She turns her wrist and checks her watch, “I have to get back, we need to arrange a girl’s night soon.”
“We really do,” I agree, giving her a hug before I show her to the door, watching as she makes her way to her car parked on the street and drives off. It’s coming to the end of summer now and the leaves have started to turn but the heat is hanging on. The house should be done before Autumn takes over and the cold that comes with being on the Northeastern coast fully snaps into place. Winter is no joke here and I want that fireplace to be fully functional before it sinks its icy claws into all of us.
The door creaks as I close it and I wince as one of the hinges practically falls out the frame, hanging on by a single screw that even a small puff of wind will knock loose. Not a big deal, I tell myself, this will all be solved once the workers get here tomorrow and bring this place back to life.
Heading back through to the room I’ll be turning into my studio, I stop and put my hands on my hips, my eyes falling closed as I imagine how incredible it’s going to be.
I haven’t danced in a week, I’ve been doing paperwork, and having meetings with contractors so I haven’t had the time nor the space and even though it’s not ready nor is it practical, I pull my phone from my pocket and bring up my playlist.
Hitting play on the song, the soft notes of the guitar fill the room with sound, the intro toMy Drugby Anthony Mossburg a balm that washes through me. My body moves in a sequence I have performed time and time again, in a way that is almost haunting but beautiful. I don’t dance to music like this in front of an audience, though there’s something special about the way the passionate lyrics and the elegant dance of ballet work in tandem. It creates a visual to match the burning need etched into every word crooned alongside the expertly pulled strings of the guitar.
I immediately break a sweat as my body twists and bends, sweeping through the room as the late afternoon sun beams in through the floor to ceiling windows. The floor creaks and dust is stirred up but still I move, eyes closed as each note and lyric echoes through me, like I am the puppet and the music is mymaster. I have no control over my body, not when I am dancing. My soul is on fire, but I am happy to sit in the middle of the flames until I am nothing but ashes if it means I can continue to feel the freedom that dancing brings.
I start to slow my pace as the song draws to an end and when silence falls around me, I keep my eyes closed, my whole body vibrating with the aftershocks of my private performance as my heart pumps heavily inside my chest.
It isn’t until I hear a shoe scuff across the grit littering the floor that I realize I am not alone. My eyes snap open, instantly finding the person currently standing in the door to the room. I was so lost in the dance I didn’t even hear him arrive.
Killian Archer stands there, touched by sunlight, his dark eyes pinning me to the floor. If heartache had a physical form, it would be in the room with me right now.
There is nothing but dust and silence between us but then he opens his mouth to speak only his words are cut off as his brother, Dean, shoves his way through.
“Damn, Sav,” Dean whistles, “You sure Bast gave the go ahead for this?”
I snap out of whatever trance I was just in and snatch my phone off the floor, “It’s not that bad.”
Dean’s face scrunches up, “Are you blind?”
“And for that,” I stomp toward the two of them and push my way through, holding my breathso I don’t breathe in Killian’s intoxicating scent as I make my way into the kitchen, “You’re not invited to the first dinner I host here when it’s all ready to go.”
“Aw, don’t be like that, mini-Levine,” Dean pouts, “You know I didn’t mean it.”
I shake my head at the younger of the two of them, “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Wanted to check out the new house,” Dean answers, Killian remaining silent which is nothing new anymore. We used to talk, all the time, our conversations easy and light but something changed after I came home six months ago. Now I’m lucky if I can get two words from him.
It makes me sad, and I would worry that he’d somehow figured out I had a crush on him, but I have done nothing that would tell of such a thing. It’s harmless and I haven’t acted on it, but he won’t come anywhere near me anymore and I don’t remember doing anything to upset him. I have tried to ask him but he either ignores me or leaves the room if we ever find ourselves alone together.
I’m surprised he’s even here.
“I know it needs work,” I look around at the cupboards that hang off the walls, barely holding on and the cracked and chipped tiles above the counters, the faucet dripping water into the sink, “But I love it.”
Dean nods, “I can see the potential. It’ll be great once you have it up together, don’t you think, Kill?” He nudges his brother who only grunts at the questionbefore he heads for the door, feet crunching on the debris littering the floor.
“The fuck is up with him?” Dean curls his lip at his brother’s back.
I shrug, “Beats me.”
“Anyway, want a lift to Malakai’s? We’re heading there now.”
“I’m good,” I pluck my keys from the counter, “I’m going to head to Sloane’s for the night. I’ve got to be back early in the morning for the contractors.”
I’ve been surrounded by my brothers best friends my entire life, all through my early and teenage years but then I went off to college for a few years and didn’t see much of them, though we stayed in touch and even though I came back, clearly no longer the dorky kid with braces too big for her mouth, they still treat me like that fifteen year old girl that wanted to go to the dance with a boy.
I love them but fuck, it grates my nerves.
“Alright, mini-Levine,” Dean gives me a two finger salute and follows the path his brother took, “Give me a shout if you need anything and let me know when I can come and fit the security system.”
I roll my eyes at his back, but I don’t tell him a time because hewill notbe fitting anything. I’m not giving those overbearing, overprotective men access to a security feed of my new home. I’ll have security but not from them.
