The Ballerina & The Fighter (Book 1) (3 page)

“How are we ever going to
find Maze in this crowd?” I asked.

Shel placed her arm on my
shoulder and gestured with her other hand to the top of the skateboard
platform. I instantly recognized the dragon tattoo on the side of the guy
poised on the skateboard as he rocketed down the ramp.

“Ohmygod. He skateboards
too!” Shel screamed in my ear over the roar of the crowd as we watched Maze’s
body catapult and twist, grabbing the skateboard he flipped them both in the
air before falling back down to earth. I’d never seen anything cooler in my
life.

After his run, we tried to
make our way over to him but it was just impossible. There were too many
people, well girls mostly, in our way vying for his attention. Clearly he was
popular. “This is ridiculous,” I said, stepping back away from the crowd.

Shel followed me. “Seriously,
the man needs to come to you. Try sending him a text. Tell him you’re here.”

“Good idea.” So I pulled out
my phone and did exactly that. His reply came back before I could return my
phone to my back pocket.

Maze:
‘Coolio! Where are you?’

I glanced around to see if
there were any markings.

Me:
‘At the handicap parking sign to the right from the pit.’

Shel and I sat on the edge of
the sidewalk but we didn’t have long to wait before a large body sat down
beside me. I turned my head and there were those gray eyes staring at me. Like
the color of the sky just before a lightning strike. I smiled but was at a loss
for words. Me, who always had something to say. It was the second time I felt
shy around this boy. Young man. He didn’t seem very talkative either, he just
continued to stare back at me as I soaked him in. Trust Shel to break the
stalemate.

“That was wicked, Maze. Are
you some kinda pro?” Shel asked.

He grinned and leaned forward
a little to look at Shel. “Nah.” Then his gaze drifted back to me like he
couldn’t keep his eyes off me. I noticed he’d also put his shirt back on. I
hoped not on my account. A shirtless Maze was a thing to behold.

“Just something I like to do.
I like most sports.”

“What’s your favorite?”
Finally my voice decided to show up so I didn’t sit there seeming like a
complete idiot.

“Mixed martial arts
actually.”

“Seriously?” Shel asked.

“Is that like karate and kick
boxing?” Stuff I’d seen on TV or the movies and that was pretty much the extent
of my knowledge.

Maze nodded. “That’s part of
it. But there are other disciplines that come in to play.”

“How long have you been doing
it?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Even since I
was old enough to walk I guess. How about you two? When I saw you all earlier
today, what you were doing reminded me of ballet.”

This time I nodded and
glanced at Shel before turning back to him. “Yes. Shel and I are classically
trained ballerinas.”

“Sweet. How long you all been
at it?”

“Since the age of three.”
Then we told him about our plans for after summer.

“That all sounds pretty cool.
I’ll probably be leaving the States about the time you both start school.”

I couldn’t understand why his
announcement had my stomach muscle tightening. Like a bomb had detonated inside
me at his words. I didn’t trust my voice to sound steady so I couldn’t ask the
questions roaming around in my mind. I was glad Shel asked at least one of
them.

“Where are you going?” Shel
asked.

“Japan, to study with some of
the masters there and then in about a year or so I fight for the title there.”

“A…a year,” I said. “You’re
going to be gone for a year.” The tightening intensified. I found myself
swallowing; confused as to why I would feel such an overwhelming sense of lose
at the fact I probably wouldn’t see this boy again.

The glint in his eyes seemed
to dim a little when he looked at me. It was probably just my imagination.

“Yeah. Unfortunately. I might
come home once or twice while I’m there. But pretty much all of my time will be
devoted to training.”

“Wow. Very cool,” Shel
stated.

“Yeah.” It was cool, but that
ache in my heart didn’t agree. Still nothing to be done about it. Because of my
demanding dance schedule, I didn’t have a lot of time for things other girls my
age or younger than me took for granted. Like boyfriends. I could count the
number of times on one hand I’d gone out with a guy, prom being one and that
was Shel’s cousin. This might be my last shot at a boyfriend even if just a
summer one. I plastered a smile on my face, determined to relax, have fun, and
go with the moment. Even though there was some strong attraction going on between
Maze and me these couple weeks of summer would be all we’d have. He was going
off to do his thing and I was going to do mine. I would just enjoy the time we
did have together and not think of any thing more. Yet while my mouth curved up
into a smile a hint of sadness took firm root on the inside.

Chapter Three

Maze

Shit!
He watched the light in Ivy’s beautiful
brown eyes dim when he told her he’d be leaving the country for a year. In
truth it could be more. Why it should matter so much to either of them he
didn’t know. But it did. Still, they had a little time and he wanted to spend
as much of it with her as he could. Little did he know they had even less time
than he thought.

“Hey, I heard about a house
party going on a few blocks from here given by some college guys with a house
for the summer.” He glanced at her when he asked, “Wanna go?”

“Is it in the complex?”

Before he could answer, he
saw Shel poke her elbow in Ivy’s side. He grinned because Shel answered. “Yeah
we’ll go,” she said.

Shel was still on his side.
“No, it’s the next one over but it’s not far by golf cart. There’s a path that
connects the two complexes we can use. Do you have a cart or we can use mine.”

“Yeah we have one,” Shel
answered. “Where are you parked?”

“Just second row over there.”
He pointed in the general direction to his right.

“We’re just down the street.”

“Well how about I give you
ladies a ride back to your cart and then you can follow me.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ivy
said grinning.

