Page 55 of With You

I scroll through my phone as I wait, ignoring follow-up texts from my father about upcoming meetings, until a small gasp grabs my attention.

“What are you doing?” Amelie yelps, half-hiding behind the screen as she shields her eyes with her hand, though her fingers are splayed. “Put some clothes on.”

“I would have guessed most people would say the opposite to me,” I joke, and she glares at me, something close to possessiveness flickering in her eyes.

“You cannot be like this in front of other people,” she says, a slight warning in her voice.

“Getting jealous are we, ma chérie?” She throws her bag at me, the solid heap landing against my chest with a thud, and slightly winding me. “Okay, no being naked in front of other people,” I huff out, trying to catch my breath.

Amelie laughs, finally moving out from behind the screen as she steps between my legs again.

“You have an unfairly nice body,” she says, her eyes grazing over me. The weight of her stare burns, as if she’s physically touching me.

“I only kept dancing last year because it’s a good workout,” I tell her, intending for it to be an offhand comment but she holds on to it.

“Did you really want to stop dancing?”

“I’d considered it,” I shrug. “It really wasn’t fun for me anymore. You made me fall in love with it again.”

I hope she hears what I’m not saying, that I’ve fallen in love with her, too.

“Thank you for dancing with me.” She takes my face in her hands, leaning down to kiss me.

“I’d do anything for you, Amelie,” I confess.

She kisses me again, peppering them across my face, and every worry in my head disappears—right until the tailor knocks on the door again. He has an uncanny talent for coming into the room at the worst times.

He shows me a few options, but one catches my eye instantly. It’s a dark blue top with a deep V down to my navel, the undershirt striped blue and white with a rectangular neckline. The sleeves are similar to Amelie’s, full length and puffy at the shoulders, with ribbons framing the elbows. It’s paired with a simple pair of light blue leggings, and I know it won’t be hard to find ballet slippers that match the colour.

I try it on, and it fits almost perfectly, with just a few adjustments needed to bring in the waist slightly and widen the shoulders. The tailor pins the outfit where needed before I change out of it and back into my own clothes.

Amelie hooks her pinky through mine as we leave, our bags on my shoulder covering our hands just enough that no one will be able to see. We were excused from classes for the rest of the day as they weren’t sure how long fittings would take, but Amelie and I got through ours pretty quickly, leaving us with most of the early afternoon free to do whatever we want.

“Shall we get a quick practice in before the others finish classes?” Amelie suggests.

We already have a studio booked for later this evening, and it would make sense to just start now considering we have the time. But I want to do something else with her instead.

“Come to my room for a bit first,” I say to her. “There’s something I want to show you.”

“I think you’ve already shown me enough,” she jokes, poking a finger into my stomach.

“Nothing like that,” I laugh. “Though I’m more than happy to oblige.”

Her elbow digs into my side, and I step away from her before she pulls me back closer.

“Really, though,” I continue. “It’s just something I want to share with you.”

She nods in response and we head out of the sports building, across the campus, and into the dorms. It’s almost second nature to lead her to my room, I don’t need to guide her as she remembers the path from last time.

She sits cross-legged on my bed, her hands tucked under her ankles. She looks adorable in her all-pink ballet outfit, and I think in the future the walls of my house will be painted the same colour.

“Okay, what is it?” she asks, cutting straight to the chase.

“Someone’s eager,” I joke.

I pretend that I’m going to pull my shirt off again and she leans over to drag the hem of it back down, her nails scraping against my hip bone.

“Eager to kill you, yes, you’re right,” she says, but there’s no venom in it.