The Bad Boy's Dance

by Vera Calloway

  Mom, Dad, and a reluctant Spencer left for the Peyton’s, and I relished the peaceful quiet of the house. Collapsing into my bed, I kicked off my shoes and stared at the ceiling.

  What was I going to do with Asher?

  “Ugh,” I groaned aloud, burying my nose in the pillow. Why was this so complicated? Half of me wanted to find him and let him have his wicked way with me. I mean, start with the superficial aspects, like how drop- dead gorgeous he was, with his piercing deep blue eyes, waves of tussled midnight hair, and lean muscle.

  And he hadn’t done a single thing to make me question his motives, even when we’d first met and he was on jerk-a-tron mode.

  He was such a great kisser, too.

  As if on cue, my phone rang. I flipped it open without checking the caller Id. “Hello?”

  “I could practically hear your thoughts from over here,” Asher’s deep timbre vibrated across the phone.

  I turned scarlet and wondered if he really could hear my thoughts.

  “So you know the answer to number 59 of the Physics homework?” I bluffed.

  “Radical thirty seven over two.”

  Damn it, never have a battle of the brains with a verified Einstein.

  “Whatever,” I mumbled, hearing him laugh across the line.

  “Why have you been avoiding my calls, Ivy?” there was no playfulness in his voice now. “Is it about what happened at the dance studio?”

  I sighed, scrubbing my hand over my face. Oh, why even bother lying, he wasn’t stupid. “Yeah. I just need some time, is all.”

  A creaking noise distracted me from his reply. I sat up, alert. “Ivy?” Asher said. “Are you listening to me?”

  “Wait,” I murmured as I heard another creak. “I think there’s someone in my house.”

  “What? I’m getting in my car now, just stay on the line with me.” I heard crashing noises on the other end of the line, which I assumed was him crashing into everything in his hurry to leave.

  I grabbed a heavy bat from Spencer’s room and padded down the stairs noiselessly, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I stuck my head in the hall closet.

  Nothing.

  The sound of traffic from the phone was comforting as I ducked into the shadowed part of the hall. I opened the guest bedroom slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness, searching for a shape amidst the shadows.

  After I’d checked every corner of the second floor, I exhaled with relief. “Everything’s okay, Asher. I overreacted. This house is old. Of course it’s going to make noises,” I told him.

  “I’m still staying with you while you’re alone. Always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to you, angel.”

  My heart swelled, and I laid my bat to the floor. “Thanks,” I murmured. I switched the subject before we addressed the pink elephant tap dancing across the phone line. “I’m hiding my food this time. Last time you raided my pantry, my Mom flipped out and made me eat vegetables for dinner for days.”

  He laughed. “Ooh, food hunt. Sounds like fun.”

  I felt up the wall for the light switch to the kitchen. I felt a cold breeze on my arms when I located it, causing bumps to rise on my flesh. Huh, I could’ve sworn Mom closed all the windows before she left.

  “I’m very good at hiding things,” I flipped the switch, flooding the kitchen with light. “I doubt you’ll-”

  The light illuminated a figure standing in the center of the kitchen. It caught his honey colored hair, shaggier around his head than the last time I’d seen it. He was taller, and thinner. His moss green eyes regarded me with removed curiosity as the phone slid from my hand, clattering to the floor.

  “No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, no, no. I’m dreaming. This can’t be real.”

  I heard Asher’s voice, impossibly small, shouting from the phone. My hands slid around my stomach, and I backed into the fridge to keep myself upright.

  The same moss green eyes that haunted my nightmares followed my every movement hungrily, and a wave of hysteria swept over my body. Cold sweat broke over my forehead, and a dull pain beat like a bass in my head.

  A cold smile spread over his face.

  “Hello again, Ivy,” Jared whispered.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  It’s Armageddon!

  “FLASH-BACK*

  Jared twirled me across the dance floor. He wasn’t a great dancer, but he’d learned enough to make me proud at events like this. I felt so happy, coming to my first high school dance with a senior who’d told me he loved me the night before.

