about anything else?" Adam asked.
"Nope." Luc gazed off to the left. "I tell a lie. I wrote a year-long marketing plan for Mum and Dad while you were away."
Adam stopped moving to stare at Luc.
"I wasn't sure if I should tell you," Luc carried on, threading his fingers together. "But I don't want there to be any secrets between us."
"Have you sent it to them?"
Luc shook his head. "I took it to them."
Adam sat down opposite Luc, still staring. "And?"
Luc dipped his chin. "I don't know what to tell you, Adam. They didn't chuck me out, but they didn't exactly welcome me with open arms, either. They made an effort, but they didn't want to talk about us. I ended up walking out. I'm sorry."
Adam chewed on his lower lip. "It's not your fault." He made himself smile, although it was an effort to keep his mouth curving upwards. "I'm moving on. If I don't get an audition with Ballet Torsion, I'll look into applying to the other local dance companies."
Luc pursed his lips. "There are other ballet companies around here?"
Adam shook his head. "No, but there is a modern dance company and there are a couple of educational companies who tour around schools. There's also a newly founded physical theatre company, which might be pretty cool to get involved with."
Luc grinned. "You've been doing your research?"
"If by 'research' you mean I got all my information from Mason, sure." He rubbed his neck. "And if none of that pans out, I might be able to convince Mason to start a dance company with me. He seems pretty weary of travelling all the time. I'd need to figure out capital and—"
Luc laid his hands over Adam's. "If that's what you want to do, we'll figure out the money together, okay? I've been saving for a deposit for a flat of my own, or maybe even a house."
Adam's eyes popped wide. "I couldn't—"
"Yes, you could. But let's wait on Ballet Torsion first, okay? We don't need to make any rash decisions."
Adam nodded, his mouth hanging open as he stared at his brother. His heart swelled at the thought that Luc was willing to give him so much, just so he could follow his dreams and be happy.
"I love you," he breathed.
Luc laughed. "Glad to hear it."
Adam stood and wandered round the table, so he was standing directly beside Luc. He wrapped his fingers in Luc's too-neat hair and held him fast as he dipped his head for a kiss.
"I can't believe it took me so long to realise that I could love you."
Luc's lips curved into a smirk as their mouths parted. "How about we make up for lost time?"
"You and your one-track mind."
"As if you're any better."
"I have a two-track mind, thank you very much."
Luc twisted in his chair, so he was facing Adam and then clasped his hands at the small of his brother's back. "Ah, yes. Sex and dancing."
"Uh-huh," Adam said, stealing another kiss. "And if you hadn't given up dancing, we could have combined the two."
"Fuck," Luc whispered.
Adam chuckled. "Yes please."
"Maybe you could teach me," Luc said.
"You already know how to fuck. You're very good at it."
Luc snorted. "How to dance, you dork. Because I really, really like the idea of combining dance and sex."
"You know there are clubs for that sort of thing?" Adam said, before straddling Luc's lap and gyrating his hips.
He grinned as his motions made Luc hard, his erection pulsing against Adam's thigh through their jeans. Luc's hands slid beneath Adam's T-shirt, snaking up and down his back, making him shiver with delight.
"Do you still want to go out?" Luc asked.
"Nope." Adam pressed his lips against Luc's neck, nipping and sucking whilst he continued to grind his hips back and forth over Luc's hard cock. "I'm quite happy here, giving you your own private lap dance."
"You've got too many clothes on to pass as a lap dancer." Luc said. He whimpered as Adam backed away from him.
But when Adam started to undress himself slowly, Luc grinned and leaned back in his chair, watching. Adam moved his body to music that was playing only in his head. It was a slow, sultry piece, with a strong beat that he could time his smooth, gyrating movements to.
Once he was fully naked, his own hard-on proudly on show, he beckoned suggestively to Luc. "Come here. I want to teach you how to dance," he said, making his voice low and husky.
Luc was on his feet and standing in front of Adam in less than a second, making Adam throw his head back in belly rumbling laughter.
"I thought you were going to teach me how to dance," Luc said, his voice just as throaty as Adam's had been. He placed his hands on Adam's hips, swaying along awkwardly. "It would be a whole lot easier if we had music."
"We do," Adam whispered, before humming the tune in his head into Luc's ears. "Relax. Let your body move with mine."
To start with, they simply stood with their bodies pressed together, moving their hips from side to side in time to Adam's tune. Then Adam started to move his feet, taking the lead so Luc had no choice but to allow himself to be swept along. It wasn't ballet, but some bastardised version of a tango that Adam had picked up from watching dance shows on TV. He took Luc's hands in a firm dance hold, dipping and twirling him as he kept on humming the tune.
"Too many clothes," Luc said, breathlessly.
Adam peeled his brother's clothes off as they danced, removing one item at a time, before kissing the skin he was revealing. Finally, they were dancing naked, their bodies pressed entwined, pre-cum jeweling on the heads of their cocks as they rubbed together. It was the most erotic thing Adam had ever done and he didn't want their dance to stop.
"Pas de deux," he breathed.
"Huh?" Luc asked, his voice soft and dreamy.
"It's French," Adam replied, nuzzling his lips against Luc's neck. "It means 'a dance for two'. They're common in ballet."
"But this isn't ballet dancing," Luc pointed out.
"Who cares?"
"I don't."
They kissed, their tongues dancing together in the same sultry way as their bodies were.
"Make love to me?" Luc asked. "Slowly. Like this."
Adam's tuneful hum degenerated into a needy murmur. He loved the spirited foreplay, the fight for dominance that always had them battling one another. And the sex, full of energy and need. But Luc's request turned him on more than any of that. The thought of slow, sensual love-making made goosebumps erupt all over his body.
"I'd love to."
He went back to humming, dancing them towards the ladder that led to the mezzanine. He half debated turning Luc round at the bottom, making love to him where they stood, instead
of ending their dance to climb up to the bed. But they had no protection, or lube, so they had no choice but to part.
It took them seconds to reach the top and then they were in each other's arms again, continuing their slow dance. Adam eased Luc down onto the bed, coaxing his brother's legs apart so he could lay between them. He reached into Luc's drawer for a condom and quickly rolled it onto his cock.
"Slowly," Luc reminded him. "Like our dance."
Adam nodded as he applied a generous amount of lube to his cock and to Luc's arsehole. He used a finger to loosen his brother up, moving it in and out slowly, as he leaned down to replay the dance their tongues had enjoyed. When he felt Luc completely relax, he slid his cock inside. He loved the way Luc stared up at him, his pupils almost eclipsing the chocolate brown of his irises. He loved the way Luc groaned with every long, slow thrust of his cock. He loved the feel of being inside Luc and the slightly rough texture of his lips as they pressed against his own.
"I belong here," he whispered. "With you."
Luc wrapped his arms around Adam's back, running his nails up and down Adam's skin. "Does that mean you're moving in?" he asked between deep gasps.
"If you'll let me?"
"Do you even have to ask?"
Close to the brink, Adam found it hard to keep his thrusts long and slow. "No," he breathed, fisting Luc's cock, to make sure they came together. "Fuck, I love you."
Luc wrapped his legs around Adam, thrusting his own hips up urgently. It was all the prompt Adam needed to let go, to give up on the slow dance in favour of a more frantic beat that had their bodies slapping together, as they provided a base line of grunts and moans. He screamed out his orgasm; Luc's erupted as a deep, resonating cry a split second later. Then they held one another, wrapping their limbs around each other.
"We belong together. I will never let you go," Luc promised him. "Never."
Chapter Thirty
Adam
Adam rolled over and accidentally slapped Luc in the face. "Door," he mumbled.
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