Homecoming Hearts Series Collection

by HJ Welch

  Blake’s laugh startled him. Yeah, talking about something else would be a very welcome distraction.

  He had a lot to think about.

  17

  Elion

  Elion Rodriguez was a big fat liar and he knew it.

  For all his reassurances to Blake that their hookup didn’t change anything, he couldn’t stop thinking about how amazing it had been.

  If it was just a case of great sex, he’d probably be able to shake it off and get over it soon enough. But they’d spent all afternoon talking and getting to know each other better. He was passionate and kind hearted and made Elion laugh.

  Elion had meant what he said about being there if Blake wanted to try out his newly found bisexuality. Even if he wasn’t ready to label it, Elion was sure it was real attraction he was experiencing, not just the desire to have his dick sucked by a willing mouth.

  But Elion had also implied that he could do that without getting attached. And he was pretty certain that ship had already sailed.

  If he wasn’t thinking about Blake he was texting him. Unlike a lot of guys, Blake actually texted back, unless he was teaching class. And when he was teaching class, Elion spent any hours he wasn’t working just hanging around with the moms, watching his not-boyfriend like a love-struck teen.

  At least he’d made sort-of-friends with Poppy’s mom, Julie. Poppy liked to act like her mother was dead to her from the moment she stepped into class, but Julie didn’t seem to notice. She had also latched on to Elion as her new token gay friend and was keen to ask all sorts of wildly inappropriate questions as well as feed him cookies. But she was fun in a harmless sort of way.

  Elion had a kind of fan club now. Moms who would flock around him to watch the class together. Some were bitchy, some were dorky, some were shy. But they were more confident as Elion’s little posse, and generally kept the polished, super rich, homophobic prom-queen moms away. That was fine by Elion.

  He was driving to yet another evening of lessons. Tentatively, he had a plan to ask Blake out to dinner after he was done teaching. He didn’t care if the cameras came too. He just wanted to show Blake how good a boyfriend he could be.

  There was no sense lying to himself. If there was any chance he could switch this from being a fake to a real relationship, he’d take it.

  But would that be something Blake wanted? It was hard being queer most of the time anyway, let alone in the limelight. Elion had to brace himself for the event that even if there was something real between them, it might just be easier for Blake to go back to girls after this fling was done.

  What was wrong with him? Normally Elion was fine with wham, bam, thank you ma’am. Now the thought of Blake being with somebody else made his chest ache like a knife to the heart.

  “You’re being dramatic,” he grumbled to himself as he pulled into the parking lot. He wasn’t in love. That would be ridiculous.

  A familiar face greeted him from the steps of the community center. And a familiar tail. “Oh hey,” he cried. He pocketed his keys and dropped to the tarmac to let Watson bound over and lick his face. Jodi laughed at him.

  “It’s official, you have no dignity,” she said.

  Elion grabbed the beagle’s head and shook it playfully. “She said you had no dignity, Watson! How rude!” Watson let out a distinctive beagle howl, her tail wagging so fast it looked like it might propel off her bottom.

  “Good to see you,” said Jodi when Elion finally offered her a hug as well.

  “You too,” he agreed. He did his absolute best not to think of sucking her brother’s magnificent cock a few days ago. But of course, then that was the only thing he could think of. He cleared his throat. “So how come you’re loitering around out here?”

  “No dogs allowed inside,” she said with a shrug. “I’m off to training in a minute anyway. Rob’s giving me a lift.”

  “Oh,” said Elion.

  He’d looked up Rob after their meeting the other day. Sure enough, he’d been in the yearbook, with a funny quote thanking the school for all that useful chemistry he’d be sure to use out in the real world. Elion could agree with him on that one. He did sort of remember him now.

  “You get a ride with him often?”

  “Oh, no,” she said lightly. She kicked up her foot to her butt and idly stretched her quad out. “My tire got a flat, so it’s in the shop. He offered to help me out.”

  “That’s nice,” said Elion genuinely.

