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  Her eyes widened in surprise. “You’re not a stranger, Tyler. We’ve known each other for practically all our lives. I presently lack experience. I’d like to change that, but I’m busy at work most of the time. It won’t take up much of your time. I was thinking we’d have sex a few times, just to make sure I learned everything I needed to know.” She squared her shoulders and waited for my answer. She was downright determined.

  “What?” Shit, there I go again. It was just that she was making having sex sound like a class she was taking. “There’s much more to sex than…I mean, I can’t believe you.”

  She covered her mouth and finally blushed. “Oh God.”

  “Yeah, pray,” I grumbled. Do something else besides try to have sex with me. What was going on in her head? I needed to know. “I can’t believe you just propositioned me. Don’t you have any other men you can ask that you’re interested in?” Wait, why am I encouraging this?

  She tilted her head down so I couldn’t see her face. “I have friends, but no one I want to have sex with. I’m healthy. I haven’t had anyone before, so you don’t have to worry.”

  My mouth dropped open. Fuck me. “You’re a virgin too?”

  “Don’t say it like it’s a curse word,” she said hoarsely. “I am a virgin, but I don’t want to be. I want to get it over and done with.”

  “Sex isn’t something to just end your virginity.” I tightened my jaw. “Sex isn’t something you get rid of. Your first time should be with someone special.”

  “Like it was for you with Angela Meyers?” She smirked.

  I grinned, despite it all. Angela Meyers…we did it in her rec room when I was fifteen. I came within two minutes, but we did it two more times before she moved on to Joey Bronson. “You’re better than that. You should be with a man who loves you.”

  She shook her head. “That may never happen. I don’t want to waste my life waiting.”

  I rubbed my jaw. Any other woman, I’d take at her word. The thing was, Scarlet wasn’t just any woman. Our families knew each other. She was my sister’s best friend.

  “Don’t you find me attractive?” she said, cutting into my thoughts. “I…felt you…”

  I closed my eyes. Shit. What do I say to that? “I do, Scarlet, very much, but Coach Frost said it was better we didn’t get involved with anyone from the ballet.”

  She wiped her cheek, and my stomach flipped over.

  “You’ll meet someone—”

  “Don’t,” she said, her voice thick. “Sorry I asked you. I’ll figure it out.”

  I lowered my brow. She meant she’d figure it out with someone else, and I didn’t like the idea of some asshole fooling around and hurting her. I didn’t want to hurt her.

  But could I do this?

  If we were caught together, I’d have to hire a bodyguard to keep her brothers off me. Her mom would probably hire a hit man, not to mention, I wouldn’t be in a good way with Coach Frost.

  I started the car and drove the rest of the way to her place. When we got there, I said, “Let me think on it. Don’t go around asking someone else, okay?”

  Her lips spread into a smile. She was positively stunning when she was happy.

  “I said think,” I repeated. “Not a yes or no. You’re not in the program?”

  She shook her head.

  Technically, it wasn’t against the rules, right? I sighed. “Let me think about it.”

  “Thank you,” she said enthusiastically. “While you’re thinking, I’ll email you my schedule, and we can coordinate a time. How about next Monday on my day off?”

  “I’ve got a game,” I replied. “Also, I haven’t agreed to do this with you, Scarlet.”

  “I’ll come watch the game, and then you can give me my first sex lesson afterward,” she said, ignoring me. “I’ll take the subway back uptown after, or maybe get a taxi.”

  “Hey, are you listening?” I grumbled. “You won’t take the subway. I’ll drive you home—if, and I mean if I say yes.”

  “Great. Then it’s a plan,” she said, giving me her number and taking mine. She leaned over and brushed her soft lips against my cheek. “Thank you, Tyler.”

  I watched her rush forward into the building.

  I shook my head. Dammit. What was I doing?

  My phone sounded. It was my sister Zoey.

  “Did you take Scarlet home?” she asked, her tone clipped.