  “You’re an amazing dancer,” he murmured in my ear. I flushed with pleasure at the compliment. Jared didn’t give compliments freely, so I knew he meant it.

  “I have a great partner,” I replied, giggling when he swept aside a bang from my forehead.

  “Let’s not give our classmates a show, hmm?” Dana appeared at my elbow, Kyle in tow. I didn’t like how they eyeing Jared. They’d made their dislike of him very clear from the start, even though Jared had gone out of his way for them.

  “You guys are such buzz-kills,” I whined, trying to shoo them away.

  Jared placed a proprietary hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Let them stay, darling. After all, we’re all friends, right?”

  At the time, I pretended not to see the malice flashing in his eyes,

  ****Flash-Back 2***

  “Calm down baby. Stay with me,” I begged, wiping away the blood seeping thickly from my nose. “Look at me!”

  His shoulder’s heaving, Jared glanced up, eyes hooded. He raised his hand, wiping a thumb under the steady trickle of blood from my nose and upper lip.

  “What did I do?” he moaned.

  He’d thrown me into the coffee table. The vase had fallen with me, and some of the glass had shattered into my face when I landed. My nose was numb. Maybe I hadn’t broken it this time.

  I placed my hands on his heaving shoulders and forced his chin up. Sweeping aside the strands of honey colored hair, my fingers left a bloody imprint on his forehead. I ignored it, staring into his moss green eyes intently. “It wasn’t you. You almost did it, Jar. You were almost there. We have to keep trying, until you can block out whatever it is that makes you want to hurt me.”

  Tears slid down his cheeks, dripping off his chin. “I can’t be saved, Ivy. Stop trying. I keep hurting you.”

  “You love me. I know you do. How can you want to hurt someone you love?”

  He reached out, picking up a shard of the broken glass. He closed his hand over it as I gasped. Blood trickled from his clenched fist onto the floor.

  Jared looked at our blood mixing on the floor with dazed eyes. He glanced back up at me, looking almost satisfied.

  “There,” he murmured. “If you bleed, I bleed.”

  Present

  Jared leisurely circled my kitchen, fingers trailing over the marble counter. I spotted the open window to his right. I must have felt the breeze from there.

  “Aren’t you going to greet me? Run to me with open arms? Kiss me oh-so passionately?” he asked, stopping a foot away from me. His proximity sent my skin crawling, and the world tilted on its axis.

  I was less than twelve inches away from my worst nightmare.

  Come on, Ivy! My brain shouted. Get out of here!

  I started to creep backwards, but before I could make my escape, Jared’s hand shot forward, wrapping painfully around my wrist. He yanked me back forcefully and let go. I fell to the floor, sliding across the tile until I hit my head against the cabinet.

  Jared knelt, hoisting me to my feet by my upper arms. He shook me hard. “You don’t have a word to say to me?”

  The gleam I had prayed never to see again in my life was right there. The gleam of uncontrollable rage. Of a menace so potent that it overwhelms sensibility, rationality, morality...

  “Say something!” he shouted, his calm façade cracking. “A year and a half I’ve been in that institution, spending my pathetic existence dreaming about this moment; t
he moment where we’d meet again. In the institution you put me in.”

  He released me, and I slumped against the kitchen counter. “You betrayed me. I gave you everything I had, everything. And you used it against me. Why? I know you didn’t want to send me away, because you didn’t tell them what happened that night,” he sneered, and I blocked my mind from revisiting the memory.

  He’s messing with your mind again, don’t you dare let him! He’s lying!

  The sound of a car door slamming snapped me from my internal hell. I had to keep it together. Jared was ruthless. I had no doubt he would hurt Asher if he thought I had even a sliver of affection for him.

  Jared gripped the nape of my neck, yanking my gaze to him. “I’ll be back, love,” he vowed, and I flinched as his breath blew over my face. Jared caressed my cheek, pulling at my neck when I tried to turn away. “You’re gonna hurt for what you did baby. But it’ll be the best thing for us, you’ll see. I have to make sure whatever it was that made you turn against me dies. I’ll kill it so that we can survive.”

