The Ballerina & The Fighter (Book 1) Read online

  Shel shrugged and glanced at one of the pictures one last time as we came to a stop at the bottom of the steps to our rental. She zoomed in the picture of his face. Damn the boy was fine.

  “I’d say definitely older than us, maybe even twenty.”

  Twenty I could work with. Shel and I were both September babies. Our eighteenth birthdays were still a month away, so we’d both start our respective schools before we turned eighteen. Shel would be a dance major in a college program that had an excellent rep, and I would attend a professional ballet school owned by a world-renowned ballet company. My future was firmly set in the world of dance. I had worked hard for this all my life. My only disappointment was Shel would not be coming with me. We both auditioned at the same time for the school, of the two hundred and fifty girls that auditioned, only five were chosen. And only two or three would eventually be made an offer to join the dance company attached to the school. I still did not understand why Shel was not one of the chosen five. But the college she was attending was a good one, and a lot of the students from there ended up in primer ballet companies so I was not worried about her future either.

  We couldn’t get through dinner with our families fast enough. Afterward, our parents pulled out a deck of cards and settled in around the living room coffee table with their glasses of wine. Thank God for Shel who looked at me and nodded toward the door.

  “Ah, we thought we’d take the cart. Check out the neighborhood.” This was one of those enclosed resorts where most people parked their cars in the car ports and used golf carts to get around. Some places were only wide enough for the golf carts to traverse and each rental unit came with at least one, and you could rent more.

  My mom was just sitting down on the floor at one end of the oval coffee table. “Okay. Any idea where you’re going or just wondering around?”

  “Someone said there’s a skateboard pit here where the kids hang out.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard about that,” Shel’s mom said as she shuffled the deck.

  “Okay,” my dad said. “Have fun and make sure you have your phones and they’re charged. Otherwise charge them before you leave.”

  I nodded. We’d charged them during dinner. “They’re fully loaded.”

  “Curfew is still midnight ladies,” my mom said.

  “Dad, we’re on vacation,” I groaned.

  My dad glanced at my mom. “She has a point. This place is pretty safe. It’s all enclosed and there’re guards at the gate. Besides those carts don’t go more than ten miles an hour, and that’s if you push it.”

  My mom glanced at Shel’s mom. “Bev, what do you think?”

  “It’s fine. They can’t leave the grounds on those carts.” Bev glanced at Shel and me and said, “Be careful. No later than one and don’t make me come looking for either of you. I need my beauty sleep.” We all laughed at that, Shel’s mom at forty could have put runway models to shame, and she had a good heart. Like Shel.

  Shel hugged her mom and then mine. I followed behind her but in reverse, hugging my mom first then hers. Afterward, with a casual wave in their direction, we both ran out the door before either of our moms could change their minds.

  We weren’t exactly sure where the skateboard pit was, but the place wasn’t that large. We figured it would be over by the tennis and basketball courts and headed in that direction. Sure ‘nuff we found it. We just followed the loud cheers or groans. While there was no one on the lighted tennis courts at that hour there were a few guys playing basketball, but the skateboard court was crowded hands down. We had to park the cart over by the basketball court and walk about half a block back to the skateboard area. There was no parking there. The place was a crush. Bodies, three people deep surrounded the pit; there was no getting through to the edge to see what was going on.

  “How are we ever going to find Maze in this crowd?” I asked.

  Shel placed her arm on my shoulder and gestured with her other hand to the top of the skateboard platform. I instantly recognized the dragon tattoo on the side of the guy poised on the skateboard as he rocketed down the ramp.

  “Ohmygod. He skateboards too!” Shel screamed in my ear over the roar of the crowd as we watched Maze’s body catapult and twist, grabbing the skateboard he flipped them both in the air before falling back down to earth. I’d never seen anything cooler in my life.

  After his run, we tried to make our way over to him but it was just impossible. There were too many people, well girls mostly, in our way vying for his attention. Clearly he was popular. “This is ridiculous,” I said, stepping back away from the crowd.

