He’d pretty much ignored our earth-shattering kissing session in the football house bathroom, running through our Saturday practice like nothing had even happened. But after our lift, which I was surprised I even let him do with me, he’d looked like he was about to do it again. And then balked. Funny, we both backed out of something that day.

  After “taking a break,” which I knew was took to get out of having a real conversation about anything, we practiced our routine to music, getting the timing and steps just right. I had no doubt we’d kill it tonight. Whether I’d have an internal meltdown seeing Miles in his costume was another thing.

  I’d consulted with the designer late last week. Miles and I were wearing all black. I knew it would make an incredible first night impression, a killer dance with sharp, dark outfits. He’d be in a traditional tuxedo. When I eventually see him I think I might faint.

  My dress is a backless halter wrap with a giant slip up the side. Just sexy enough without being overly slutty. Not unlike the tango itself.

  “Nah, you know I never get nervous about these things.” It was one of the handful of times I’d lied to Minka.

  “How have thing been with Miles…” She asks this cautiously, as if I might duck and run if she doesn’t phrase it just right.

  “They’ve been…strained. I told you practice was interesting, and now he answers my texts in one-word. I don’t know how we’re going to make it all the way to the end.” I sigh, wishing there was something I could do to erase all the ugly words and unreturned feelings between us. Conflict in my life ate away at me like nothing else.

  “Maybe he’ll come around.” Minka shrugs, picking up a blush brush on the table in the “dressing room.”

  “Whatever, talk to me. Distract me. How are you and Owen?” I pick up lip liner, plumping my already full lips and filling them in with lipstick. I hope I come off as nonchalant.

  “We’re good…” Her eyes get dreamy and far away. “He gave my his baseball jersey to wear, so I did. The other night. I didn’t know we were in a rut in our sex life until that moment…” She breaks off in a fit of giggles. Clearly they hadn’t been in a rut. Clearly they’d just had mind-blowing monkey sex. Lucky brat.

  “I seriously hate you right now. You’re so lucky.”

  “Yeah, but it took me a long time to get here. There are still insecurities I have with Owen. Why is he with me? I still find myself thinking that when I watch him sleep in the morning.”

  “Minka, come on. That boy thinks you hang the moon. He would cut off his right arm if it meant you were happy.”

  She sighs, a smile dusting her lips. “I know. He's just, he's it for me. He makes every day better. Even when he's acting like a cocky bastard." She winks, and I examine my finished work in the mirror.

  "That's as good as its going to get." I pinch my cheeks for just a bit more color.

  "Shut up. You always look amazing—" Just then the door swung open, revealing Owen and Miles. "Miles, please tell your partner that she looks hot."

  I knew Minka was inciting him, trying to get both of us together. I almost laugh at her attempt. No way would we ever her and Owen. Miles hated me too much.

  But when I look up, heat dusting my cheeks from Minka's obvious ploy, my breath hitches as his remarkable eyes latch onto mine. I watch in the mirror, facing forward, as Miles rakes his gaze over the exposed flesh at my back. He takes in my hair, long, loose black curls falling out of the artful up-do I've constructed. His green glows like the brightest emerald, his blue one darker than the water on the ocean floor.

  My mouth has gone dry looking at him while he peruses my body. He looks even better than I thought he would in his all-black tux. His massive shoulders fill the entire top out, his long legs seemingly endless under the perfectly fitted trousers. The dark material makes him seem more intimidating than he already is. He's slicked all those gorgeous blonde curls back, leaving his face completely exposed. His strong jaw and cheeks have a coating of five-o-clock shadow, which only makes him more sexy than he already is.

  "I think we better give these two a minute." Owen chuckles, grabbing Minka's hand and leading her by the small of her back from the room.

  I turn and give Miles a small smile. "Well, at least we're dressed to impress."

  He sneers. "You really had to come out looking all flashy for the cameras, huh?"

  His words feel like a slap, and I almost flinch at the surly look on his striking face. I quickly turn back around, hiding my face behind the curtain of curls cascading over my face while I silently pack my makeup bag.

