Waiting for Something (14 page)

“No, seriously.
That’d be awesome. Just do it! Come on, baby,” he did that lopsided grin and my gut wrenched. I couldn’t say no to him.

“Sure, I’ll do it,” I shrugged.

“Really? That’d be great.” Eli looked a little surprised.

“I’ll give you her cell!” Jake practically shouted it out to him.

“Yeah, so just text or call me when you need me,” I felt my skin start to redden so I went back to eating.

“Mama, I
gotta potty,” one of Kate’s daughters tugged on her shirt.

“Alright, let’s go, bugger boo.” She picked her up and headed inside.

“So you guys doing anything fun before you start school, Ali?” Jess looked up from her food.

“Well, I had a surprise up my sleeve,” Jake shrugged.

“A surprise?” I gulped.

“Yep, and I already know you hate them,” he gave me a devilish grin.

“You’re going to pay,” I glared playfully.

“Oh, I fully intend to,” he brushed his hand on my thigh just a little too high.

“Jake, hands,” Mike laughed.

“Pretty sure you two will do the same thing,” he joked back.

“Touche.” Mike took a swig of his beer.

“Michael, behave yourself,” Jess slapped his arm.

“Alright, let’s switch the topic?” I squeaked and everyone just laughed.

Later that night we watched fireworks off of the dock and I snuggled close to the man that I loved more than my own life. Life was good, and it could only get better, right?

“Oh, babe, you are plastered,” I helped Jake get into bed.

“So drunk,” he slurred.

“Yes, so drunk,” I pulled off his shoes.

“You’re the best in the world,” he snickered childishly.

“Thank you and you’re the drunkest I’ve ever seen you,” I helped him out of his pants.

“Yes, that is true. Come, cuddle, bed.” His words were to the point.

“I’m coming.” I crawled up the bed and laid next to him.

“I have a secret,” he whispered in my ear.

“And that is?” I enjoyed this a little too much.

“I’m going to marry you,” he whispered again.

“That sounds perfect,” I smiled.

“I promise,” he kissed me and shortly after that, I heard the sweet little snores erupt from his drunken mouth.

I laid there for a while before dozing off and I realized that I was wanting something more. I didn’t know what. I just knew I was waiting for something. Something.

I woke up at around nine the next morning and went to make some breakfast and start a pot of coffee. I knew that once Jake woke up he’d want some. It seems like we’re always getting drunk, but we’re really not. I just worry what people think too much.

I sat down and started in on my bowl of cheerios. As I sat there with my breakfast, I heard my phone go off. It was a text message.

Eli here.
You want to start practice later today? Like 2? We need to get started.

Um, I guess. You could have said please.

You’re sassy today. How’s Jake? He was pretty messed up but so was Jess and Mike.

He’s fine, sleeping it off.

Cool. Last night was fun.

I guess you could say that.

Yeah, I guess you could.

Where do you
wanna meet?

He gave me the address and then we didn’t talk anymore. I cleaned up my breakfast and brought some bacon out and eggs and started making breakfast for Jake around 10:30.

“Bacon,” he stumbled out around 11.

“Good morning, handsome,” I kissed him.

“You look sexy,” he tugged the oversized t-shirt of his and pulled me on his lap.

“I try. Now let me up. I’m making you breakfast.” I hopped up and went back to cooking.

“How long have you been up?” he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Since nine.
Eli wants to start that dance thing today at 2, so I gotta get ready after this.” I put the food on his plate.

“Oh, I almost forgot about that. He’s a cool kid. I was worried he’d be a douche,” he ate his bacon.

“He’s older than both of us,” I laughed.

“But I look older so he can be kid,” he winked at me.

“You’re such a goof,” I giggled.

“I wish you didn’t have to go so soon,” he pouted.

“Hey, that’s your fault, not mine.” I kissed him one last time and left to get ready.

I took a quick shower and pulled my hair up after drying it. I slipped on the workout clothes I brought along and headed back out to the kitchen to get a granola bar and water.

“You look sexy,” he smiled.

“No, I have to go and do this. I said I would,” I pointed my finger at him almost scolding him.

“Come on, don’t be a party pooper,” he wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Stop making it so tempting, mister,” I whined.

“You love it.” He kissed my neck.

“Now stop it. I
gotta go. I love you.” I turned and kissed him.

“I love you too. Have fun.” He gave me a hug and I left with my things.

Soon I got to the studio and I was actually surprised on how easy it was to find. I pulled up next to the only other car there, assuming it was Eli’s. I walked into the lobby and saw him come out from a door.

“Hey! Thanks for coming. Sorry for the short notice,” he smiled at me.

“No, that’s fine. So where are we going?” I adjusted my bag on my shoulder.

“Follow me. This is my aunt’s studio, so we basically have free access to it.” He walked down the hall and to another dance studio.

“Wow, this is nice.” It really was.

