by Amy Daws
Fuck that was hot.
Adeline—Favorite band.
Me—Don’t really have one. Aerosmith is currently climbing the charts in my heart.
Adeline—Haha. What can I say? I love classic rock.
Me—And now, so do I. :)
Me—Favorite food?
Adeline—I’m a ballerina. I survive simply on criticism and self-loathing.
Me—I definitely intend to change that.
Adeline—Promise?
After yet another cold shower this week, I decided to leave the five o clock shadow on my face. Every minute spent getting ready at Gamma Phi instead of picking Adeline up was a waste of my damn time.
I jogged down the stairs, smirking at the text Adeline just sent me of her kitchen counter. Fucking tease! I paused briefly while a few of the fraternity pledges struggled through the doorway with huge kegs for tonight’s party. Watching over them was my buddy Chase.
“Hey man, you’re not leaving are you?” he asked, moving over and letting the others continue shuffling the beer towards the kitchen.
“I’ll be back,” I replied, scratching the back of my head impatiently as he blocked the front door.
“I was going to come up and talk to you.” He motioned for me to follow him onto the front porch, and I sighed heavily. Now was not the time for bro talk. Now was the time for me to go pick up the girl that had been occupying my dreams for days. I was practically vibrating with impatience.
I attempted to rein in my impatience because I’d kind of been blowing Chase off all week. Luckily, that was sort of the beauty of our friendship—low expectations. We were there for each other when we needed to be, but we weren’t needy.
When we reached the side of the deck, he looked down, nervously scuffing his feet against the wooden deck. “Dude, I hope you know I didn’t mean to rub your face in those papers last week. Or make Adeline out to be something she’s not. I haven’t talked to you much lately, and I know we were all swamped with midterms and stuff. But you get that I just wanted to make sure you knew about that shit before your mom called or something right?”
I sighed and half-smiled at him. “I know, man. We’re cool.”
“I don’t give a shit what those papers say. Or anyone else for that matter.” He smiled playfully and finger combed his blond hair out of his eyes. “So are you going to tell me who you’ve been talking to on the phone every damn night this week?”
“Do I even have to?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“I had a feeling.” He nodded knowingly and his face turned serious. “I just want to warn you that I’m not the only one suspecting it.”
“What do you mean?” My hackles rose.
“Micah asked me today if you and Adeline were seeing each other.”
“What’d you tell him?” I asked.
“I told him it was none of his damn business. Then I told him that he needed to get laid.” He chuckled softly and added, “You know I always have your back right?”
He nodded his head ever so slightly as if saying he would go to battle for me in the blink of an eye if I needed him. But reading between the lines, I could tell he was scared for me.
“I do know that, man. And I got yours. Always.” We fist bumped and slapped hands in our traditional fraternity handshake.
“And who’s got my back now?” An annoying as hell female voice peeled loudly from behind me. Sasha.
“I so do not have your back right now, dog,” Chase said patting me heartily and running off inside.
So much for brotherhood.
“Sasha, now is not the time.” I turned to face her as she strode up our porch steps. I placed my hands on my hips in a defensive stance, trying to portray that she was most definitely not welcome.
“Now is not the time, Leonardo? When will be?” She paused mid-step, her thin hand perched on her narrow waist.
I dragged my eyes from her head to her toe and flinched when I saw excitement elicit behind those baby blues. My lazy gaze was a mistake. She thought I was looking and appreciating. She shook her blonde hair back from her face proudly, like she knew she’d already won. The reality was, I was looking and trying to figure out why the hell I was ever attracted to her.
“There won’t be a time, Sasha,” I said, striding toward her and backing her down the steps. “We have nothing to discuss. I think I made it clear that whatever we had before is over. Completely over this time. No more ballets. No more favors. No more anything.”
Her thin lips parted in shock. “You can’t possibly mean that, Leo. You know why we belong together. I shouldn’t have to remind you.”