  “Yeah, and I took her for dinner too, Mom,” I quipped. “Give it a rest.”

  “I saw how you two were looking at each other today,” she said. “She might still have a crush on you.”

  She did, though I hadn’t known it until just a moment before. “She’s sweet. It’s good she’s in town now.” That was about all she was getting from me.

  “She’s not here for anything but ballet,” she said bossily. “She has a lot of people expecting her to achieve principal. Her family depends on her, and they sacrificed a lot to get her there. They all deserve a win and nothing to block her focus.”

  “I have no intention of dating her,” I gritted out. “And what about you and your own focus on dance?”

  “I may never be a soloist, but I’m not done with dancing,” she said. “I’m just telling you, don’t encourage her. Scarlet’s sensitive.”

  And Scarlet was tired of everyone handling her like she was in bubble wrap. I got Scarlet. This handling her with kid gloves went beyond just her family. She was surrounded by people trying to control her life. It must have taken a lot for her to ask me for sex.

  “Leave it, all right. I’m done with this conversation. Get back to your own life and mind your own business.” I hung up on her. However, on my drive home, I couldn’t help thinking about what she’d said. I didn’t want to hurt Scarlet. I just needed to find a way to talk her out of having sex with me…but how?

  “SCARLET?” THE WAY MICHEL CALLED my name let me know he had said it more than once.

  My mind was so crowded with what I had just done with Tyler that I hadn’t realized he was standing in front of me, and he was hard to miss. He stood at five foot nine, three inches taller than me. He, like Christophe, had presence. He even looked elegant in his tracksuit.

  My heart rate picked up. He’d been jogging. Had he seen me in the car, seen the kiss on Tyler’s cheek—or was it his chin? At the time, I’d been too excited to see where it landed, too desperate to get out before he burst my bubble and rejected my offer for sex.

  “You have fun tonight? Priscilla mentioned you went out,” Michel said, trying to capture my attention again. Did I detect a bit of humor in his voice?

  My eyes darted over him in assessment. While I was an adult and Michel and Priscilla were all for me gaining more independence, I wasn’t sure how they’d react to me being with Tyler.

  With Tyler? I wasn’t with him. He was probably already thinking of ways to turn me down, and then I’d have to hide from him the rest of my life to avoid the embarrassment. I hung my head.

  “Hey now, where did that smile go?” Michel placed his arm around my shoulder and moved us forward into the elevator.

  I forced a smile on my face. “Sorry. I’m fine.”

  He sighed, and when we reached our floor, I followed him inside. Before I turned into my bedroom, he asked, “Want to join me for some stretches before you go to sleep?” He stood outside their home studio.

  I hesitated. I wanted to be alone, but I didn’t want to disappoint Michel. “I’ll be right there.”

  After a quick change into a tank and yoga pants, I met him inside the studio. I smiled. Michel was in his sixties and still had his leg up on the barre, his foot perfectly arched in extension. “You can say no to me, you know.”

  I blinked. “I know. I thought you were going to show me some techniques.”

  “Not tonight,” he said, then hissed out his breath as he stretched the front of his body over his extended leg.

  I sat down on the polished floor and stretched my legs out. I exhaled and lowered my body
until my chin touched my knees.

  “I hoped to talk with you more,” he said, gently picking up our conversation again. “I saw you get out of the car. It was by chance. I wasn’t spying on you, I promise.”

  My mouth went dry and my pulse quickened. “Tyler just brought me home. He’s Zoey’s brother,” I stammered.

  “Don’t worry, Scarlet,” he said in a soothing tone. He came over to stretch on the floor with me. “I am not judging you. I just wanted to know if you have a new friend.”

  I averted my eyes. I wasn’t ready to share my attraction to Tyler, but even that little piece had already been uncovered by Michel. “I’m fine. It was nothing…nothing happened, I promise.”

  “I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” he said softly. “I’m offering you an ear just in case you feel you need someone to confide in.”

