Breaking Away

by Toni Aleo

  “You know you like it cause you are the same way.”

  “True.”

  She laughed, poking him in the teeth. “I miss your hole.”

  He laughed too. “I don’t. It was weird, and my tongue kept drifting to it. Then I looked really weird with my tongue poking through.”

  She threw her head back laughing. “Oh my god, I wish I would have seen you do that.”

  He smiled as he shook his head. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

  She cuddled into him as a comfortable silence fell between them. He held her as they ate their popcorn and watched the pre-previews, and he was completely happy. This was what he wanted, and he knew she was enjoying herself, too. She kept smiling, a true smile too. He had never felt so comfortable or complete with a woman since Alana. But then, he didn’t think the feelings he had for Reese were anything like they were for Alana. His love for Alana was young and stupid. He allowed her to completely take over everything in his life but with Reese, she made him feel. He wanted to impress her, always. He wanted to make her laugh and give her a reason to smile. Phillip felt as if his feelings for her were the real kind. The genuine kind. The kind that could last a lifetime.

  “So you really like Claire’s dance?”

  Stopping his inner monologue, he looked over at her. “I did, she is amazing.”

  “She is,” she agreed. “So much better than I expected. She blows me away. I only helped a little with that dance.”

  “That’s awesome. That kid is going to rock the stage when she gets older.”

  Reese beamed up at him. “I hope so.”

  “Thank you, for all you do for her.”

  Reese shrugged. “I’m really only there. She does most of it, I only correct her.”

  He shook his head. “No, you do more than that. You’re there for her in a way I can’t be, and I think I’ll always be in debt to you for that.”

  She gave him a shy grin and leaned into him. “She’s special.”

  “She is.”

  She looked over at him and he felt like she was going to say more, but she didn’t. Her face was so bright, her eyes shining, enhanced by the light makeup she wore. He loved her lashes; they were so long and curved up in the sexiest way. Her mouth was sinful, pouty, and plump, glossed up to perfection. She was gorgeous. Feeling like if he didn’t kiss her at that very second he was going to combust from within, he leaned over and did just that before smiling down at her. “You’re going to miss me right?”

  She laughed. “What? Why would I?”

  He glared before tickling her side, causing her to shriek as she tried to get away. He wasn’t letting her go, which caused the popcorn to go flying through the air.

  “Now look what you did,” he playfully scolded.

  “Me! That was all you!” She glared before throwing a handful of popcorn in his face. He grabbed her, kissing her hard on the lips, before running his lips and teeth down her throat. She giggled before he silenced her by placing another kiss on her lips. They parted with grins on their faces, and he was convinced the sun didn’t shine as bright as her face did when she smiled.

  For fuck’s sake, was he turning into a poet? What the hell?

  She laughed as she pulled a piece of popcorn out of his hair and brought it to his lips. He took the piece, biting her softly, and decided that feeding her and being fed by her was one of his favorite things ever. She bit into her lip before looking away, picking the tub off the floor before putting it back in her lap and started to munch away, sharing with him.

  “So how many games will you play?”

  He counted them in his head. “Eight.”

  “That’s a lot, isn’t it?”

  “Nothing more than usual, I like when we are busy with games.”

  “Will you have a lot of downtime?”

  “Some.”

  “What will you do then? Won’t you be bored?”

  He smiled before leaning into her. “Worried I’ll go spend it with a willing female?”

  Her face gave her away. That comment pissed her off, but she tried to cover by saying, “Heck no, just let me know if you do cause I’m finding me a more than willing male.”

  She said it to get under his skin and he deserved it since he teased her first, but man, that pissed him the fuck off. He glared before squeezing her thighs. “No dudes, Reese.”

  She glared back teasingly. “No girls, Phillip.”

  He scoffed. “No problem.”

  “Good,” she said, looking at the screen.

  “I’ll probably continue to write my poetry,” he joked with a grin.

  She looked over at him, surprised. “Seriously?”