  Shel followed me. “Seriously, the man needs to come to you. Try sending him a text. Tell him you’re here.”

  “Good idea.” So I pulled out my phone and did exactly that. His reply came back before I could return my phone to my back pocket.

  Maze: ‘Coolio! Where are you?’

  I glanced around to see if there were any markings.

  Me: ‘At the handicap parking sign to the right from the pit.’

  Shel and I sat on the edge of the sidewalk but we didn’t have long to wait before a large body sat down beside me. I turned my head and there were those gray eyes staring at me. Like the color of the sky just before a lightning strike. I smiled but was at a loss for words. Me, who always had something to say. It was the second time I felt shy around this boy. Young man. He didn’t seem very talkative either, he just continued to stare back at me as I soaked him in. Trust Shel to break the stalemate.

  “That was wicked, Maze. Are you some kinda pro?” Shel asked.

  He grinned and leaned forward a little to look at Shel. “Nah.” Then his gaze drifted back to me like he couldn’t keep his eyes off me. I noticed he’d also put his shirt back on. I hoped not on my account. A shirtless Maze was a thing to behold.

  “Just something I like to do. I like most sports.”

  “What’s your favorite?” Finally my voice decided to show up so I didn’t sit there seeming like a complete idiot.

  “Mixed martial arts actually.”

  “Seriously?” Shel asked.

  “Is that like karate and kick boxing?” Stuff I’d seen on TV or the movies and that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge.

  Maze nodded. “That’s part of it. But there are other disciplines that come in to play.”

  “How long have you been doing it?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Even since I was old enough to walk I guess. How about you two? When I saw you all earlier today, what you were doing reminded me of ballet.”

  This time I nodded and glanced at Shel before turning back to him. “Yes. Shel and I are classically trained ballerinas.”

  “Sweet. How long you all been at it?”

  “Since the age of three.” Then we told him about our plans for after summer.

  “That all sounds pretty cool. I’ll probably be leaving the States about the time you both start school.”

  I couldn’t understand why his announcement had my stomach muscle tightening. Like a bomb had detonated inside me at his words. I didn’t trust my voice to sound steady so I couldn’t ask the questions roaming around in my mind. I was glad Shel asked at least one of them.

  “Where are you going?” Shel asked.

  “Japan, to study with some of the masters there and then in about a year or so I fight for the title there.”

  “A…a year,” I said. “You’re going to be gone for a year.” The tightening intensified. I found myself swallowing; confused as to why I would feel such an overwhelming sense of lose at the fact I probably wouldn’t see this boy again.

  The glint in his eyes seemed to dim a little when he looked at me. It was probably just my imagination.

  “Yeah. Unfortunately. I might come home once or twice while I’m there. But pretty much all of my time will be devoted to training.”

  “Wow. Very cool,” Shel stated.

  “Yeah.” It was cool, but that ache in my heart didn’t agree. Still nothing t
o be done about it. Because of my demanding dance schedule, I didn’t have a lot of time for things other girls my age or younger than me took for granted. Like boyfriends. I could count the number of times on one hand I’d gone out with a guy, prom being one and that was Shel’s cousin. This might be my last shot at a boyfriend even if just a summer one. I plastered a smile on my face, determined to relax, have fun, and go with the moment. Even though there was some strong attraction going on between Maze and me these couple weeks of summer would be all we’d have. He was going off to do his thing and I was going to do mine. I would just enjoy the time we did have together and not think of any thing more. Yet while my mouth curved up into a smile a hint of sadness took firm root on the inside.

  Chapter Three

  Maze

  Shit! He watched the light in Ivy’s beautiful brown eyes dim when he told her he’d be leaving the country for a year. In truth it could be more. Why it should matter so much to either of them he didn’t know. But it did. Still, they had a little time and he wanted to spend as much of it with her as he could. Little did he know they had even less time than he thought.

