An Encore for Love

by Alexandra Warren

  After the late night performance Amerie had put on in the studio, it was only right that I come check her out in live action during her performance at the awards show since she had avoided all other interactions with me since then. But I knew it was because she was well aware of what she had done to me; knew exactly how to get me there while also basking in the satisfaction of not letting me go all the way. And even though I probably should’ve been annoyed by her actions, annoyed by the fact that she had locked her bedroom door after getting me rock hard then ducked and dodged me ever since, the idea of being able to get her back for that shit later was enough for me to hold off for at least a few more days. Especially considering the plan that was already in motion.

  “So even though it’s not like… a special birthday, we still have to do it big for my sister,” Miranda announced the second I stepped off of the red carpet to join her, my eyes still squinty from all of the extra lighting.

  Since Amerie was already backstage getting ready for her performance and Elijah was in the media pit getting hot takes for his website, I was stuck alone with Miranda until the show began. But she was just the person I needed to talk to considering how integral of a role she would play in making sure the birthday plans I had for Amerie went accordingly.

  So as we made our way into the venue, I explained, “I already talked to the network and they’re handlin’ all of the arrangements with their sponsors. We just need you to get her there.”

  “That’s easy work. I can handle that,” she replied with a nod before quickly becoming distracted by the attention she was just getting from the different male celebrities who had already found their seats.

  Even though I wasn’t exactly sure what her situation was with my brother, I couldn’t help but have his back in his absence when I asked, “So… what’s up with you and Eli? I’m sure he’s happy to have you in town for a little bit.”

  “Seems like it,” she replied shortly, giving a flirty wave to one of the rappers that earned her an appreciative nod.

  “Are you… happy to see him too?”

  “Mmhm,” she offered, gnawing at her lip as she peeked back over her shoulder to catch the rapper’s eyes once again before adding, “I’ll uh… be right back.”

  In the blink of an eye, Miranda had made her way over to where the guy was sitting, getting sized up by him and everybody in his entourage as she flirted her ass off. And while I knew her business was none of mine, I was also sure to make a mental note to share the news with my little brother later. The last thing I needed was both of us getting our hearts broken by Lambert women even if mine was self-induced.

  But it seemed as if it might’ve already been too late when Elijah showed up, slipping into the seat next to me as he announced, “Man, I got enough content to last me the rest of the month!” Before following it up by asking, “Where’d my girl go? I thought she was with you.”

  Instead of answering with words, I kept my face blank as I nodded in her direction, waiting for him to follow it before I heard his heavy sigh of a reaction. “Damn. I ain’t know it was like that.”

  “I tried to warn you, Mr. You-Only-Want-Sex. One second it’s that, and the next you’ve caught feelings you didn’t even know you were capable of catching.”

  For a second, Elijah was quiet, staring past me at Miranda as she continued flirting it up. And just when I was getting ready to find something to distract him with, he snapped, “Man… fuck her. It wasn’t even all that.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, putting a hand to his shoulder as I told him, “Chill, bruh. It was definitely all that. And if she walked back over here ready to give you more, you would pounce. Don’t be salty cause she played you.”

  This time, Elijah brushed me off, falling back against his seat as he said, “I got my own shit to focus on anyway. Can’t be worried with some chick.”

  “You and I both know Miranda isn’t just any ol’ chick. But I’ll let you have it. I mean, there’s plenty of women in here to help you get over it, right?” I asked, knowing I was giving shitty advice since that hadn’t exactly solved my own problem.

  Still, that didn’t stop Elijah from agreeing, “Damn right,” just as Miranda approached us, squeezing past me in the aisle to take the seat right next to my brother.

  I struggled to hold in my laugh, knowing Elijah was trying to play hard as Miranda gushed, “There you are. How was it covering your first big event?”

  “It was cool,” he answered shortly, keeping his face stern as he focused on the stage that was being set in front of us.

  But his face immediately softened when Miranda put a gentle hand to his forearm, turning in her seat to offer, “I’m… proud of you.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” he replied with a half-hearted smile just as the lights in the venue began to dim, getting a roar from the crowd and saving Elijah from what would’ve surely been his demise.

  I straightened in my seat as the intro of Liam’s knockoff version of The Weeknd’s, Earned It began to play, followed by Amerie appearing under a red spotlight on the stage in a chair that reminded me of the one she had gotten the best of me on a few nights before.

  “Yassss, sis!” Miranda shouted, cheering her sister on as I licked my lips at the sight of the one-piece lace bodysuit she was wearing.

  It clung to her frame perfectly while also giving the perfect view of her ass that probably wasn’t even appropriate for the family-friendly audience watching at home. But I certainly didn’t mind, especially as I watched the way she grinded against the chair to the first verse the same way she had done on my lap. In fact, I was forced to shift in my seat the second her legs snapped open into a V, her bare toes perfectly pointed in a way that would’ve surely made her childhood dance teacher proud. But since he or she wasn’t here to acknowledge it, I was sure to appreciate it enough for the both of us as Amerie flipped around in the chair, seductively sliding down towards the ground before crawling on her hands and knees towards the singer just as the chorus came around.