  It was stupid, him feeling protective over Jodi. She wasn’t his sister and she could look after herself, judging from the way he knew she could swing a bat.

  “Well, I better get in there. It was cool seeing you both again.”

  Watson threw herself down over his feet though in a bid to get him to stay. He and Jodi laughed at her determination.

  “Come on you lump,” she groaned, hauling her off of his sneakers. “We’re going to the ball park. They actually let dogs in there.”

  Elion waved to her then went inside while she waited for Rob. The a/c was cool on his skin and much appreciated. His car was sadly lacking.

  He was just unsticking his hair and fanning his button down away from his chest when Kala strode up to him with purpose. Marcus was behind her with a camera and shotgun mic attached.

  “Hello, handsome,” she said. She slipped his mic into his pocket and hooked him up. “Don’t you look pretty today?”

  He frowned at her. “I always look pretty,” he pouted. At her arched eyebrow, he relented. “Alright, thank you. I took your advice and I think I’m going to ask Blake out to dinner tonight. I assume you guys will want to tag along and make it awkward as fuck.”

  “You assume correctly,” she said looping her arm through his. She was up to something. “This is actually perfect timing. You’re good at this, Rodriguez, you know that?”

  She tapped him on the nose and steered him towards the main dance studio. That was funny. Even though it was the half hour break before the elite adult class, there would normally be younger students and parents still milling about. But the corridor was empty.

  As they approached the doors, Elion could see through the glass that the lights were slightly dimmed. Not so much they wouldn’t be able to film, but definitely more dramatic than usual.

  “Um, what’s going on?”

  Kala rolled her eyes. “Nothing to be afraid of. I just thought I’d give you a hand kick-starting that date.”

  Before Elion could ask what that meant, she opened the door and pushed him inside. She and Marcus followed with the camera right behind.

  The lights around the edge of the studio were indeed dimmed, leaving pale pink spots angled towards the center. There was only crew inside, several cameras rolling, and Blake stood in the middle looking mildly uncomfortable. Or at least, his expression did.

  His body was clad in black boots, skinny jeans and vest, like Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing. Elion had been obsessed with that movie when he was a kid. And now here Blake was, looking like he’d stepped right out of it.

  A single red rose dangled from his fingers. He was chewing his lip, his eyes down cast. But at Elion’s entrance his whole face lit up. “Um, hi,” he said. His eyes flicked briefly around the crew, but then they settled on Elion.

  “Wow,” Elion drawled. “What’s all this?”

  He guessed Kala had been a bit more forceful with her suggestions to Blake that they go on a date.

  Blake ran his fingers through his blond hair. “Um, I realized I’ve been so focused on work that I’ve been neglecting you.” He held out the rose, smiling shyly in the soft pink light. “Would you dance with me?”

  Elion tried not to gulp too audibly. Sure, he could move in a club to the beat. But that was more about grinding up against a pretty guy until the need for sex became unsurmountable. When it came to actual choreography, Elion was pretty sure he had two left feet.

  But Blake moved like liquid power. Elion had seen him teaching and training enough to know. And now he was
holding his hand out, offering to guide Elion through this.

  He had trusted Elion the other day with his body, which he had tended to reverently. Now it was Elion’s turn to trust Blake with his body in return. So he took a cautious step forwards and accepted the rose.

  “This is beautiful,” he said, careful of the thorns against his fingers.

  “So are you,” whispered Blake.

  It was just for the sake of the cameras. They were right in their faces after all. But it still made Elion shiver.

  Kala deftly stepped to his side and slipped the flower from his grasp, allowing Blake to step into his space. “May I?”

  His hands hovered by Elion’s hip and shoulder. He was unbearably hot this close up. Elion was glad he’d worn a short-sleeved shirt, but he felt stuffy compared to Blake who was essentially oozing sex-appeal.

  “Uh, sure,” he managed to utter.