  He scoffed. “Shit no, I’m just busting your balls.”

  She scrunched up her face, her cute little lips pursing up at him before she said, “I hate that phrase. I have nothing hanging between my legs.”

  “I know, but it’s a cool phrase.”

  “No, you’re a dork.”

  He laughed. “Fine, then I’m busting your ovaries.”

  She looked over at him with the straightest face, and all he could do was grin at her. Then she busted out laughing so hard she started to cry. She was so beautiful when she laughed, especially when she did it from her gut. Watching her, he wanted to tell her that he loved her. He wanted to say it so bad, but she’d run before he could even get the last word out of his mouth. When the lights went out, her laughter subsided as she leaned into him.

  “God, you crack me up.”

  Phillip smiled. “I try.”

  “Don’t ever stop.”

  “I won’t,” he promised as she kissed his jaw.

  “Oh, here, put these in your pocket,” she said, handing him their movie tickets.

  He took them from her and then scoffed. “Want to see something super immature?”

  She grinned up at him. “I think I do.”

  He smiled, showing her the tickets. They were in theater 6 but the way she handed him the tickets, the second 6 was upside down, making a 9. “Sixty-nine.”

  She rolled her eyes. “So freaking immature.”

  “I know, but it’s funny.”

  “Only to you,” she said as she moved her hand down his knee.

  “So my immaturity doesn’t make you laugh?”

  She grinned up at him. “Actually, it turns me on because it reminds me how much I want you.”

  His cock came to life in his jeans, pulsating against his zipper as his eyes locked with her. “Oh yeah?”

  “Oh yeah,” she said and then sat up, putting the popcorn on the floor, and he couldn’t tear his eyes from her if he tried. She looked around and then smiled back at him before standing and moving between his legs. Going on her knees in front of him, she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans as his heart started to palpitate in his chest. Taking his engorged cock in her hands, she took him slowly into her mouth. He let out a soft moan. God, he loved her mouth.

  “You want this right?”

  His eyes shot open, looking down into her hot, sultry face. Her lips hovered near the head of his cock, her eyes dark, and God, he was going to blow his load just looking at her. “Fuck yeah.”

  “Okay, well, sit back and enjoy the show,” she said with a little sex kitten smile.

  As she took him back into her mouth, moving her tongue around the head of him and sucking him deep to the back of her throat, all he could do was smile as he threaded his hands behind his head and watch the show that was Reese.

  Which in his opinion was an Oscar-winning performance.

  “Thanks for driving me up here.”

  Reese shot him a smirk as she popped her trunk. “Well, after what you just did to me, I think the least I could do was give you a ride.”

  He smacked her ass before reaching for his bag and shutting her trunk. He looked around the parking lot and like always, everyone was saying bye to their loved ones. The first people he saw were Erik and Piper. Erik lifted Dimitri in the air, tickling him and receiving a to
othless grin from the little guy. Kissing him, he handed him to Piper before kissing her deeply and whispering something to her. It was so private and tender that Phillip had to look away and when he did, his gaze found Tate and Audrey. He was hugging Audrey extra hard, touching his lips to their daughter, and it made Phillip smile. Penelope was their miracle child, and Phillip was glad they found happiness since he cared for them both. Audrey’s sister was beside them and, of course, Fallon was crying, holding her son, Asher, while Lucas was bent down talking to their oldest, Aiden. Beside them was Elli with her stroller full of kids. The twins must have been sleeping because Shea only kissed their heads before wrapping Shelli and Posey up in a tight hug and smacking a loud kiss to their cheeks. Putting them down, he wrapped Elli up in his arm, lifting her off the ground as he kissed her long and hard.

  All his close friends were married with babies and man, if they didn’t look fucking happy as hell. In a way, Phillip craved that. He never thought he would, especially with the crap ass childhood he had, but looking around, seeing all this, now seemed like something he wanted and when he glanced down to see Reese pulling at her shirt awkwardly, he knew he wanted it with her. Reaching for her, he brought her in close, kissing her deeply, not caring one bit who saw them, but obviously, Reese did care.