  A whimper escaped my lips against my will at the cold calculation of his words. The scariest part was I knew he would do it.

  Pounding on the front door returned my terror for Asher to the forefront. Jared glanced at the door before lowering his gaze to me. “Until the restraining order issue is resolved, I strongly suggest you tell no one I’ve been here. It wouldn’t be good for their health. Is that clear, my darling?”

  I nodded.

  “Now go answer the door, and remember what I said. I’ll be back for you,” he murmured, trailing his lips along my hairline and stepping back.

  I ran to the door, and when I glanced to the kitchen, Jared was gone.

  Asher swept in the minute I opened the door, searching the premises for an intruder. For some reason, seeing him occupy the space Jared had a second ago made me laugh.

  And then I couldn’t seem to stop.

  He whirled around at the sound of my hysterical laughter. “Ivy?”

  I couldn’t stop laughing, until tears were streaming down my eyes and I was gasping for breath.

  Asher took a step towards me. I stumbled away. “I didn’t say a word, not a word. He always wants everything planned, scripted. It must have bothered him so much, that I didn’t say anything,” I panted, bringing my hands up to squeeze either side of my head as my headache pounded faster. Asher’s figure blurred as the pain increased.

  “Angel, you need to stay calm,” he said. “Everything’s okay.”

  My head cleared for a second, long enough for me to meet his cobalt gaze and shake my head. “It will never be okay.”

  The last thing I saw before the world went black was Asher lunging to catch me.

  I jolted straight up when I awoke, only to be restrained by a pair of arms. I flailed, struggling against the hold.

  “Stop! It’s me!” Asher’s voice halted my fight. I withered against his chest. We were in my bed, and I was on his lap, with my head resting on his collarbone.

  He let me breath for a few minutes before gently coaxing my face up. “What happened before I got to your house?”

  “Until the restraining order issue is resolved, I strongly suggest you tell no one I’ve been here. It wouldn’t be good for their health.”

  “N-nothing. I didn’t eat today, that’s all. Got a little whoozy. Sorry you came all the way over here for nothing,” I stammered, crawling off Asher’s lap and standing besides the bed. I grabbed the dresser quickly to steady myself.

  “Look at me,” he said gently. With great trepidation, I met his piercing cobalt gaze. A tidal wave of emotion threatened to spill over, and I quickly looked away.

  Asher gathered my cold hands into his. “You can trust me, Ivy.”

  My hands shook in his hold. “It’s not about trust. Maybe I’m just trying to keep you safe,” I blurted, instantly regretting it when his eyes narrowed.

  “What do you mean? I don’t need to be kept safe.”

  Don’t tell him.

  But if I didn’t tell him, the encounter would grow and grow in my mind until I exploded.

  “Do you want to know even if it puts your life at risk?” I asked steadily, perching on the desk chair to face him.

  Asher stretched, crossing one ankle over the other casually. “Of course. I’ve been looking for a new potential fatality to join the list.”

  Despite the leaden feeling weighing over my chest, I still managed to roll my eyes at him. He watched me, waiting for me to explain, but the words were stuck in my throat.

  Asher stood and walked over to me. He crouched and enfolded my hands with his. “I can take care of myself, angel. Tell me.”

  “Jared was here tonight,” I whispered.

  Asher stilled, and he didn’t say a word for a few minutes before standing and running his hands through his hair with a curse. I watched him pace for a few minutes before he returned to his previous stance.

  “Did he hurt you?” Asher asked with forced calm.

  Physically? Not really. Mentally was a different story though. But I wasn’t going to enlighten Asher to the dark place I’d worked to suppress in therapy for years. It was a black hole, and I wasn’t going to let him send me back there.

  “We have to go to the police. You’ve got a restraining order on him, he can’t do this,” Asher mumbled, mostly to himself.

  I grabbed his shoulders, startling him. “You can’t! His parents are important people. They got him out the first time, and they’ll make sure he stays out of jail at all cost so their reputation isn’t hurt. It’ll only make him angrier if I try.”