  Blake smiled, resting his hands on him and pulling their bodies closer. “Don’t think about them,” he said, flicking his gaze at the crew. Elion’s hands drifted up to mimic Blake’s positioning. “This will be fun. Just follow my lead, okay?”

  Elion nodded, slightly dazed.

  Blake leaned in to murmur in his ear. “If we want to talk, they can’t play music. Too hard to edit around. Also, can get tricky with copyright issues. But I want a beat. You need a beat to feel rumba.” He placed his hand over Elion’s heart. “Do you think you can do it without talking? Just following me?”

  Elion felt dizzy. For someone who wanted to take things slow and wasn’t sure of his sexuality, this seemed pretty damn sexual. His heart was thumping in his chest, he wanted this so badly.

  “Music,” he rasped with a nod. If he was going to have any chance of not making a fool of himself, he needed something loud to spur him on.

  One of the P.A.s took Blake’s cue and pressed play on the sound system, pumping out a sultry, slowed down version of a Rihanna song that Elion couldn’t quite name in that moment. He was too busy trying not to get a boner from his proximity to Blake as he started to move.

  He began slowly, encouraging Elion’s feet and hips to mirror his. Elion didn’t realize he was staring at the floor until Blake squeezed his ass, grabbing his attention. He smiled and tilted his head, telling Elion to look at him instead.

  Elion swallowed and nodded. His grip on Blake’s body tightened slightly. The adrenaline was coursing through him, making him want to fly. He needed Blake to keep him on the ground.

  They moved their way over the floor. Blake took one of his hands and spun him away, then whipped around several times to reclaim Elion back into his arms. He pressed his hand to Elion’s lower back and swung him gently, encouraging him to lean back and expose his neck.

  He reeled him back in with a few more basic steps. Elion knew the cameras were all around them, but with the darkened lights it was easy to think they were all alone in the world. Blake smiled and bit his lip. Christ, Elion was going to need a cold shower after this.

  Blake slipped his hand behind Elion’s neck, his other arm extended. He tilted his head and flicked his eyes up and down to tell Elion to copy him. He did so, clumsily, but then they were spinning. Elion’s whole world was reduced to looking into Blake’s eyes, following his every move.

  He knew he was still sort of clumsy. He almost tripped over his feet several times. But Blake was there to steady him every time. The music started to fade. They were so close, breathing heavily. Elion didn’t care about the cameras, he wanted to kiss Blake again so badly.

  The lights blared to life, dazzling Elion’s eyes and surprising him enough to jerk away from his almost-kiss.

  “What the hell is this?”

  Elion blinked and stepped away from Blake. The doorway which had previously been closed was now open and filled with several people. Nessa was the one who’d spoken. She had seemed alright when Elion had briefly interacted with her over the past couple of weeks. Now she was looking at the two of them distinctly unimpressed.

  Beside her was the black guy from the elite group. His name escaped Elion for the time being, but his smirk suggested he was a bitch-queen if ever there was one. Jodi and Rob were also next to him, and several moms including Julie seemed be hovering behind them.

  Great. So it was a set-up. Blake looked just as shocked. Apparently dancing for the cameras had been okay for him, but having people burst in on them had evidently not been a part of the deal. He screwed his hands into fists and clenched his jaw.

  “Um, hi guys,” said Elion with an awkward wave. “We were just having a bit of fun. Oh, look at the time, it’s elite’s class already.” He leaned over and pecked a kiss on Blake’s cheek. “Don’t let anybody fuck with you,” he whispered so quietly even the mic wouldn’t pick it up.

  Blake looked at him as he drew away, then nodded. Some of the tension left his shoulders.

  “Come on in guys,” he said brightly. “Jodi, are you staying?”

  She shook her head. “No, Rob just wanted to say hi, but we’ll leave you to it. Watson’s tied up outside anyway.”

  She pulled on Rob’s arm and Elion almost felt sorry for him. He’d obviously wanted a chance to remind Blake that they’d been at school together, but Jodi wasn’t having any of it. Some people just got so star struck.