“Yeah, I know, right? Not too shabby for North Carolina.” He turned on the lights.

“It’s nicer than the studio I was at in Colorado.” I looked at the mirrors and noticed I should have worn more than just a zip up hoodie and a sports bra.

“So, you
wanna get started?” he pulled out his laptop.

“Sure. What are we doing first?” I set my stuff down.

“Studying. I pulled up two videos of the dances we’re doing and we’ll just go from there. By the way, I like the outfit,” he grinned. I looked down to notice some cleavage showing.

“You’re a pig,” I slapped his arm.

“No, I’m a guy. You’re asking for it,” he laughed.

“Is it always going to be like this?” I fake pouted.

“Oh, sugar, I’m just get started,” he winked.

“Oh, perfect,” I rolled my eyes.

“I’ll grow on you, don’t worry,” he smiled again.

“Let’s just watch the videos,” I sighed and he pressed play. They actually looked like a lot of fun and I was excited to learn them. We stretched a little and started the basic moves. He was actually really good. I was impressed.

“Break, please. Must have water.” After going nonstop for 45 minutes, I needed to quench my thirst.

“Yeah, sure.
Five minutes. I gotta make a call,” he grabbed his phone and headed into the hall.

I sat down on the floor and started going through my phone replying to some texts and checking my twitter. I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation Eli was having in the other room.

“I’ll see you tonight, sexy.” I could hear his flirtation.

“And wear that red dress.” His voice was low and seductive.

“Bye, Lea.” He hung up the phone and walked back in while I pretended I wasn’t snooping.

“You ready to get back to work?” he set his phone down.

“Yep, let’s practice those flips,” I got up and stood in the middle of the room.

“So eager to learn, are we?” he smirked.

“No. I just don’t want to keep you from Lea,” I said her name in a dreamy way.

“She’s no one of importance. I just need to get laid. We’re fuck buddies,” he laughed as he saw my jaw drop.

“Excuse me?!” I was stunned.

“FWBs.
We have been since my girlfriend broke up with me,” he shrugged.

“You’re a horny pig,” I scoffed.

“You love it,” he winked.

“I don’t love STDs, that’s for sure,” I growled.

“Hey, I’ve been checked, so no worries here,” he held his hands up defensively.

“I’m sure you’d have to,” I rolled my eyes.

“You know I can’t help that I’m a prize to be won,” he grinned.

“Let’s just work on this dance,” I sighed in defeat.

Once I got home, I was so dead and sore I just fell on the couch.

“Hey, baby.”
Jake came out of the bathroom all wet and wrapped in a towel.

“Oh, a shower sounds perfect,” I groaned.

“Long day?” he grinned.

“Yes, I haven’t been this sore in a long time. My head hurts, my feet and back are killing me and my eyes are just craving sleep.” I closed my eyes and rubbed them.

“I’ll start a bath and rub your feet and back for you. How’s that sound, beautiful?” he came behind me and rubbed my shoulders slowly.

“You are perfection. I love you so much,” I kissed him.

“I know. He at least fed you, right?” he smiled.

“Yeah, we got pizza afterwards,” I sighed.

“Good. My baby needs some meat on her bones.” He swooped me off the couch.

“What are you doing?” I shrieked.

“Time for your bath,” he kissed my forehead.

“You’re such a goof. I think you just lost your towel.” I heard it fall on the floor.

“Oops,” he winked and let’s just say that from then on, the bath was put on the back burner. Our sex was nothing short and nothing quiet either. It was one of the best times for me.

“That was amazing,” I rolled over onto his chest.

“You know it, Ali Cat,” he gave me a kiss on the head.

“Bath time?”
I stretched a little.

“Yep, you stay here and I’ll go start it up.” I watched him crawl out of bed and pull on his boxers before leaving the room.

How did I get so lucky and get a guy like Jake? He was perfect in every way humanly possible. But usually perfection ends in destruction. And that was just about to be my life. Destruction.

Sixteen

“I can’t do this. I’m going to be sick, Eli. Do not make me go out there and embarrass myself.” I stood backstage looking at all of the people coming in and sitting down.

Of course
Marlie and Carter were there and my parents even came. This is ridiculous. It was just some stupid competition. Some stupid competition that Eli decided to wait to tell me yesterday had a grand prize of $1,500. Just peachy. I stood in my 50s garb that was nearly drenched in sweat and told myself repeatedly that I could do this.

“You’ll be fine. Hey, remember what we talked about?” he grabbed my shoulders and I felt the intensity between us yet again.

“Yes, I just. I don’t know,” I sighed. For so many reasons.

Over the last couple of weeks, Eli and I have become really close, what with the practices being so long and Jake always working or at drill. We have been seeing a lot of each other lately. There was something about Eli that drew me to him and I knew it was wrong but I couldn’t help myself. I tried to ignore it but since he picked me up this morning to take me shopping for my costume, it’s been hard to ignore.