“And yet you do. Consistently,” I rebuffed through gritted teeth. “I know who you are, Sasha. I don’t need a reminder. What I need, is for you to leave my porch. Leave this house. And leave me alone. Are you getting that?”
She shook her head in disbelief, her lips puckered in defiance. Damn it, this girl could not take a hint. I’d been ignoring all phone calls and texts from her this entire week and still she showed up here expecting something.
“I mean it, Sasha. I’m sorry to be harsh, but this is the way it is.”
Her bitch face slammed down into place. “If you’re seriously going to go after that girl—That ballerina!—she’s a nobody, Leonardo. She’s from nowhere. And she’ll be nothing her whole life. Don’t be an idiot.”
“Don’t be a fucking bitch,” I barked. I was losing my cool and I couldn’t help it. I didn’t need this shit. And I sure as shit wasn’t going to listen to it.
“Go.” I walked toward her so she stumbled backwards down the sidewalk.
Once she was far enough away from the house, I blew past her and jumped on my crotch rocket. I glanced up one last time as she stood stock still in front of my fraternity house in utter shock. The Gamma Phi Greek letters and her standing there were just two physical representations of all that I was driving away from. And I couldn’t be more excited.
Within fifteen minutes, I was back at Adeline’s place, and my sour mood had lifted tremendously. That was the beauty of a motorcycle in Manhattan. What took most people forty minutes to an hour—I could zig and zag through in less than fifteen. Buzzing through psycho cab drivers was an extreme adrenaline rush and after that bullshit talk with Sasha, it was exactly what I needed to clear my head.
I unzipped my leather jacket and pressed the button to her apartment number. She didn’t say a word. She just beeped me through, signaling the entry opening. I darted inside and climbed the stairs, jitters shooting off all over inside of me. Damn, I hadn’t been this nervous over a girl since I was a high school sophomore, and one of the hot senior girls had asked me to prom.
I knocked on her door and was greeted not by the clear blue-eyed beauty I had been daydreaming about for the past week, but by a tall, dark, and extremely toned dude with tribal tattoos snaking up beneath his black tank top.
“Leo?” the guy asked expectantly.
“Yeah…that’s me,” I responded cooly.
“I’m Ivan, the dance partner. Nice to officially meet you.”
I shook his hand stiffly, not giving anything away. I puffed my chest out a bit just to show him that I wasn’t intimidated.
“Addy girl is just finishing up.”
Addy girl? Real fucking cute.
He turned and strolled back into her studio like he owned the place.
“What brings you here?” I asked, not caring about pretenses and too impatient to wait for answers from Adeline, who could only be in the bathroom since she was nowhere to be seen.
“I had to stop in to remind Addy about a meeting she has tomorrow at Joffrey. She’s been so busy lately, we’ve hardly had a chance to talk. She’s been rather distracted by…well, I guess by you!” Ivan crossed his inked arms over his chest and grinned at me. But his grin didn’t meet his eyes.
I responded with a fake-as-shit grin of my own. “I’d call it a good kind of distracted,” I replied, my voice low and cautious.
Ivan nodded slowly looking me up and down. “I should be going. Luckily, I don’t have far to go. I just live a couple doors down.” He gestured toward the door behind him.
Of course you fucking do. I nodded stiffly and stepped back as he made his way over to the closed bathroom door.
“Addy girl! I’m off, I’ll see you tomorrow!” Ivan shouted.
Adeline opened the door, her eyebrows raised. “Yes! I’m hoping that this all means something good!”
“You’ll be fine. Like I said, you’re our new star.” He leaned in and kissed her on both of her red, embarrassed cheeks.
I clenched my fists at the familiarity they had with each other. I was barely able to appreciate the sexy little pink dress she was wearing because he was all over her. Fuck, this isn’t how I envisioned the start to our night.
I knew that this was her dance partner, and I shouldn’t be bothered by this. They did a lot more than this little hug on stage last week. Ivan gave me a polite nod that I returned as he gracefully left.
Finally Adeline acknowledged my presence. “Hey!” she said cheerily.