  "I...didn't mean that Chloe. I'm sorry, I guess I'm just nervous." Miles sounds hesitant, like he might rub a supportive hand over my upper back. "You look beautiful. You always look beautiful."

  This comes out as a whisper, I don't even know if I'm meant to hear it he says it so low. It sends a thrill through my pores nonetheless.

  "We'll do great. I can feel it." I put my plastic grin on, the one reserved for audiences. He's so hot and cold towards me that sometimes I don't know which way is up. Best to fake it and stay on his good side. He is lifting me during our dance, and I don't want to give him any excuse to drop me.

  * * *

  Miles and I are interviewed together shortly after we make our way to the main stage, which is set up in the large campus auditorium. The broadcast student asking us questions is peppy, her over-shellacked blonde hair not moving an inch as she'd asked us how we'd been getting along. "Great," I'd responded at the same time Miles said, "Just peachy." At least he was treating me like a human being in front of the cameras.

  Then, we were ushered to our seats, a lounge type area located a little ways off the dance floor, where we could sit and watch the four couples perform their routines before us. We were slotted to dance fifth out of the six pairs, and as we stretched out in the back of the arena, my heart began to pound.

  Why was I nervous? This never happened. My hands were sweating, and suddenly little black dots appeared in my vision. I sat back, closing my eyes, halting the straddle split I'd been pushing my body into moments before. Taking deep, drawn out breaths, I flooded my lungs with overly-heated air from inside the auditorium.

  "Hey, what's wrong?" Miles's concerned voice fills my ears. I continue to breath, just thinking that if I can take a two-second break from the chaos of this room, I'll be fine.

  "Hey..." And then his big, strong hand is rubbing my naked back, the calluses on his palm scratching my skin. "It's okay. You're okay."

  He's whispering soothing sentiments into my ear, working his digits up and down my tailbone. Goosebumps follow in his wake, and tingles electrify my bones, heat pooling in my core. The feeling that the walls are closing in on me recedes, and I lean into Miles's comfort, his body now bracketing my side.

  "We're up, Chloe. We have to go. Just take my hand. We're going to do great." I look up at Miles, whose kaleidoscope eyes burn into my own. As if in a trance, I allow him to pick me up off the floor and lead me out onto the dance floor.

  The judges' table, where three gleeful professors turned dance scorers sit, resides on the left side of the dance floor. The rest of the laid hardwood is packed in on each side by audience members, who are mostly students and Greek Life members.

  Miles holds my hand firmly as he trots us onto the floor, plastering a showman's smile on his beautiful lips and elbowing me to do the same. I follow, fixing my mouth in just the right sexy, happy smile. I begin to regain some of my confidence, and when we take our starting position in each other's embrace, I flash my eyes in challenge to him.

  "Let's dance the hell out of this." I smirk at my renewed giddiness.

  The beginning notes of the saucy Latin beat I've picked for us drift loudly over the room. Then we are moving, and everything else falls away.

  Miles twists and turns me, moving my figure where he wants it, when he wants it. I become pliable, moving with him elegantly and easily, but strong in my dancing as well. Our feet stride in tandem, one replacing the other as we burn the dance floor up in our wake. He's all but eating me with the cocky, sultry grin that marks his face for the entire performance, and I know its his expression that's fueling me to get even more into our dance.

  We're almost done, all that's left us the lift and the ending pose. I saunter across the dance floor, rolling my hips as I remain in character, the saucy Latin temptress. I face Miles, and see him give just the slightest nod of his head for reassurance, a gesture meant only for me. I sashay to him, and then I'm up, my head thrown back, my bent legs almost touching the crown of my head. Miles's strong hands clasp my waist. He's almost able to encircle the entire thing, and I'm not sure why but it turns me on. The idea that he can so easily overpower me, make my body do whatever he wants.

  We end with my body slithering down his, and wrap each other in an embellished lover's caress. My body shivers with lust as his big frame swallows me.

