“Wait. What about Shel?” she asked.
“Text her, let her know you left with me and I’ll take you home…later.”
“I don’t know.”
“No. Don’t think. You have nothing to be afraid of. I need to be with you. Someplace where we won’t be interrupted, someplace where we can have all night. Please, baby.” Jeez I must be nuts, twice in ten minutes I’m begging and apologizing to this girl, but I’d get down on my knees for her if I had to.
She stared at me for a moment more and I kissed her taking her phone out of her pocket. I pulled back and placed it in her hand. She closed her palm around it, then raised it and texted her friend. I don’t know what she told her, but she placed the phone back into her pocket and I pulled out of the parking spot.
Only the lights on the deck were on when I pulled into my driveway. My step-father, Joe, had saved me in so many ways. I don’t remember my real father, I was too young when he died and my mom never talked about him and Joe didn’t know much. There’d always been just Joe, he was the reason I’d learned to fight. There wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for him. I don’t think he’d have been cool about me sneaking a girl into my room though. Still it didn’t stop me from climbing those stairs with Ivy to the deck where my room was and quietly sliding the glass doors back. I pushed the curtain aside for her to enter first. The room was dark except for the light on the deck by the door. I closed the door behind me but left the curtain partially open to illuminate the room a little. Not much to see, a queen size bed took up most of the room, a long dresser with six drawers and a TV on a stand against the wall from the bed. Everything was done in those pastel colors with beach themes of starfish and sea shells. Real original. Not. I placed the two beers I still carried in my side pockets on the nightstand.
Ivy sat on the bed and I joined her. We both took off our sandals. I took her hand and slid higher onto the bed, she followed me as I leaned back onto the mattress. She lay beside me and smoothed the side of my face with her hand. I raised my hand and held onto her, turning my head I kissed her palm, then still holding onto her hand I kissed her cheek, then her nose before moving on to her mouth. God, I loved her mouth. She had the most perfect lips; I could feast on them all night long. I released her hand and moved it to the side of her waist, her shirt had ridden up and my palm touched warm silky flesh. I felt her muscles contract as I moved my hand to spread across her stomach. When I felt her hand on my skin, caressing my dragon tattoo I wanted to roar in pleasure. Sitting up, I quickly took off my shirt and helped her pull hers off too when she sat up and reached for the edge. I’d been taking it slow with her because I knew I had to.
“You’re so beautiful,” I said, when her caramel skin was reveled to me. She had on a sexy bra, it was light purple and had a tiny black bow at the front. In truth, it could have been plain white and I would still think it looked as sexy because they cupped a perfect set of breasts. I shifted us until we lay lengthwise on the bed this time, and reconnected our lips placing my hand on her breast and moving my body closer to hers.
I rolled until I lay on top of her, our lips still locked but we were completely connected now. Every part of her body was pressed to mine. I flexed my hips in to her and she separated her legs even more so I could fit. But these clothes had to go. The thought flashed across my mind just as I felt a vibration coming from my hip. Or her hip. I stopped kissing her and moved slightly so she could grab her phone. “Sorry,” she said. She raised it to look at the text she’d gotten. I could read it too. It was from Shelly. She was heading back to the house and would wait for her outside. Tony was with her so no rush.
“Now where were we?” I said, leaning toward her. But her hands pressed against my chest stopping me. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry…”
I sighed, I’d been expecting her to stop us all evening; I was just surprised to have gotten this far with her. It didn’t matter to me though. I was willing to wait for however long it took. I’d decided from the first she was worth waiting for.
I raised my thumb to caress her lips. “It’s all right. We’ll only do what you’re comfortable with doing.”
“But…”
“No buts, Ivy. I’ll do anything for you.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“No, you’re too good for me, so I damn well better treat you right.”
She smiled and I couldn’t help but kiss her. Then I sat up and grabbed her t-shirt where I’d dropped it on the bed and pulled it back over her head. “I don’t usually dress girls ya know. But I like dressing you.”
She grinned. “Damn straight. And thank you.”
I stood up and grabbed my t-shirt where I’d thrown it on the floor. Holding out my hand to her I said, “Come on I’ll drive you back.”
“It’s such a beautiful night. There’s no rush, let’s walk instead.”
Damn I found myself falling in love with this girl. How the hell did that happen! I smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “Good idea.”
Chapter Six
Ivy
I breathed a sigh of relief as we left his room. Glad he understood my hesitancy. In truth, I was still unsure of him. I knew I was falling in love with him, but he scared me with that fight. Yet after the way he handled me, changing my mind about getting away from him, I knew I could trust him.
It was just he was leaving soon. I had no idea if our relationship would survive him being out of the country. And the kind of rigorous dance schedule I’d have in the fall wasn’t helpful to sustaining a relationship. Especially a long distance cross-continents one. I was glad when Maze agreed to walk me home, we could spend more time together. We stayed on the street though instead of taking the beach to get to my house, it would have been faster, but I didn’t want to run in to those guys again.