  “All my friends are here,” she said, pulling away slowly. “I thought we were keeping things on the down low.”

  “We are, but you can’t really expect me to control myself when you look so beautiful and I’m not going to see you for weeks.”

  She smiled as she smacked his chest, backing away, and he let her. She was unconformable and despite the fact that he wanted to kiss the stuffing out of her and not worry about anything else in the world, he didn’t want to make it any worse.

  So with a grin, he asked, “You’re really going to let me leave without giving me a kiss to keep me warm at night?”

  “Phillip,” she groaned, looking around. “My sisters will tell everyone. I think Piper already spotted me. I probably shouldn’t have brought you.”

  “We’re friends,” he said with a shrug.

  “Yes, but they will think it’s more.”

  “So?” he said, not able to take it anymore. He took her hand in his and brought her closer. He dusted her lips with his own and her fingers squeezed his before her other hand came up, resting against his cheek as she deepened the kiss. He kissed her long and hard before smiling against her lips as they parted.

  “Go.”

  He kissed her nose before backing away. “Bye, friend.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Bye. Text me when you land.”

  “Of course.”

  She waved quickly at him and then turned to go back into her car. He turned, a grin sitting on his face, as he fell into step with Shea. Shea looked over at him and shook his head.

  “So that’s the reason you’ve been grinning like an idiot?”

  Phillip nodded. “Yup.”

  “Was she the one in the shower?”

  No reason to lie. “Yup.”

  Shea shook his head again before taking hold of Phillip’s arm, stopping him. He knew this was coming. Shea was insanely protective over anyone Elli loved, and Reese was basically Elli’s little sister. “Don’t hurt her okay? She’s been through enough.”

  “Won’t happen,” Phillip promised before starting for the plane.

  “Good, and another thing,” he said, stopping Phillip again.

  “Yeah?”

  “Be careful. She’s been through a lot, and I wouldn’t doubt it if she breaks your heart. She’s a cold one.”

  Shea didn’t wait for Phillip to respond. Instead, he walked up the stairs to enter the plane. He didn’t expect that because that meant that Shea cared about him, something he probably always knew, but it was still nice to know. But what he said also bothered him. Reese wasn’t cold, she just had walls up, and once Phillip took a sledgehammer to them, Reese would be fine. He knew that to be true. Trusted that everything was going to be fine.

  He just hoped he wasn’t wrong.

  IT HAD been four days since Phillip had left and yeah, she missed him, but what boggled her mind the most was that neither her sisters, nor Elli, had called to say anything about her being at the sky yard with Phillip. She knew damn well they saw her, but still no one said anything. What did that even mean? It was super weird and freaked her out. She felt like at any moment her mother was going to call, or maybe they would all show up and attack her, bombarding her with questions. She didn’t know what it was, but she couldn’t kick the uneasy way she was feeling.

  Leaning against the mirrors, she reached for her phone to text Phillip before her next class came in.

  Busy?

  Not for you, what’s up?

  She smiled. Something is up.

  What do you mean?

  I know people saw us at the sky yard, but no one has said anything.

  Okay?

  Okay… that’s bad. They are scheming.

  Lol. You’re nuts.

  She made a face. This is not the time to joke around. I’m serious!

  Reese, no one cares. We are grown adults. Everyone knows we are just fooling around, so no one cares.

  She scoffed. Do you know Elli Adler? Hell, do you know my sisters? They are scheming little bitches! They are out to get me pregnant and married.

  The song goes first came marriage and then came Reese with the baby carriage.

  She rolled her eyes before throwing her phone down. He was no help. Her phone went off, but she ignored it as her group team came in. Claire smiled at her as she passed and dropped her bag to stretch. Glancing down at her phone, she saw that Phillip said:

  Stop stressing about it. We can’t have fun if you’re stressing.