  And then the world is rushing back, the audience is on its feet. I see Minka and Owen screaming right at the front of the dance floor, and the judges clap with such enthusiasm I feel like we've just won the entire competition.

  The same blonde who interviewed us before, I found out her name is Brooke Sayers, comes to stand beside us as we face the judges. Miles is standing in back of me, his hands on my waist, doing the supportive partner stance.

  "Judges, let's hear your comments on Miles and Chloe's tango!" Her pearly-white veneers glint in the light of the camera.

  The short, rotund sociology professor, Mr. Janglit, goes first. "Wow. The interaction between you two, I was fanning my face the entire dance. Your bodies worked in such harmony with each other, I think we have real finals potential on our hands here!" He nods at the crowd while snapping his fingers like he's at a poetry slam.

  Brooke motions to the second judge, my own dance theory professor Ms. Merilee. "Brava, Chloe and Miles. Your form was fantastic, the way you led her Miles, I can see you are classically trained. Your steps were on point, and although there was a disjointed hand or leg movement here or there, it was, overall, very, very good for the first week."

  The crowd claps again, before quieting down for the last judge's comments. "One word." Mr. Vittle, the British Literature teacher, scrounges around under his chair.

  "TEN!" He cries, holding up the scorecard, indicating our dance hit the highest mark for him.

  The other two judges hold up tens as well, and then Brooke Sayers is screaming, "And we have our first perfect tens of the season!"

  I jump and turn, launching myself into Miles's arms. He swings me around, both of us smiling ecstatically at each other, before he kisses me on the cheek. Setting me down.

  Brooke motions for us to exit the dance floor, the last couple has to perform, and we make our way back to the dressing rooms. Which are really only utility closets in the campus center.

  I run in, a flurry of excitement at our near perfect dance.

  "We did it!" I do a little happy jump, surprised that I'm this jazzed up about a performance. Don't get me wrong, I love ballet, but I'm always wholly content afterwards. I'm never enthused to the point of skipping. I never feel like going out and partying after.

  "Yeah." Miles rubs the back of his neck. "Thank god you didn't have a full on nerd theater meltdown before. Oh wait, you did." He laughs sarcastically, and my happy bubble instantly pops.

  So he was just faking all of that partnerly love for the crowd. Well, at least I knew now. Not that it made the ache in my heart lessen. "Thanks for calming me down." Embarrassment flooded my cheeks.

  "No problem. That's what partners are for right? So...I guess I'll see you at the cast party?" The DWTG parties were legendary. They rotated around the Greek houses every Tuesday night, and usually ended with multiple visits by both campus police and the Grover town cops. I suddenly had no interest to go at all. I give a noncommittal shrug, before I turn around to see that he hadn't even waited for my answer.

  9

  Miles

  The shade of her eyes had matched the shade of her plum-colored lips tonight. It was branded into my brain, that image, and it wouldn't get the fuck out.

  Chloe had been magnificent tonight, once she'd gotten out on that dance floor she'd lit up like the giant white-lit Christmas tree my mother insisted on putting in the hallway at the holidays. When she danced, you couldn't tear your eyes away from her. I didn't think I'd ever see anything more beautiful again.

  And that was a fucking problem. Because no way was I getting messed up with princess.

  A girl on my lap, a beer in my hand. Now this is what I needed.

  Brooke Sayers twists in my lap, and drunkenly pouts as I keep my conversation with one of my frat buddies going, all but ignoring her.

  "Will you teach me to dance? You're soooo good at it." She grins, her voice doing that annoying valley-girl imitation.

  Chloe never does that. Weird how I never noticed that before. It’s such a spoiled princess thing you'd think she would.

  "Maybe later, in my room, baby." I give her a wolfish grin, and her hazy eyes pool with lust. They're not the shade of a purple sunset though.

  "Mr. Classically Trained, pong partner?" Clint yells from across the room. We're always partners, and we always kill it. Something about being able to calculate the distance of a throw, him at pitcher, me at shortstop, gives us a very unfair advantage in drinking games.