I glanced over at Maze and caught him looking at me and grinned. The spark was still there between us, connecting us, just like the first time I’d seen him on the beach. At first I hadn’t been able to say anything. The ache in my gut was one I’d never felt before, yes he was gorgeous, but it was more than that. Like something inside of me recognized him. I shook my head. What the hell am I thinking? We’re both so young. Too young, and there was a lot of stuff we had to get through before we could even deal with anything deep. The sounds of an ambulance coming closer broke the peace of the night, and had my heart racing. The screeching sound grated on my nerves.
“That’s not a noise you hear around here very often,” Maze said.
“No.” I hoped it didn’t have anything to do with earlier tonight. My anxiety level kicked up again as I remembered the fight. When we neared the street my rental was on we could smell smoke, and then we saw it in the distance away from my neighborhood.
“Come on,” Maze said. “Let’s see what’s going on. That looks like it’s coming from that path between the complexes.”
As I walked beside him, I realized he was right. We took a short cut toward the path and as we got nearer the noise from the ambulance told us we were headed in the right direction. That and the smoke. The closer we got the stronger the smell of burning rubber.
“Oh my God!” I said, “Do you think someone went off the path?”
“Don’t know.”
Suddenly my body felt flush, not like it had been before. A cold snake slithered down my spine. I began to move faster toward the spectacle. There were a lot of people around now heading toward the area, but I shoved them out of the way. I had to get closer. Had to see for myself. It couldn’t be what I was thinking. Impossible. There was an ambulance and a fire truck blocking the path. The vehicles were too wide, there was no way they could have driven on it. It was barely wide enough for the golf carts. I snuck my way around the fire truck, I felt Maze’s hand still holding mine, anchoring me in my weird reality.
A fireman finally noticed us and stepped in front of me. “I’m sorry, miss but you can’t go any farther. Please step back.”
“What…what happen
ed?” I asked. My voice was shaky, and again for the night my body began to tremble. Dread flooding my brain. I opened my mouth to take in more air but it got filled with smoke instead.
“A golf cart went over the side.”
“Did it explode?” The question came from Maze behind me. His hand still in mine, the other now rested on my shoulder.
“We’re not sure what exploded. We’re trying to get the fire out and get down there. So please step back.”
I raised my head and glanced around looking for a familiar face. I saw my mom and dad and Shelly’s parents. I made my way over to them. My mother reached for me and hugged me. It was only then I let go of Maze’s hand. “There you are,” Mom said.
“Where’s Shelly?” I asked.
Shelly’s mom looked at me. “We thought she was with you.”
I shook my head. “We…we were together but…but got separated.”
“We’ll talk about you all leaving each other later, young lady,” my mother said. “Right now let’s find Shelly.”
“Yes…yes.” I pulled out my phone and texted her. Usually she’d text right back. We waited for a couple of minutes and my phone never vibrated. Then I tried calling her, it went straight to voice mail. I began to shake in my mother’s arms.
“Are you cold, honey?”
But I couldn’t answer her. The dread that had been coiling in my gut took root and began to spread. I turned to look at Maze. He must have seen something in my eyes because he said, “I’ll go see if I can find her.” My parents nodded at him, they’d met him briefly once one day when Shel and I were tanning with our parents on the beach, and he stopped by during his run to say hi. I watched him disappear into the crowd.
I lost track of time, how long we stayed there I don’t know. Eventually, the firefighters had bright lights illuminating the area and put the fire out, then they rigged some kind of rope to get down to the crash site. We couldn’t see anything from the angle where we were. But a whisper rushed through the crowd. They were bringing up two bodies.
“Oh God,” I whispered. Raising my hand to my mouth. With my other hand I checked my phone again. Nothing. “I…I have to go,” I said. “I have to go find Shelly, she…she’s probably still at the party.”
I didn’t give my mother a chance to stop me. I pulled away from her and didn’t turn at the sound of her and my father calling my name. I pushed my way through the crowd toward the ambulance. The crowd was too much and the path too narrow, but I made my way up the dune.
I arrived just as they brought one of the bodies up. Thanks to the bright lights I could clearly see the scarred leg, blood ran down it. But that’s not what brought the scream up from the depths of my soul. I recognized the sandaled foot. The rest of the night and day were a blur to me. There are parts of it I might never recall. The only thing I remember clearly is coming to in Maze’s arms and then being surrounded by my mom and the paramedics and Shelly’s mother screaming her name.
EEE
The following two weeks I wish I could forget. Unfortunately, those weeks I remember it all. Both Shelley and Tony had died that night. He’d been driving. The coroner’s report indicated they were both over the legal limit for driving while intoxicated. Not to mention both were under age. The thing that surprised me the most was Maze. He called and texted me, my replies to him were more automatic than anything else. But he showed up at the funeral. I was only able to hug him, he couldn’t return to the house after the interment. He had to catch the train and be back in Philly later that night. He left for Japan the next day, his departure date had been moved up.
I didn’t know if I would ever see him again. We promised we’d keep in touch. Even though all those feelings I had for him were still there, I knew they were, but I just couldn’t reach them. Part of me was numb. Dead even. As dead as Shelly was. I hoped in time I could move past the numbness. No one blamed me for my part in Shelly’s death. Not her mother or her father, nor my own parents. I just blamed myself. I should have stayed with her.