  The performance was a lot more theatrical than I was used to seeing Amerie take on. Though that only made it that much more powerful, that much more intense. And it was clear she had really dipped into her arsenal of technical dance training as she incorporated all sorts of arabesques, pirouettes, and jetés into the choreography; moves I had only learned the names of as an adult. But since Amerie didn’t have the body of a typical ballerina, it made everything she did, every leap she took look that much more impressive. Especially once she paired it with an element of sensuality to match the song.

  It was another flawless display; one that I was sure would have her phone ringing off the hook even more than it already was. And while I had always found Amerie to be impressive, seeing it on a huge stage with the rest of the world made that fact even more evident.

  It also made me proud as hell.

  The venue erupted into cheers as that section of the stage went dark while the attention and lighting switched over to the first pair of presenters. But I kept my eyes trained on the darkness, catching ol’ boy as he leaned in to whisper something in Amerie’s ear while also keeping his hand a little too low on her back for my liking when he escorted her off of the stage. And even though it really wasn’t any of my business, I couldn’t help but excuse myself so that I could head back stage to… congratulate her.

  The behind the scenes was bustling with the hundreds of staff responsible for making the show run smoothly. But my focus was on finding one particular person as I bypassed the different dressing rooms until I located the one with her name on the small marquee, giving a short knock before stepping inside to find her assistant zipping her dress to a close.

  For a second she seemed startled by my entry, but it quickly turned into a smirk once I announced, “Babe, you were incredible out there.”

  “Thank you. Thank you. Now I just hope Rihanna and her dancers can follow in my footsteps,” she rattled as the assistant handed her a pair of heels to put on.

  An
d as I watched her stuff her feet into them, I told her, “Well they learned from the best. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  But apparently my words didn’t provide her much relief as she checked herself out in the floor-length mirror while she replied, “We didn’t have very long to rehearse so I can only hope.”

  “You gotta be confident, Ri. You know how the energy works out there,” I reminded her, an understanding I had picked up early on in my career.

  Though again, it didn’t seem to mean much to Amerie as she stopped to offer a sarcastic, “Fine. I’m confident. Better?”

  “Nah, not really. But I’ll let it slide,” I told her with a laugh, peeking over to her assistant and asking for a minute alone with my expression. And I was grateful when she immediately granted my request, stepping out of the room so I could continue, “Now what I won’t let slide is that shit you pulled a couple days ago. You knew you wouldn’t be able to run from me forever, right?”

  It was obvious my question had caught her off-guard as she stammered, “I wasn’t... running. I was just... busy. Getting ready for all of this.”

  “Fine timing, huh?”

  “The finest,” she replied with a cute little smirk before she turned away from me, bringing truth to what I thought all along.

  Since it was clear she knew her actions had finally caught up to her, I felt comfortable challenging, “Well this is almost over with now, so what’s up?”

  “Nothing is up, Knox,” she tossed over her shoulder, though I could see her face through the mirror as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth meaning something was definitely up.

  “You sure about that? I mean, you damn sure wasn’t ridin’ me the other night like nothin’ was up.”

  She snapped her head around, her face pulled into a slight scowl when she claimed, “I wasn’t riding you. I was just… dancing on you.”

  “If I didn’t have pants on, you would’ve definitely been ridin’ me, babe,” I told her, wishing I had come over butt ass naked so that it could’ve actually played out that way.

  Still, that didn’t stop Amerie from using that fact against me when she defended, “But you did have pants on. So that means I didn’t. And if you hadn’t had them on, I wouldn’t have done any of that.”

  I strolled over to where she was standing, shoving my hands into my pockets instead of putting them around her waist like I wanted to. But I still made sure to lean in as close as possible when I insisted, “I got a hard time believin’ that one, babe. I mean, you seemed quite determined to start some shit. Shit you literally ran away from instead of finishin’. But I’m here now, Ri. Nowhere for you to run this time.”

  “Actually, I… need to go check on my client. Is there anything else you need?” she asked, her voice extra peppy as she struggled with our proximity.

  So I leaned in a little further, getting right against her ear when I told her, “Yeah. I need your fine ass to quit playin’ games with me.”

  “Playing games with you? I’m not playing games with you. You asked to sit down and I let you. That was it,” she stated firmly, though it was clear she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince me considering how calculated her breathing became the closer I got to her.

  In fact, my pelvis was right against her ass by the time I asked, “You really take me for a fool, huh?”

  “Maybe a little bit.”

  Instead of replying to her with words, I let my actions do the talking when I bent my head a little further, putting my lips against her bare collarbone as I landed kisses and nibbles against an area I knew would be exposed for the rest of the night. But I didn’t care about the possibility of leaving a mark, much more focused on letting Amerie know I wasn’t letting her off easy ever again. And the second I realized I had her on the brink of fully submitting to the pleasure and really coming undone, I pulled away, waiting until she opened her eyes to ask, “Well who’s the fool now?”