“Hey,” I replied, my earlier excitement dulled by our previous third wheel. My gaze drifted down the length of her body, taking in the way the soft pink fabric clung to her curves and how her muscled legs looked glossy and damn near lickable. Damn, I wanted this girl. But that Ivan prick seemed to be interested too.
“What’s up? Why the long face?” she asked, her adorable brow furrowed in confusion.
“Nothing,” I scoffed cooly. “I just didn’t realize you’d have company. If you don’t want to do this tonight, that’s fine. It’s no skin off my back. You were the one that said you wanted to see a fraternity.”
“Hey!” she cried rather abruptly. “I did want to see it. I still do.”
I silently nodded in response. “Fine. Are you ready then?”
“I am, but you seem a bit too grumpy to leave just yet,” she said, walking toward me.
My body was on red alert the minute she closed the distance between us. It had been too long. I had too much pressure riding on this moment. She looked way too fucking good in that dress.
“I’m not grumpy,” I replied defensively, my gaze flickering to her chest.
She reached up and twined her delicate hands behind my neck, standing up on her toes. “You are grumpy, and I can’t figure out why. Just a few texts ago, you seemed rather excited about seeing me tonight.”
I shrugged my shoulders knowing I’m acting like an idiotic child right now. If I was being completely honest, this was the first girl I’d ever felt jealous of like this. It was not a very fun feeling.
“You look good. And you smell amazing,” she said softly and pressed her nose to my chest.
She lifted her chin and yanked down on my neck to connect our lips. Instantly, my eyes rolled into the back of my head as she captured all my senses in a deep, drugging kiss. My previous anxiety completely evaporated. I banded my arms tightly around her small waist. I hadn’t noticed that her dress was backless and the skin on skin contact elicited a zing of sexual stimulation.
Pulling away from me much too soon, she broke our kiss and pushed her long brown hair behind her shoulders, exposing her sexy neck to me. “Better?”
My eyes hooded with desire, and I did nothing to conceal my intentions as I pressed my body flush against hers. “Not quite,” I replied, smirking against her lips and dropping light kisses down her jaw, all the way to her neck. The feel of her soft skin and sweet smell were everything I’d been imagining for a whole week. This girl was something.
She tilted her head to open her neck to me as she combed her fingers into my hair. She gripped it firmly, pulling just hard enough to excite the fuck out of me.
“God, you look sexy. But if you want to go to this party, we better quit while we’re behind,” I said, sucking and tugging gently on her earlobe. She smelled the fucking best—like a deliciously sweet, tropical fruit that I wanted to nibble on.
“I do want to go. But maybe not for too long.” She smiled sexily at me.
I swear to God, my dick grew three inches.
“Let’s fucking go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave.” I grabbed her hand and yanked eliciting a cute squeal in response.
CHAPTER 17 ~ Adeline
As cliché as it sounded, staring at Leo in a fitted leather jacket, sunglasses, whilst straddling a midnight-blue motorcycle was the hottest damn sight in the world. His five o’clock shadow completed his rebellious demeanor. His jeans clung to his ass, giving a whole new meaning to come-hither. I just stood there, gawking at him as he revved the engine. He turned around and dropped his chin so that he could see above the sunglass frames. His copper-colored hair fell carelessly over his dark eyes.
Man, I was nervous. I hadn’t been out on a date in an embarrassingly long time…like Blake long ago. Hell, Ivan had to dress me today. Well, it wasn’t like I’d asked. When I told him about Leo taking me to the Gamma Phi house, Ivan made me strip down and dressed me up like I was his life-sized Barbie doll. He did a pretty good job too. My backless pink cotton dress was fun and flirty without being too formal. And pairing it with my favorite brown ankle boots.
“Adeline!”
I snapped to attention. Judging from his smart-ass grin, it wasn’t the first time he’d called my name. So much for not acting like an idiot.
Biting my lip, I pretended to be fascinated by the strap on my shoe. After fixing my nonexistent shoe problem, I joined him by his bike. He dismounted. He pushed the kickstand down, slid his sunglasses up on top of his head, and lifted my chin.