  “Really, it was nothing,” I repeated then moved to lie my stomach. “Tyler and I grew up together. I’m like his kid sister.” Or so he said.

  He came behind me as I turned over, took my ankle and foot, and eased me into a stretch of the back of my leg. “But you’d like to be more?”

  “Even if I wanted to, it wouldn’t work. I have no time for anyone with my dance schedule.”

  “It would take maneuvering, but it’s not impossible,” he said, sitting down in front of me. “I once dated a woman named Ava who worked as some corporate suit on Wall Street.” He’d never shared such a story with me; I’d assumed he and Priscilla had been together forever. They’d danced together for many years.

  My lips parted. “How did you manage?”

  “We didn’t in the long run,” he said ruefully. “She broke my heart, but Priscilla healed it and I’m all the better for it.”

  I swallowed. “Did the breakup affect your dancing?”

  “Of course it did,” he answered. “We dance with all our hearts and souls. Love will of course affect our art, but for the better. My love and breakup with Ava made me stronger in my relationship with Priscilla. What I’m trying to say is, don’t be afraid to have love. Yes, dance is demanding and it may not survive, but you deserve to have that. I won’t be the one to spoil that for you.”

  He paused and waited for me to open up to him, but I couldn’t. After all, I wasn’t exactly being deceitful. Nothing had happened or was going to happen with Tyler. So, I just said, “Thank you, Michel.”

  He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  I stood up to leave, but paused at the door. “Could…you keep what you saw between us?” I held my breath. The last thing I wanted was for my mother to catch wind of me with anyone, especially Tyler. He had never been on her good list, but then, no guy ever was if they liked me.

  “Okay,” he said reluctantly. “But if you need to talk about anything, Priscilla and I are here for you.”

  Michel, sure, but Priscilla and my mom shared similar views when it came to relationships. She believed dating outside of the ballet world would disrupt my dancing, and even if Michel was there to listen, it wasn’t worth giving details when there wasn’t anything to share—at least nothing I wanted them to know about. Though I thought of Tyler as a man of interest, he’d looked shocked to his core at my request. He would turn me down, I was sure of it. What I wasn’t sure about was how I was going to handle the end of my crazed fascination with him.

  I had finished my daily schedule and was heading over to the gym for a swim when Tyler’s number came up on my screen.

  “How you doing?” he said in a Joey Tribbiani accent that had me bursting with laughter. I always liked his sense of humor.

  “All right,” I responded once I recovered. “One sec.” I went to a corner of the hallway. “What’s up?”

  “Listen, I’ve been thinking,” he said, his voice gentle. “We shouldn’t mess up our friendship. If we did have sex, it would make everything weird. We have our families to think about, and we’re both busy with our careers.”

  My heart muscles squeezed together. Everything he said made sense, but I felt the sting of tears at the back of my eyes and my throat closed. I took a few moments to speak, hoping he wouldn’t hear how much his rejection affected me. “You’re right, I guess. Um…okay.”

  “I did get you VIP tickets to my game,” he said in a placating tone. “If you still want to come and watch the match, but if you don’t want to—”

  “Of course I do,” I said, interrupting him and forcing a lift into my voice. What else could I say? I didn’t want to come across as rude just because I hadn’t gotten what I wanted.

  “Good, I’m glad,” he replied, his voice now upbeat. “Our class this week is tomorrow evening. If you’re still there when we finish, you could join me and Zoey out for dinner.”

  I swallowed. I wasn’t ready to see him, needed more time to get myself together. “I’ve got a long practice then physical therapy.”

  “Oh,” he said, and we were both quiet for a few heartbeats. “Are you all right?” he asked. “I mean, with the therapy?”

  “Yes,” I said, sighing. “It’s more so nothing gets to the point where it’s a problem.”

  “Got it. But are you all right about what I said first? Believe me, I want to have sex with you, I just don’t want to hurt—”

  “No need to explain,” I said, cutting him off. I sighed again. “I’ll be okay.”