  Guess the cat's out of the bag on my ballroom secret, but most of the brothers don't seem to care. They aren't even making fun of me, they're stoked. So stoked that they asshole they picked can actually do a two-step.

  I'm about to answer Clint when I see her. Chloe walks into the cavernous living room of the Kappa frat house, where tonight's designated after-party is being held, still in her competition dress. That dress should be illegal. It's black and glittery, exposing entire portions of her skin throughout it. I want to rip it off her with my teeth.

  I see her glance around, her eyes stopping dead on Brooke all but straddling my lap, shoving her tits in my face. Chloe's expression crumples. It's a look I've seen from her over the years, at various high school parties she'd show up to. Someone else would have already claimed me for the night, and disappointment would show at her missed opportunity to finally bed me.

  It's never bothered me. Only now, I feel like a total dick.

  She turns on her heel, walking just as quickly out as she did in.

  Brooke doesn’t seem to notice the exchange, and continues to shove her overly whitened chompers close to my mouth. I then realize she’s not as hot as I originally thought. I, kind of irritably, throw her off my lap, an angry huff leaving her thin lips as she bounces onto the couch.

  I barely register her pissed off “hey!” as I leave the room. Looking for Chloe in the hallway, I almost bowl over Owen on his way out of the bathroom.

  “Hey, man, where you off to in such a hurry?” Humor lines his eyes. He’s been in a fan-fucking-tastic mood ever since Minka had given him the time of day over a year ago.

  “Have you seen Chloe?” I must have a panicked look on my face, because he rounds on me.

  “What the fuck did you do to her now? Haven’t you cut that girl down enough? You’re a dick, man.”

  His visceral response almost knocks me on my ass. “What are you talking about, Axel?”

  He sighs, a little bit of guilt marking his expression. “Okay, well. Minka told me what you said to Chloe the night of the fair. How you reamed her out. I can’t believe you’d talk to her like that, Farris. And now this. I know you’ve been treating her like shit the last month. When are you going to get over this Olivia shit? I want my friend back.” He mumbles the last part, effectively ripping my heart in half.

  And that night on the Ferris Wheel comes rushing back at me. I’d all but forgotten the horrible things I’d said to her, forgotten that I’d sulked over the side while I listened to her silent tears. God, I really was an asshole.

  I was fresh off being dumped by Olivia, and just that day, fresh off a World War argument with my father. I had been flayed open that summer, and being dragged to fair and forced into a date with Chloe has been like salt in the wound. But it didn’t mean I had to treat her like dog shit under my shoe.

  “I’m sorry man. I’ve been…there’s been some shit going on in my life.” I implored him to accept my apology with the stare I drilled into him.

  “You don’t have to apologize, Farris. I’m your best friend. I’m here to talk. And maybe we can do that. But right now, I think you do owe someone else an apology.”

  Leave it to Axel to sound like a fucking wise Monk or some shit. I took off, tearing out of the house and searching both the backyard and front lawn to no avail. She was either upstairs in someone’s room, a thought that made me want to spit nails, or gone. I jogged down to the sidewalk, swiveling my head back and forth, trying to make out any shadow in the dark.

  A willowy figure appears under a street light about forty feet from the house, and I sprint to where I’d caught it in the light.

  As I near the person, they begin to turn, the air crackling with fear. And then Chloe is screeching at the top of her lungs, piercing the night air with her blood-curdling yells.

  “CHLOE! It’s just me. Its Miles.” She stops, confusion and relief flooding her toffee-colored complexion. She throws an elegant, slim hand over heart, trying to stop the labored breaths puffing out of her throat.

  “Jeez, you really scared me. I thought you were going to rape me or something.”

  The thought both sickened and aroused me. I liked sex rough, but I would never, ever take it from a girl unwillingly. “Well maybe you shouldn’t walk home alone at night, princess.”

  Upset replaces the confusion in her eyes, their twinkle reflected by the moon. I was always starting off on the wrong foot with this girl.

  “I didn’t…fuck. I just…whenever I talk to you it always comes out harsher than I mean it to sound. And what you saw back there…with Brooke. It wasn’t anything.”