“Don’t do that, Adeline.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Make me feel like the luckiest guy on Earth because you can’t take your eyes off of me and then shy away like you’ve done something wrong.” He tilted his head to get a better look at me. “What happened to the sassy, confident girl from the apartment?”
“Just bad habits, I guess,” I said, more embarrassed that he called me out, but also oddly more at ease.
“You didn’t shy away when you were on stage.”
On stage, behind all the stage makeup and costumes, I could pretend I was someone else. Of course, the Aerosmith arrangement had been different since I was tormented with a hundred different emotions. Betrayal. Guilt. Anger. Fervor. Aphrodisia. Just to mention a few. I was lucky enough to have been cast as a rock star so I could live vicariously through those impulsive feelings.
It was the first dance where I’d let the audience see me, the real me. “That dance was different.”
“Why?”
“Because I was dancing for you.”
Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! What the hell had I just admitted out loud? I froze. On a subconscious level, I knew the attraction between us pushed me harder on stage that night. Verbalizing it made it so much more rea—
“What are you thinking?” Leo demanded. “Tell me. Everything.”
He wanted a confession of that magnitude in public? Had he lost his damn mind? People were walking by, cars were honking, any number of onlookers could over hear our conversation. Although I was happy to not catch sight of any photographers.
“It’s just us.” He cupped my face in his hands. “Adeline, you can trust me.”
Trust: the fickle backstabber of emotions.
I wanted to tell him everything. However, we’d just met. Even so, there was something about him that just moved something inside of me. To trust him was something I craved but…
“When I was dancing onstage, I needed you to want me.” My confession was barely audible. “I caught your gaze and almost lost my count and step. Everything I was thinking about before vanished when I laid my eyes on you.”
“Tell me more.”
He clutched the small of my back and drew me against him. His warm hands on my bare back sent shivers up my spine. The daring determination in his stare, the audacious stance… I loved it being directed toward me because I imagine
d my disposition to be a mirror-image. His voice deepened as he made his next demand. “What were you thinking when you were wearing those fishnets?”
This felt too much like phone sex. Telling him what I had wanted, hell what I still wanted and fantasized about, was far too intimate.
I pulled away. “I’m not good at this—”
“I can’t stop thinking about you in your ballet shoes,” he confessed, pinning me against his body and the motorcycle. I grabbed his leather jacket, steadying myself as he said, “I don’t want to go to this party. I want to drag you back up into the apartment, tear your clothes off, and make you forget about every man you’ve ever been with.”
I wanted that too. Bad. Him doing what he desired…Heaven help me, I wanted that so bad. I shouldn’t have wanted him this intensely, this deeply, this obsessive ache… I wanted him in ways forbidden for having just met. More importantly, I didn’t want to be just another girl to him. I wanted more. He had so much more to offer than a fling. He was intelligent, kind, funny, and had a sexy-as-hell grin.
And he couldn’t take his eyes off of me.
Even so, I knew that being with him so soon would be something I’d regret. “I can’t let you into my bedroom just yet, Richards.”
“Good,” Leo said with such intensity I knew he wanted more than just a one-night stand as well. “You can still tell me what you were thinking when you put your foot fucking straight above your head and stared at me like it was an invitation.”
If I told him everything I wanted, it would be too easy to stumble up the steps and play out my fantasies in my dangerously close apartment. “I’ll tell you what I was thinking while you drive me to the frat house.”
Leo’s grin was the best consolation prize ever. He straddled the bike and helped me on behind him. When I was settled, I wrapped my arms around his waist and waited for him to go. He chuckled, grabbed my hands and pulled my handhold so I grasped his body tighter. With my chest pressed up against his back, I never wanted to get off of this bike. His muscles flexed under my touch as he navigated around the City. Maybe I was just on some sexually-induced high, but was there anything hotter that the feel of a strong man revving a motor, and have it shoot euphoric vibrations between your legs?