Shel hoped on the rear of the
cart and I was glad because that meant Ivy would sit beside me. Ivy directed me
to where they’d parked their cart and I pulled up along side them. But when she
moved to get out I was so not having that. I gently laid my hand on her slender
wrist to stop her. She seemed to freeze but then so did I. There was no denying
it, for the second time a current ran from where I touched her and zinged all
through my body.
Holy shit!
It was a
damn good thing I wore loose shorts. My blood pooled straight to my dick.

“Shel,” I said, without
taking my gaze off Ivy. “Can you drive by yourself?”

She didn’t have to be asked
twice, she was already climbing into the driver’s seat and started up the cart.
“Lead on.”

I grinned and told Ivy, “Keep
me company.”

She glanced down at my hand
still resting on her wrist. I knew she’d felt that burst of electricity
crackling between us too. “All right.” Her voice came out a little husky. I
grinned even more before releasing her hand to grip the steering wheel.

“Let’s ride.”

The drive wasn’t long, took
all of about five minutes. But the path wasn’t exactly a path, more like an
area that folks driving carts back and forth had carved out. At one point there
was a seriously slanted area and if you veered off in the dark too much you
could find your self tumbling over the side of a sand dune. I heard the ocean
and barely made out the outline of it, so you’d probably just land in water. I
glanced back quickly over my shoulder to make sure Shel was right behind us and
her headlights were on. But my gaze keep drifting from the path back to Ivy who
seemed inclined to stare at me just as much as I stared at her. I wasn’t sure
what was going on between us. But like earlier when I was compelled to stop to
talk to her that same feeling tugged at me now. To be close to her.

“How old are you?” I blurted the question
out. Stupid shit! Real smooth.

“Shel and I are both seventeen. Our
birthdays are a day apart. Mine’s September tenth hers is the eleventh. How old
are you?”

“Nineteen. My birthday’s February
twenty-nineth.”

She laughed and how stupid of me, but I
loved the sound of her laugh. It was light and carefree. Something I only felt
when I was flying through the air on a skateboard or when I stepped into the
arena and conquered it. I didn’t know what it would be like to laugh like that
from a place of genuine mirth.

I smiled. “Yeah, I know I
know, I only have a real birthday every four years.”

She nodded. “Exactly. Which
means you’re like what really, four or five years old.” She laughed again.

“Not hardly, but I’m glad I
could amuse you.” And I was.

We arrived at the address I’d
been given all too soon, and pulled up a couple of houses down from the house
that had all the golf carts piled in the driveway, and spilling out onto the
street. That and the music coming out of the place clued us into where the
party was. With all the noise, I wondered how long the party would last before
someone called the security company that patrolled the area. Well hopefully
long enough for us to enjoy a couple of beers and for me to get in a dance or
two with this girl up close and real personal like, in my arms.

My boner had calmed down by now and I
hopped out the seat then we waited for Shel to join us. Ivy walked over to meet
her friend while I leaned against the side of the cart, but once she was
alongside of me I reached for her hand. She did not pull away and I gave her a
little squeeze. I wanted to make it clear to Ivy I was here with her, and she
was here with me. Shel glanced down at our joined hands and smiled. “I need a
beer,” she said walking off. We followed behind her.

As we neared the stairs that
would take us into, I assumed, the main part of the house I noticed a couple
off in the corner. All I could see were the outline of two bodies, one pressing
the other into the side of the house. I slanted a glance at Ivy, yeah she’d
noticed them too. Her head shifted slightly to look at me and I winked at her.
Yeah I’d love to do exactly what they were doing with her. Maybe later. If I
was very, very lucky.

She turned her head and
continued to follow Shelly up the stairs. We got to the top deck and there were
even more couples hanging out on the chairs or lounges up there. Shel pushed up
the sliding glass doors and we stepped through behind her into pure chaos. There
were bodies everywhere but most were in the middle of the room which served as
a dance floor. A pathway, sorta, opened up that seemed to lead to the kitchen
area to the right of where we stood. I used my free hand to tap Shel on the
shoulder and point in that direction. I was sure that’s where we’d find the
alcohol.

We returned to the front room
with bottles in hand. Some seriously tall dude, who towered over most everyone
in the place, immediately approached Shel and asked her to dance. She turned to
wave at us before being swallowed into the crowd with her partner.

Ivy and I stayed by the wall
near the kitchen taking a few swigs of beer checking out the crowd while they
ground against each other to the sounds of Frank Ocean’s
Super Rich Kids
. I bobbed my head in time to the music and while I
enjoyed the slide of the cold fizzle of the beer going down my throat that’s
not what I really wanted tonight. I’d released Ivy’s hand since we were
drinking beer but I took her hand in mine again. “Let’s dance.”

“Okay,” she said as she
followed me.

We made our way to the center
of the dance floor. I wasn’t surprised to find Shel already there. I stopped
beside her and the dude she danced with before turning toward Ivy. I pulled her
to me until she rested flush against my body. I wrapped both arms around her
waist to draw her in even closer and she wrapped her arms around my neck, I
felt the coolness of the beer bottle against my back. It felt good and Ivy
rested her head on my shoulder and we began to sway to the music. Damn she fit
me perfectly, I didn’t have to bow my body to curve into her, she curved into
me and felt soft as hell in my arms. I shut my eyes and inhaled her fragrance.
I had no idea what brand of shampoo she washed her hair with, all I knew was I
loved the way she smelled, like coconut and lime, it seemed unique to her and
her hair was soft and silky. I rubbed my cheeks against it, and tightened my
hold on her, running my unencumbered hand up her back and threading my fingers
through her long wavy hair at the nape of her neck. The music changed to
Rihanna’s
Umbrella
. I let the music
and the feel of this young woman in my arms take me to a peaceful place.