  She wanted to text him back but he would have to wait, she had a class to teach. Then she would bitch and moan about how her sisters were plotting against her and convince him that they needed to be worried. Knowing them, they were already picking the bridesmaids dresses and the colors of the nonexistent baby’s room. Ugh! They drove her nuts. She wanted to call them, but what if they hadn’t seen them? Then she would be putting light on something that didn’t need a damn life. But she needed to know what they were doing!

  Ahh! She needed to let this go! Like Phillip said, it wasn’t a big deal… ugh, but it was!

  Shaking out her arms and then bending her neck to each side, she looked out at the girls in her group class, trying to ignore the fact that she wanted to run and call Elli, Harper, and Piper. She had been dreading this class since Mallory got hurt. Mallory was the lead in this dance. She killed it and was fierce but now she wasn’t here, and it scared Reese to replace her. She had two dancers in mind—one who could do it, but she wasn’t sure she would be what Mallory was. In a way, Reese wanted to pull the dance but couldn’t bring herself to do it. The other girls had worked so hard.

  As the girls took it to the floor to stretch, Reese cleared her throat and said, “Hey all, as y’all know, Mallory is out with an injury, because of this the solo part needs to be filled.” They all nodded as Reese continued, “So any takers?”

  When Aria Chapmen raised her hand, Reese wasn’t surprised and was glad when Claire’s hand went up too. Despite that face that Claire was the only sophomore in the class, everyone else were juniors and seniors, Claire could dance circles around these girls. She was actually Reese’s first choice, but she knew that the other girls would throw a fit if a sophomore took the lead. However, if she could prove she could do it better than the other girls, then no one could be upset. Ultimately, she knew it was her choice but still, she tried to be fair.

  “Okay cool, only Aria and Claire?”

  Everyone looked around, waiting for someone else to volunteer, and that was when Aria looked over at Claire and gave her the evil eye. Claire paid her no mind, and that made Reese proud. Aria was a little hard to deal with according to the other girls, but she was always nice to Reese and worked hard. That was all
Reese cared about, but she sure didn’t like her looking at Claire like that. Reese knew that Claire could handle herself, but she wanted to protect her because Phillip wasn’t there to do it. Plus, she really did care for Claire.

  “Okay Aria, you can go first. Everyone else in your spots for now. I’ll move everyone around once I know what we are doing.”

  Everyone moved to their spots, except for Aria. She stood there with a confused look on her face.

  “Aria?”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “I don’t know the lead part. I mean, I know parts of it, but I don’t know it, know it.”

  Before Reese could say anything like, why the hell did you say you wanted to do the lead if you didn’t know the lead’s part, Claire said, “I know it.”

  Everyone’s head whipped to Claire. She stood proudly, her bright red hair in a knot on the top of her head. She was wearing a black sports bra and bright purple booty shorts with green legwarmers. She crossed her arms around her back, holding her elbows as she looked up at Reese with pure confidence shining in her eyes.

  “I mean I know most of it, I just need help on some parts,” Aria protested.

  Reese pointed to Aria. “Okay, you’re on, Aria.”

  Aria was nervous, that was obvious, but when she went to the spot the middle of the group of girls, she posed with such fierceness that Reese was sure the girl would kill the dance and then she would only have to clean up here and there, but boy, was she wrong. Aria knew maybe fifteen percent of the solo, and that was pushing it. When the music ended, it was obvious that Aria was pissed.

  Reese shook her head as she said, “Okay, Claire.”

  With a huff from Aria, Claire took her spot in the middle and posed in a different way, but it worked and was ten times better than the original. She posed like a diva, and Reese was excited to watch her do this. Hitting play to “Slow Down” by Selena Gomez, Claire ripped the floor up. She moved with such intensity, hitting each move at the precise time, enhancing the song and choreography in such a way that it made Reese want to squeal. She moved with the group as the star, her body singing the song and her face never dropping out of character even though she wasn’t on the stage.