  “You’re not going to ask someone else?” he asked.

  “I don’t want to…but…” I murmured.

  “But nothing,” he hissed. “Like I told you, you’re better than that. You will meet someone.”

  I pressed my lips together. Now he was lecturing me on what I should do, just like everyone else. “I’ve got to go. Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself.” I ended the call.

  Closing my eyes, I stood there and took a few deep breaths. My mind tried to cling to the part about him wanting to have sex with me. Maybe if we talk more, he’ll reconsider? Before I could get lost in that delusion, a big hand waved in front of my face. When I focused, I looked up into a pair of blue eyes smiling down at me.

  “Excuse me,” he said. “I’m Ace, one of the New York F.C. players. I was asked to stop in to drop off some forms at the office—do you know where it’s located…?” He paused and lifted a brow.

  “Scarlet,” I said. His large hand covered mine and shook it.

  “Nice to meet you,” he said, smiling. “I saw you demonstrate for us during our first class. You know, I never knew ballet was so hard.” We laughed. “We barely did anything in class, but when I got on the field, I could feel it,” he said, following me down the corridor.

  “Well, ballet takes some getting used to.” I gestured toward the sign for the office. “And from what I’ve heard from other players who have tried it, it could help improve your game.”

  “We’re not doing too bad,” he said when we reached the door.

  “Yeah, I know. Tyler and I just talked about it.” My stomach turned over. Tyler. I cleared my throat. “I’m coming to your next game.”

  “Oh great,” he said with enthusiasm. “If you want, I could give you a tour of the stadium before the game.” He paused.

  I bit my lip. Was he asking me out? “A tour?”

  “Sure, I give them all the time,” he said, grinning. “I’m good at them.” He winked playfully.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure. Sounds fun.”

  “Great.” He took my phone and typed in his number before disappearing into the office. I continued walking and a text appeared on the screen.

  Ace: See you soon, beautiful.

  Tyler had called me beautiful too. Perhaps that was just the way he treated all the women around him. He doesn’t want me.

  I looked at the message again. Did Ace think the tour was a date?

  “TYLER, ARE YOU LISTENING?” COACH Frost asked.

  He was ready to go over the day’s plays before we went out onto the field at Yankee Stadium against the Seattle Sounders. They were having a good season, but so were we, and I wasn�
��t worried about the game. We’d do what we did and get the job done, but he was right: I was distracted.

  By Scarlet.

  I’d called to offer her a ride to the stadium, but only got her voicemail. What I really wanted was to see if she was doing okay. Knowing her all these years, I knew it must have taken a lot for her to propose something like that to me. I wanted it too. Hell, I stayed up a few nights just thinking of how good it would be to kiss and lick all over her body and watch her come for the first time with me deep inside her. The idea stroked my ego—me being the only man ever to have her like that. I was damn close to saying fuck it and taking her.

  On the other hand, I’d seen her perform over the years, when I’d act like I’d been forced to go to the ballet performances. She was amazing, special. I’d hate myself if she became attached. She’d say she was fine with the sex only, but what if she wasn’t? I wasn’t looking for a relationship. Then again, she seemed determined. I mean, if it wasn’t me, it would be some schmuck who might mess her up anyway. At least with me, I’d do her right. Fuck. I was conflicted as hell.

  I needed to get my head back in the game. Jumping up on my feet and bouncing around, I spoke up to put Coach Frost at ease. “We’ve got this.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “Now that you’re paying attention, Wilson, Javier does all penalty kicks.”

  My jaw tightened. If it works for the team, he forgot to add.

  Coach Frost turned to the next thing on his list. “Anyone know where the hell Ace has gone off to?”

  “Over here,” he called out. “Cover up, guys.” Most of us were already in our uniform, but he brought a chick in there at his own risk. It wasn’t that we’d do anything to her, but if she saw something she wanted and decided to upgrade, too bad—unless she was claimed by him.