  “We can’t just do nothing. The psycho is stalking you. He’s not going to leave you alone.”

  True. But I would be damned if I dragged Asher into this mess any farther.

  “I’ll handle it, okay? You’ve asked me to trust you, it’s your turn. Trust that I’ll take care of this,” I promised.

  He hesitated.

  Ugh. I was so sick of this, sick of the drama and the worry. I was graduating high school soon, I was young, and there was a six foot three mouthwatering bad boy in my room.

  Time to live a little.

  “Take me to a club,” I decided, turning to face Asher with my hands crossed over my chest. “Please,” I added.

  He gave me a strange look as he rose. “Why?”

  I was getting more excited by the minute. “Because you’re you! You’ve been in clubs before, I know you have. I want to go to one,” I rambled.

  Asher raised a single brow. Ugh, even his eyebrow was sexy. “I’m not sure whether to be offended or worried. And you’re sure this isn’t your way of blocking out the fact that your psycho ex is stalking you?”

  I threw my hands up. “Maybe it is! Who cares? It’s better than the alternative- slowly losing my frickin’ mind. And I have no intention of doing that again. So are you going to take me or not?”

  Asher stared at the ceiling for a minute before heaving a sigh. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered. “Get dressed.”

  The sound I emitted was somewhere between a victory whoop and a canary mating call. Asher told me he would wait downstairs and shut the door behind him.

  He had better not raid my pantry again. How he could look like an Abercrombie model yet eat like a pig was just another of the world’s small injustices, like faulty internet when you finally pick a movie on Netflix. Apparently everyone around me possessed this ability but me.

  Rummaging through my closet, I ignored the nagging voice in the back of my mind that was warning me of what my parents would do when they got home and found out I was gone. Especially my mom, who thought I was doing homework right now.

  After throwing clothes around so it looked like a torpedo went through my closet, I held up the dress Dana bought for my birthday last year. It was form fitting at the top, sleeveless with a flowing skirt at the bottom. It reached to the middle of my thigh and sparkled with gold and black glitter.

  Reaching up
, I undid my hair from its bun, letting it flow to the bottom of my spine. I didn’t have time to do anything else, so I grabbed my purse with my phone and wallet and descended the stairs. I was about to close the door when I remembered and ran back in, shoving the clothes in my closet, leaving papers all over my desk (the chaos of my studying), and stuffing a few pillows under the blanket. I switched off the light and left the door ajar.

  Asher looked up when he heard my footsteps. He was, of course, eating my food. “Not bad, only ten minutes-” the rest of his words were lost when he started choking on the food.

  I hurried down, thankful that the dresses skirt allowed for easy movement. After thumping on his back a few times, he managed to choke down whatever it was he was eating.

  “Are you okay? Do you want me to get you some water?” I fussed.

  He stared at me for so long, I started to squirm. Was something wrong with my outfit?

  “You look amazing,” he finally said, making me flush.

  Swallowing the dryness in my throat, I motioned to the door. “We should get going before my parents and brother get home. I know Spencer might not seem like it, but he’ll break your hands if he finds out you’re taking me to a club.”

  It was a miracle that Paul wasn’t here.

  Asher smirked down at me as he opened the door. “He can try.”

  The inside of Asher’s car was sleek and modern. Seeing it without beer goggles on didn’t lessen the effect. I settled into the warm leather, making sure not to scratch anything in the car. It probably cost more than my house.

  “Are you sure about this?” Asher asked. “No offense or anything, but you’re not exactly a party animal. And we both know you can’t hold your liquor.”

  My cheeks heated at the reminder of my episode, ending with Asher carrying me to his house and tucking me into bed.

  “Why are you so nice to me?” The question flew out of my mouth before I could stop myself. It was something I’d been wondering for a while. I mean, Asher was wild, uncontrollable, gorgeous, wealthy, and influential. People trailed after him like puppies at school and outside of it. He carried multiple weapons ‘just in case’.