  She immediately gasped in response, though I wasn’t sure if she was more shocked by my words and actions or by her reaction to them. And while it would’ve been fun to further explore the answer to that question, I could only give her a little pat to the shoulder as I told her, “Enjoy the rest of the show, babe,” before leaving her to figure it out on her own.

  Amerie

  While the awards show had gone on without a hitch, both my performance and the performance I had choreographed for another artist, I felt anything but relieved by the time it was actually over since it had really only been extended to include me spending a ton of camera time with Knox. The network was hosting its own after party, and since we were the newcomers, it was mandatory for us to attend. And that didn’t even include the millions of pictures we had to take together, the couple of promotional interviews for different magazines and websites we had to do, and then what he had done to me in my dressing room.

  I knew for a fact I hadn’t imagined it this time.

  But unfortunately, I hadn’t really gotten a chance to digest it all since I had been on the run ever since, trying to keep up with all that was required of me until I finally got the okay to head upstairs to my hotel suite for the night. And once I was there, out of my dress and heels, and free of the beat face my makeup artist had hooked me up with, everything about the moment finally decided to flood my nerve endings.

  There had been nothing friendly, nothing foreign about the kisses he landed along my skin. In fact, they felt perfectly comforting, like a home I hadn’t visited in far too long welcoming me back with open arms. I was pretty sure I enjoyed it a little too much, part of the reason it had me so flustered now. And Knox’s teasing didn’t exactly make me feel any better. Though it was fascinating how he had been able to push all of it to the back of his mind, being the perfect professional as we made our way through our various obligations. Then again, I suppose I had been able to do the same thing.

  Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was having the same thoughts, the same feelings, I was having now that we were done for the night. Was he tempted to act on the obvious temptations? Or was he just… taunting me the same way I had done to him? Or maybe neither was true. Maybe he was just taking advantage of the fact that I was allowing him the same access that I had given him in the past. The access that had ultimately turned into a disaster.

  For some reason, that didn’t seem right either.

  And as I sat in my fluffy white robe, sipping straight from the giftbagged bottle of wine the network had left trying to make sense of it all, somehow only one conclusion came to mind.

  We needed to talk.

  So before I could change my mind, I tightened the belt of my robe, peeking down both sides of the hall and thankfully finding it empty before making my way a few doors down to where I knew Knox was staying. My hand hovered the door for what felt like forever until I worked up the courage to actually knock. And time really stood still as I waited for him to answer. Though when he finally did, everything about this idea instantly felt irrational.

  I swallowed hard at the sight of him, his dress shirt unbuttoned and hanging loosely over his broad shoulders; shoulders I had sat comfortably on on several occasions while hoisted in the air. And it wasn’t just those that had garnered my attention, but also the way his softly rippled abs inflated when he asked, “Sup, Ri? Somethin’ wrong?”

  I shook my head, squeezing my eyes and immediately being reminded of how much wine I had drank when I answered, “Uh… no. Nothing is wrong. Everything is fine.”

  “So… what’s up then? You need somethin’?” he asked, his head resting against the door as if he was worn out from the day. And while I stood there struggling to come up with a plausible response, Knox’s tired eyes bored into mine until he reached out to grab me by the wrist.

  “That’s probably not a good idea,” I announced the second he gave it a small tug towards him.

  But he still held it in a gentle grip when he insisted, “Just come in and chill with me for a minute. We can
just… talk or somethin’.”

  Of course. That had been the plan all along. But now that it was being offered to me instead of the other way around where I assumed I’d be in control, I felt uneasy.

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea either.”

  “I got a feelin’ comin’ down here wasn’t a good idea at some point too. But you’re here, right?” he asked, not waiting for me to answer when he gave me another little tug towards his room.

  But I remained still when I whispered, “Just because I’m here doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for me.”

  “I didn’t realize I was that much of a threat to your moral compass,” he fired back as he dropped my wrist, obviously offended by my admission.

  But the truth was, “I just… I don’t know what I’m doing, Knox. I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t know why I’m letting any of this happen between us; whatever it is. But none of that stopped me from walking down here so… that’s gotta mean something, right?”

  For a second, he just stared at me, building a mountain of anxiety before his lips finally turned into a grin. And this time, instead of taking me by the wrist, he grabbed my hand when he replied, “It means you should come inside.”

  My feet were already moving by the time I blurted out, “I don’t wanna have sex with you, Knox.”

  “Good thing I never said anything about sex then, huh?” he challenged, his grin still intact as he led me towards the in-suite bar and offered, “You want a drink?”

  I shook my head no as I watched him pour something for himself, peeking around the space before asking, “I didn’t… interrupt anything, did I?”

  “Little late to be askin’ that, babe,” he answered with a chuckle that didn’t exactly bring me much comfort.

  And since I would’ve taken just about any excuse to escape, I told him, “I’m sorry. I can go,” turning to head back out of the door I had just entered.

  But I didn’t get far by the time Knox caught me by the wrist once again, stopping me dead in my tracks to say, “Amerie, chill. You’re good. I wasn’t doin’ shit but watchin’ your performance on repeat anyway. You got the internet on fire, babe.”