AudreyI couldn’t help feeling nervous about the fact that Jesse was coming over. I had been on the fence about actually inviting him. I didn’t like lying to Mom, though, and she had told me that I should ask him. As for picking a date for him to come over, well, it wasn’t like I had that many days left. My flight was already booked, and I would be back to Paris in less than two weeks.I still could barely believe that. Of course, I was ecstatic about the fact that the director not only wanted me back far sooner than the six months that he had originally given me, but that he also wanted to give me a lead role, to boot.The more I thought about it, though, the more nervous I made myself. It wasn’t just about losing Jesse, either. Had I been training enough? Did I still look enough like a ballerina, in spite of the few pounds that I had put on while I was back here? Would I be able to work all of that off? Would I be able to handle the role that the director wanted to give me? What wou
Audrey“It was your favorite, wasn’t it?” Annabelle asked, shrugging. “It always reminded me of you. I was surprised you didn’t take it with you, actually.”“I didn’t think it would be cool enough to wear in Philadelphia,” I admitted. “And then I didn’t think it would be sophisticated enough for Paris.”Annabelle rolled her eyes. “Screw sophistication,” she said succinctly.I grinned and pulled on the light blue dress, lacing it up at the back. I smoothed my hands over the soft daisies that dotted the front pockets. “How do I look?” I asked, again unable to help the nervousness that crept into my voice.Annabelle smiled softly at me. “Just like yourself,” she assured me. “Only, wait.” She grabbed a flower from the bouquet that was sitting on my desk, one that Jesse had brought to my studio the previous day at lunchtime. “There,” she said, tucking it into my braided crown. “Perfect.”I looked in the mirror and smiled at myself. Perfect, indeed.“Have you told him yet?” Annabelle asked,
AudreyOverall, though, I was going to miss her fiercely. I had great friends back in Paris, but none of them were quite like my sister. She understood me like no one else ever could. Not only that, but she was the best listener. Whether I was ranting in frustration about my ankle or gushing enthusiasm over the part that the director wanted me to take on, she was there to listen and support me.Listening to everyone chatting and laughing around the table, I felt torn.This could be my life. I could stay here in Aberdeen. Maybe not here in my mom’s house, but I could find a place of my own and get some sort of job, even if it meant working in an unskilled trade like Annabelle had done, just trying to make ends meet. I could have Jesse as my real boyfriend, and I could be close to my family.If I did that, though, I would be giving up on dance. Oh, maybe I could keep up with training on my own up in the little studio that I was renting. Would that ever really be enough for me? No. I kne
JesseI hummed as I mopped the floors on Wednesday afternoon. “You’re in a good mood,” Joe commented from where he was closing out the cash register. As though that wasn’t obvious. He grinned at me and raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged defensively.“Yeah, I am,” I said.Fortunately, he let it be as he continued working. I knew that he was only good for teasing as far as the Audrey thing was concerned. To be honest, his teasing didn’t bother me at this point. In fact, the more time I spent with Audrey, the more I sort of liked his teasing. It made me feel almost like this was going to last. Even though I knew that it couldn’t. I continued mopping the floors, thinking back to the night before. I had gone over to Audrey’s mom’s place for dinner. It had gone well, with lots of talk and laughter. Clayton and I had chatted about some of our favorite fishing spots in the area, and we had made plans to go out together sometime over the summer. I wondered if Audrey would think that was strang
Jesse“I love her,” I repeated after taking a sip. “I don’t want her to go back to France without me. Not that I could ask her to stay; that feels really selfish of me, and it’s not like I don’t want her to keep dancing. She’s so amazing, Joe; you wouldn’t believe it.” I paused. “Anyway, I would never ask her to give up dancing. I just feel like there has to be some kind of way where we could have it all.” I paused again, picking at the label on my bottle. “I was thinking that maybe you could manage the shop for a little while if I was going to leave and be with her.”Joe’s eyebrows had risen nearly to his hairline. “Is that what you really want?” he asked.“I want her. I want us. The real deal,” I told him frankly, and again, the words were somehow easy to say. “I can’t for the life of me imagine what I would do in France, but I do know that if Audrey goes back there, there’s just no way that I could let her go alone.”“I can’t picture you in France,” Joe said, shaking his head. “But
AudreyI was surprised when Jesse called, not because it was anything out of the ordinary for him to call, or because it was out of the ordinary for him to want to see me that evening. Lately, it seemed like we had been spending nearly every evening together. I liked that. I still hadn’t found a way to tell him that I was going to be leaving so soon. Tonight, I had promised myself, I would.It was surprising to hear the way that he asked the question. He didn’t just want me to come over. He wanted to know if I would stay the night this time.It was something that I had been trying so hard to avoid. Not because I didn’t want to. God knew that I wanted to fall asleep tangled in his arms after sex and wake up next to him the following morning. I wanted to make breakfast with him in his kitchen or have him bring me breakfast in bed maybe. I wanted sweet, soft kisses to start the day and a passion that built to a frenzy before lunchtime.I had been careful, though. I was leaving soon, and
JesseI hadn’t meant to pull Audrey directly upstairs as soon as I saw her, but it was hard to resist. Especially when she looked so cute in those cut-off jeans and a cropped T-shirt, her hair in long, blonde braids. Now that we were naked in bed together, I wanted to curl around her and never let her go. I was sleepy, warm, and sated, and I never wanted to get up.Of course, then my stomach growled.Audrey laughed and rolled around to face me instead of having her back pressed against my chest. “Hungry?” she asked teasingly.“Yeah,” I sighed. “I already made dinner; it’s just waiting downstairs. I’ll probably need to reheat it by now, though.”“That’s all right,” Audrey said cheerfully. She slipped out of bed and went to my closet to grab one of my flannels, pulling it on and buttoning it. She stopped buttoning dangerously low, where I still got a good view of her cleavage, and I groaned. It would be a little while before I could get hard again, but I could already feel my body tryin
Jesse“Oh wow!” I said in surprise. “Audrey, that’s amazing. No wonder you’re being so strict about your diet. It’ll take a lot of training to bring yourself up to that level, won’t it?” I felt relieved. Was that all that she was trying to tell me? That she wasn’t going to have as much time to spend with me in the evenings, or that she was going to be more exhausted when we did spend time together? That was fine.Audrey looked pained, though. “He wants me back soon,” she said. “And I’ve already said yes. This might be the biggest opportunity to ever cross my path. This is the one that dancers wait for. Like, this could make my career. This could get my name all over the world. Get me invitations to dance with whatever company I want to dance with and take all the roles that I want to take. It’s huge.”“It is huge,” I agreed, but I could feel apprehension welling up inside of me. She didn’t seem very excited about this. Somehow, it seemed like she was telling me bad news, but I couldn’