Maze: ‘Sorry haven’t heard from me for awhile but things are really hectic and intense here. It’s two in the morning and I’m breaking the rules to text you but I know I hadn’t answered your last text. Just wanted you to know I am thinking about you and I do miss you just busy. XXX’
I stared at the message for a few minutes trying to figure out how to respond. If I should respond at all. I’d been doing a lot of thinking. It’s all I’d been doing. I took a deep breath and texted back.
Me: ‘No problem miss, you too. Things are pretty hectic here for me. I leave for New York tomorrow and my life will not be my own for awhile either. XXX’
I pressed send.
The next day I left for New York with my mom. She got me settled in and then went back home. By the time my training started I really had no time for texting. No time for much except, eat, sleep when I could and dance. I immersed myself in it; I did it to honor my sister of the heart. I would live my dream for the both of us. It was the only thing that brought me solace and still made sense. There were no phones allowed in class or at rehearsals. By the time I made it back to my apartment I shared with one of the other dancers all I wanted to do was sleep and forget. Over two months I’d gotten two texts from Maze. I only returned one. His last one said he’d made it through the first round of challenges. If he made it through the third he’d be accepted into the society of fighters. I wished him luck. I really did. But in my heart, I knew we were each headed in different directions, whatever we might have been…well just wasn’t meant to be.
Another month went by before I heard from him again. He’d made it through the second round. It was almost Thanksgiving and final auditions were being held in two days for parts in the Nutcracker. I told him I was being considered for the Sugar Plum fairy. I knew he had no clue that was the prima role. Over the course of the year I rose in the ranks and Maze rose in the rounds. We each were on the roads we wanted to be. Those two weeks we spent together became a distant memory, both fond and painful. We still texted from time to time, usually birthdays, holidays and Xs at the end but that was it. Our relationship never had a chance.
Still there were times in the middle of the night in that place between wake and sleep, I would remember that night we had together, still feel has arms around me, feel the connection to this other person that I have never experienced with another. Not even close. Then I’d remember what happened afterward. I hated those nights cause in the morning I woke up empty.
Chapter Seven
The Present
Maze
I sat in the balcony, in a sea of aloneness; I’d bought out the entire box. I didn’t want anyone near me. I wanted no distractions as I looked down upon the stage and watched Ivy dance.
It was hard to believe I now had the kindof money to do something like that, but my needs had always been taken care of, my winnings all went into the bank or Joe invested. My last two fights were my biggest paydays to date. But I’d trained under masters of many disciplines, to the point I’d created my own style and I’d never lost a challenge. Fighting was easy to grasp. It was actually harder for me to grasp it’d been five years since I last saw Ivy. It may as well have been yesterday as I jogged along the shore and watched her perform some of those amazing leaps. Her dancing was even more breathtaking.
I’d followed her career the entire time, the internet made it easy. Her life on stage and rise to fame were well documented. She’d gotten every part she’d ever auditioned for, and some chorographer had seen her dance and created a piece just for her. That performance shot her straight to the ranks of the world’s best. At least that’s what the articles I’d read said.
I tried to forget her, to leave her behind but I just couldn’t quite let her go. I knew I could have pushed for a relationship, long distance even, I knew she needed me after her friend Shelly died and that she blamed herself for what happened; and that part of her probably blamed me, too. I even understood why at first she tried to s
hut me out. I should have pushed. But I knew it was for the best to let that distance between us grow.
My life had always been complicated. I could not be honest with her then, and even less so now. Joe was Triad, Chinese mafia, and a high ranked head, but he’d been fighting to make changes, breaking away and forming a Tong, a more legitimate organization. He’d taken me to Japan to compete in very special arenas, and also in an attempt to strengthen the Tong. These arenas were ones where the Triads competed and sometimes against the Yakusa, the Japanese mafia. None of this made the news, but there were rules everyone agreed to follow.
In the old days the fights were to the death, not so any more. But this kind of fighting was a way to pit raw power and talent against an opponent and the best man won, meaning if your Triad won, and it carried a lot of weigh in that world. In Joe’s case his rising Tong, but they were still under the umbrella of the Triad they were trying to break from.
Although Joe kept most of the shady side of the business away from me, I could not help but know. In truth, he’d confessed he handled only the legitimate side of the organization now for years, and he hoped to take it all in that direction. He’d sworn he’d changed the day my mom died. While Joe loved me as a son, I knew he’d loved my mother, too. He’s the one who’d trained me most of my life, but I’d begun to suspect it wasn’t just to keep me out of trouble, but to make sure I’d always be able to protect myself. Yet there were still parts of his life he would not talk about. Only once did I have direct interaction with the violent side of the business, they wanted me to protect someone. Someone who had been marked for death by a rival group. He was Joe’s best friend and like an uncle to me. Mr. Tsang was the deputy dragon master and I stopped an attempt on his life. I did it because Joe asked me to and because I could not live with myself if Tsang got hurt or worse when I was in a position to help. It was the first time Triad business touched me directly. The Triad heads had taken real notice of my skills, so it was not the last.
The Ballerina & The Fighter (Book 1) Page 4