  “Hey, I heard about a house party going on a few blocks from here given by some college guys with a house for the summer.” He glanced at her when he asked, “Wanna go?”

  “Is it in the complex?”

  Before he could answer, he saw Shel poke her elbow in Ivy’s side. He grinned because Shel answered. “Yeah we’ll go,” she said.

  Shel was still on his side. “No, it’s the next one over but it’s not far by golf cart. There’s a path that connects the two complexes we can use. Do you have a cart or we can use mine.”

  “Yeah we have one,” Shel answered. “Where are you parked?”

  “Just second row over there.” He pointed in the general direction to his right.

  “We’re just down the street.”

  “Well how about I give you ladies a ride back to your cart and then you can follow me.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Ivy said grinning.

  Shel hoped on the rear of the cart and I was glad because that meant Ivy would sit beside me. Ivy directed me to where they’d parked their cart and I pulled up along side them. But when she moved to get out I was so not having that. I gently laid my hand on her slender wrist to stop her. She seemed to freeze but then so did I. There was no denying it, for the second time a current ran from where I touched her and zinged all through my body. Holy shit! It was a damn good thing I wore loose shorts. My blood pooled straight to my dick.

  “Shel,” I said, without taking my gaze off Ivy. “Can you drive by yourself?”

  She didn’t have to be asked twice, she was already climbing into the driver’s seat and started up the cart. “Lead on.”

  I grinned and told Ivy, “Keep me company.”

  She glanced down at my hand still resting on her wrist. I knew she’d felt that burst of electricity crackling between us too. “All right.” Her voice came out a little husky. I grinned even more before releasing her hand to grip the steering wheel.

  “Let’s ride.”

  The drive wasn’t long, took all of about five minutes. But the path wasn’t exactly a path, more like an area that folks driving carts back and forth had carved out. At one point there was a seriously slanted area and if you veered off in the dark too much you could find your self tumbling over the side of a sand dune. I heard the ocean and barely made out the outline of it, so you’d probably just land in water. I glanced back quickly over my shoulder to make sure Shel was right behind us and her headlights were on. But my gaze keep drifting from the path back to Ivy who seemed inclined to stare at me just as much as I stared at her. I wasn’t sure what was going on between us. But like earlier when I was compelled to stop to talk to her that same feeling tugged at me now. To be close to her.

  “How old are you?” I blurted the question out. Stupid shit! Real smooth.

  “Shel and I are both seventeen. Our birthdays are a day apart. Mine’s September tenth hers is the eleventh. How old are you?”

  “Nineteen. My birthday’s February twenty-nineth.”

  She laughed and how stupid of me, but I loved the sound of her laugh. It was light and carefree. Something I only felt when I was flying through the air on a skateboard or when I stepped into the arena and conquered it. I didn’t know what it would be like to laugh like that from a place of genuine mirth.

  I smiled. “Yeah, I know I know, I only have a real birthday every four years.”

  She nodded. “Exactly. Which means you’re like what really, four or five years old.” She laughed again.

  “Not hardly, but I’m glad I could amuse you.” And I was.

  We arrived at the address I’d been given all too soon, and pulled up a couple of houses down from the house that had all the golf carts piled in the driveway, and spilling out onto the street. That and the music coming out of the place clued us into where the party was. With all the noise, I wondered how long the party would last before someone called the security company that patrolled the area. Well hopefully long enough for us to enjoy a couple of beers and for me to get in a dance or two with this girl up close and real personal like, in my arms.

  My boner had calmed down by now and I hopped out the seat then we waited for Shel to join us. Ivy walked over to meet her friend while I leaned against the side of the cart, but once she was alongside of me I reached for her hand. She did not pull away and I gave her a little squeeze. I wanted to make it clear to Ivy I was here with her, and she was here with me. Shel glanced down at our joined hands and smiled. “I need a beer,” she said walking off. We followed behind her.