  The crew had already swarmed like ants to reset the room for the elite group’s training. The lights were back up to their usual bright white and chairs were set up in rows so Elion and others could watch.

  The elite group were going to do the closing number for the big show in several weeks’ time. It was what Feet of Flames was gearing towards for its finale too, so these sessions were pretty intense. It was also when Blake did his best dancing. There was no way Elion was missing these classes.

  Not even when Nessa glowered at him on her way to set her bag down. She flicked her hair and rearranged her top so her boobs were even more on display. “Hi Blake,” she said sweetly.

  Elion felt jealously flare in his guts. This was an issue he hadn’t anticipated.

  18

  Blake

  Blake had been a fool to think he could have had an actual, private moment with Elion. Somehow, the cameras didn’t seem that bad. He’d just wanted to repay him in his own way for their wonderful afternoon lying in the grass by the brook and the oak tree.

  Then everyone had tumbled in on them just as they were about to kiss and turned the whole thing into a spectacle, as usual. Now Nessa was flirting with him and everything felt so exposed.

  He’d not stopped thinking about making out since it had happened. Images of Elion kissing him or going down on him would pop into his head all the time, often at the most inconvenient moments. He hadn’t jerked off this much since he’d been a teenager.

  And it was always Elion in his mind now when he did. If this were a girl, he wouldn’t be fighting it as hard as he was. He’d just ask her to start dating for real. There was a part of his brain that argued that as far as the world was concerned, they already were dating. So what the hell was this block holding him back from truly crossing that line?

  There was no going back, he supposed. His parents had made it pretty clear that they weren’t happy with the idea of him actually being bi, and if he was, someone like Elion wouldn’t be good enough.

  Not someone. Elion. Blake didn’t want anyone else. And if being real meant his dad was going to try and force some pretty WASP type guy on him, he would rather keep it fake. That way he could keep seeing Elion while he sifted through his feelings.

  He had only felt this attraction with two people in his whole life. Lola, and Elion. Was that enough to make him bi?

  The guys had often riled him about being a prude. During their time in the band Blake had been propositioned by girls non-stop. Hell, most of his fan mail was still declarations of love and marriage proposals. But Blake wasn’t interested in hooking up with someone he didn’t know. In fact, he found the concept almost revolting.

  Did that mean there was s
omething wrong with him?

  He shook his head as he moved away from Nessa and over to Elion again. The issue was null and void so long as he could stay exploring what he had with Elion.

  “Sorry about that,” he said quietly as the cameras finished setting up. “Nessa’s normally pretty chill unless Karyn’s here to wind her up.”

  Elion shrugged. “It doesn’t matter,” he said.

  He looked at him through those long lashes. Blake hadn’t noticed them before they’d spent the afternoon out in the sunshine. They practically swept over his cheekbones and made Blake’s insides swoop.

  “I liked our dance,” Elion said in a sultry tone. “Maybe we could rumba again sometime?”

  Of course the cameras were on them, but Blake was getting better at tuning them out. It was probably why he thought Kala’s idea was a good one earlier. He smiled at Elion like he was the only one there, and gave him a quick, swift kiss on the lips.

  “I’d like that. You staying to watch me dance?”

  “You bet,” Elion replied, swatting his ass.

  Blake’s good mood was almost spoiled by Nessa’s blatant scowl. But if she’d decided to make a move for him, let her. He wasn’t interested.

  Tyler was soon there to distract him. He was the only other dude in their six-piece group and out-and-proud gay. He sashayed over licking his glossed lips and swinging a pair of black stiletto heels from his fingers.

  “Size eleven, right?”

  Blake raised his eyebrows at him. “You want me…to wear those?”

  Tyler shrugged. “We were all going to wear them. Why? You too manly for that?”

  He gave him a shit-eating grin, but Blake didn’t rise to the bait. He knew men dancing in heels was an art in its own right and he respected it. In fact, he’d been wanted to give it a go for a while. But he knew precisely what his parents would have to say if he put those on.