Breaking Away Read online

  “Yeah, can you? I’ll rent a car and drive her back.”

  “Or we can all just ride back together. No big deal.”

  He smiled. “That would be nice, but do you think you can keep your hands off me?”

  He could tell she was smiling as she said, “Yes, I can, can you?”

  He laughed as he fell next to Erik on the bench. “Maybe.”

  “I don’t think you can.”

  “We will see.”

  “Yes we will,” he said, running his hand through his hair, a smile radiating off his face. She did things to him. Things he really liked. “Are you watching the game tonight?”

  “Maybe,” she said, drawing out the word in such a sexy way.

  He bit into his lip as he removed his shoes. “Just say you will.”

  “No way.”

  “Yes.”

  “No, you’re so demanding.”

  He chuckled. “You like it.”

  “I do.”

  “Good, so just say it.”

  “Oh my god, yes, I will watch.”

  He didn’t think his grin could grow any more, but it did as he said, “All right. Well, I got to go.”

  She was still laughing as she said, “Okay, have a good day.”

  “You too.” He hung up the phone and laughed as he removed his shirt. When he glanced over, he found Erik watching him.

  “What?” he asked, throwing his shirt in his cubby.

  “I’m curious. Did your new lesbian friend work?”

  Phillip face broke into a look of satisfaction as he said, “Oh yeah.”

  “So you two are together?”

  “Nope, just friends… with incredible benefits. Super great ones. Mind blowing ones.”

  Erik laughed as he shook his head. “And you’re okay with that?”

  He shrugged. “I’m all right with it. I know that my charm and good looks will win her over, and we’ll end up being together for real. Just need a little time; she’s a tough nut to crack.”

  “Okay, but what if you don’t?”

  “Then at least I had her while I did. You only live once, Erik, and I’m gonna live life to the fullest.”

  “But she is going to end up hurting you,” Erik said, lacing up his skates. “It’s your life, but I just don’t see this ending well for you.”

  “It won’t end. I got her to sleep with only me, something she said she’d never do. She doesn’t want labels, and that’s fine. I’ll get her to fall for me, and then everything else will fall in place. She’s that forever kind of girl for me.”

  Erik looked shocked as he pulled his girdle up. “What about Claire? I thought Claire didn’t want you two together.”

  “She doesn’t, but she’ll adapt once it’s time to tell her. Right now, we are having fun. I know everything is going to be fine. I just know it.”

  Erik shook his head, standing up and towering over Phillip since he was on his skates. “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am,” Phillip said confidently.

  “Fine, hurry up, don’t be late on the ice. Shea is in angry Adler mode.”

  “Awesome,” Phillip said, but even that couldn’t dampen his mood. He believed whole-heartedly that things were going to work between him and Reese, and nothing could bring him down.

  Nothing.

  Not even Shea Adler screaming at him.

  And boy, was he screaming.

  “Anderson! Skate! Get that stupid grin off your ugly mug and skate!”

  As Phillip restarted the play, and even with Shea and Coach Baxter still screaming at him, he was still smiling.

  “Five, six, seven, eight!”

  Reese leaned against the wall as Mallory and Brian moved perfectly together across the floor to “Endlessly” by the Cab like they always did. Chicago was coming up fast and as she watched Mallory and Brian, she knew they were going to be her winning couple. They were beautiful together. Even though their solos were breathtaking, too, Reese knew that Claire would probably take the title for the solos. She smiled at the thought of Claire, because thinking of Claire usually brought up the image of Phillip.

  Mmm, he was so delicious.

  Her body was still humming with afterthoughts of his touches and kisses. When she imagined him between her legs, her stomach clenched and she fought to find her breath. They left the club and went straight to her house, where they proceeded to have sex until the wee hours of the morning. He left around four and once he shut her door, she missed him. Her bed felt empty, but she quickly tucked those feelings away, refusing to think of them. Things could be light, could be fun, no reason to overthink. Like Phillip said, they were just going to have fun.

  Lots and lots of body-numbing fun.

  Throwing her hair up on top of her head since she was about to show Mallory a new part she wanted to add, she paused the music and came towards them. They watched as she showed them what she was altering to make the choreography more dynamic. She had been thinking a lot about their dance and figured this part would make them winners. Sometimes she had to make things a little less advanced because Mallory wasn’t the dancer that Brian was. Thankfully, Brian could dance to a dial tone and always make her stuff look harder than it was, but Mallory was another story. She was good, but she wasn’t great. That worried Reese, but they seemed to always bring the title home. So maybe it was Reese, maybe she expected more, she wasn’t sure. She showed them how to do it twice, they even did it with her, so when she started the music, she expected excellence, but that was not what she got.

  She wasn’t sure how, or what happened, but the next thing she knew, Mallory was balled up on the floor screaming, holding her knee. Her heart dropped as she ran to Mallory’s side, yelling at Brian to get her mother. During the next few minutes, everything happened so quickly. Mallory’s knee was swollen, her mother was crying, she was crying, and even Reese was in tears. Brian was worried and carried Mallory to the car so they could take her the hospital, her mother promising to call once they knew something. Reese just prayed it was a twist and not a tear.

  But an hour later, Reese found out that it was a ligament tear. Mallory was out for the rest of the season. Maybe longer. Reese was heartbroken for her because there was a good chance she was going to lose her scholarship to NYC but, instead of telling Mallory that, she guaranteed her that she would be dancing in no time. Sliding down the wall, she closed her eyes, her elbows resting on her knees and her hand falling between her legs, holding her phone. She was insanely worried about Mallory, she was, but ever since opening her studio, she had always had each category at the competitions filled and this time, she might not. This wasn’t that big of a deal but, at the same time, it was. This was Brian’s senior year. He wanted to go into college with the best competition record possible and having a win in the couple’s category meant he was a team player.

  Fuck.

  When her phone dinged, she looked at the screen to see that it was Phillip.

  Busy?

  She smiled as she typed back.

  No, can I call you?

  Before she could call him, her phone rang, signaling that it was him.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, I am on break after a very long meeting,” he said. He sounded tired, and she had no doubt that he was. A flutter tickled deep in her stomach as he said, “What are you doing?”

  “Sitting against the wall of my big studio, worried sick about one of my dancers. She tore the muscle in her knee.”

  “Oh shit, that sucks.”

  “Yeah, so now I am freaking out because my senior dancer, Brian, won’t compete but once, his solo, and I didn’t put him in the group because I felt his duet was so strong. Now I am freaking out, and I sound crazy, don’t I? Do you even care? I’m sorry,” she said, ending with a laugh before covering her face.

  “No, not at all. This is important, and it sucks. I’m sorry that happened.”

  “Yeah, it blows. I am having a hard time trying to make a decision on what’s right. I guess I c