  As we neared the stairs that would take us into, I assumed, the main part of the house I noticed a couple off in the corner. All I could see were the outline of two bodies, one pressing the other into the side of the house. I slanted a glance at Ivy, yeah she’d noticed them too. Her head shifted slightly to look at me and I winked at her. Yeah I’d love to do exactly what they were doing with her. Maybe later. If I was very, very lucky.

  She turned her head and continued to follow Shelly up the stairs. We got to the top deck and there were even more couples hanging out on the chairs or lounges up there. Shel pushed up the sliding glass doors and we stepped through behind her into pure chaos. There were bodies everywhere but most were in the middle of the room which served as a dance floor. A pathway, sorta, opened up that seemed to lead to the kitchen area to the right of where we stood. I used my free hand to tap Shel on the shoulder and point in that direction. I was sure that’s where we’d find the alcohol.

  We returned to the front room with bottles in hand. Some seriously tall dude, who towered over most everyone in the place, immediately approached Shel and asked her to dance. She turned to wave at us before being swallowed into the crowd with her partner.

  Ivy and I stayed by the wall near the kitchen taking a few swigs of beer checking out the crowd while they ground against each other to the sounds of Frank Ocean’s Super Rich Kids. I bobbed my head in time to the music and while I enjoyed the slide of the cold fizzle of the beer going down my throat that’s not what I really wanted tonight. I’d released Ivy’s hand since we were drinking beer but I took her hand in mine again. “Let’s dance.”

  “Okay,” she said as she followed me.

  We made our way to the center of the dance floor. I wasn’t surprised to find Shel already there. I stopped beside her and the dude she danced with before turning toward Ivy. I pulled her to me until she rested flush against my body. I wrapped both arms around her waist to draw her in even closer and she wrapped her arms around my neck, I felt the coolness of the beer bottle against my back. It felt good and Ivy rested her head on my shoulder and we began to sway to the music. Damn she fit me perfectly, I didn’t have to bow my body to curve into her, she curved into me and felt soft as hell in my arms. I shut my eyes and inhaled her fragrance. I had no idea what brand of shampoo she washed her hair with, all I knew was I loved the way she
smelled, like coconut and lime, it seemed unique to her and her hair was soft and silky. I rubbed my cheeks against it, and tightened my hold on her, running my unencumbered hand up her back and threading my fingers through her long wavy hair at the nape of her neck. The music changed to Rihanna’s Umbrella. I let the music and the feel of this young woman in my arms take me to a peaceful place.

  I lost track of how many songs we danced to. I know at some point I kissed her temple and I felt the light butterfly feel of her breath on my neck. But then the music changed from the slower tempos that had been playing to something a little harsher. I opened my eyes and blinked. Like I’d just awoken from a long sleep. I felt rested yet restless. I took a sip of my beer. I looked at Ivy and saw her blinking too, like she was trying to adjust to a rude awakening. I smiled just as someone nudged me who was dancing a little to wild. It’s a good thing I had excellent balance otherwise I might have crashed into Ivy. I glanced over my shoulder, of course, it was Shel. She spun off back to her partner laughing the entire time.

  The dance floor had cleared some and as I turned back to Ivy who grinned at me, she took a couple of steps back and began to dance. Ah, can I just say I was out of my element. These girls were professional dancers, they knew exactly how to move and it showed.

  While people continued to dance around us, it was pretty clear they’d moved off a little to give the girls more room. Either that, or Shel elbowing folks out of the way had them thinking twice about getting too close to the crazy chick. I took the beer from Ivy’s hand and held onto them both for us so she could move better. God that girl could move. She immediately did like twenty turns right then and there. All I could do was sway from side to side and be her frame. She could lean on me or feel me up down and all around, anytime.

  After a few fast songs the beat slowed again and the girls laughing, hugged each other before Shel turned back to the guy she’d been dancing with.