“You’ll do great. We’ll do great. Remember the main thing is to have fun,” he smiled and my heart eased.

“Easy for you to say.
One look at those judges and they’ll give you the shirt off of their backs.” I looked out at the three overweight, middle-aged women sitting in the front row with mini-desks sitting in front of them.

“What can I say? I’m a panty dropper,” he winked.

“That you are,” I chuckled.

“You look great by the way,” he stepped back to take a nice look.

“Why, thank you,” I did a little turn.

“I wish I could take you home with me right now,” he bit his lip.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny,” I slapped his arm. He thought this was all just playful banter but what he didn’t know was that every little thing he was saying was making my heart melt.

“Alright, everyone, if I can have your attention,” I heard the announcer say through the microphone.

“Shit, this is for real,” I mumbled.

“You got this,” he squeezed my shoulders from behind me.

“The first round we’ll present all top ten contestants and the second round we’ll take the top five. From there, the judges will decide who wins.” His voice was very monotone.

We sat and waited. We were contestant number 8. I could feel the blood rushing through my body and my heart speed up. It also didn’t help that Eli had his arms wrapped around my waist the entire time.

“Now, please give a warm welcome to contestant number 8, Ali and Eli.” The crowd clapped and I could hear my family hoop and holler as well as Jake whistle.

“Let’s show them how it’s done,” he squeezed my hand and we went out to the stage.

The music began and it was like all the nervous energy was gone. Or it played in my favor because I was rocking every move. Eli looked great, his muscles working to keep up every flip, every spin. I trusted him. We had been practicing the final big trick for the entire time we’ve worked together. You know the move Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey do in “Dirty Dancing”? That’s what we were about to do and I was terrified. I looked at him right before I went to run and I saw it in his eyes. Trust and not just that, but feelings. He had feelings for me. I jumped and he caught me and I knew that I wasn’t the only thing he caught. My heart had betrayed me.

“Well, folks, give them a nice round of applause. Weren’t they just great?” The announcer sounded shock.

“Nice job, beautiful,” Eli whispered in my ear.

“You too,” I grinned up at him. We walked backstage and waited for the last two contestants to come out before the judges brought us all out to announce the top five. The bottom five had already been cut and we’d already performed our second routine.

“Alright, folks, I have the results right here, but first let’s give another round of applause for all of these amazing dancers.” The announcer held the envelope in his hands.

“In fifth place, we have Liz and Daniel.” The crowd clapped and they stepped forward to receive their trophy and certificate. By the time second place was being called, I still hadn’t heard our names. I was certain that we had no chance.

“In second place, for the winning prize of $500, Kristina and Joe!” I could hear their obvious fans cheer for them as they hugged each other and got their prize.

“This is it,” he whispered and squeezed my shoulders.

“In first place, are you all ready for the $1,500 prize? Ali and Eli! Congratulations you two! Come up here and get your prize!” Jake, Marlie, my parents, Dillon and Carter all stood up cheering for us, and Eli’s sister was also there with her two kids, cheering us on.

“Alright you two, come over here. I have to ask, what
are you feeling right this second?” the announcer pulled us over to the front of the stage. I was so shocked I didn’t have anything to say.

“Well, it feels pretty surreal. I honestly still can’t believe we won,” Eli

ut on his charming self. All the while Lissa was glaring at us.

“What about you, Ali?” the announcer held the mic over by my mouth.

“It feels great actually.” I couldn’t come up with anything else to say. And it really did feel great.

“What are you going to do now that you’ve won?” the announcer looked at us.

In that three-second span before the inevitable happened, I saw it in his eyes. The passion, the want, the hunger. He wrapped his arms around my waist, dipped me down and kissed me like I’ve never been kissed before. I could hear my family and friends gasp and quickly I pushed him off of me. Thankfully the announcer wrapped it up quickly and we were able to head backstage where Jake was standing, fuming.

“What the hell was that, dude?” he came up to Eli.

“Jake, not here, please,” I tried to calm him down.

“No, this is bullshit. You keep your hands off my girl,” he got in Eli’s face.

“Dude, she let me kiss her so I wouldn’t be just upset at me,” he gave Jake that damn grin that I knew would piss him off.

“I wouldn’t be messing around with me right now if I were you.” Jake’s face turned bright red.

“What are you going to do? Hit me?” he poked Jake’s chest and I honestly didn’t know what had gotten into him.

“I will fucking
rip your head off, you cocky asshole,” his chest puffed out.

“You know she has feelings for me. You can see it in her eyes and it kills you, but you won’t admit it to yourself because she’s the best thing that will ever happen to you,” he spoke confidently.

“Ali Cat, is this true?” he looked at me painfully and I automatically got up in the middle.

“Jake, let’s just go home and talk about this.” I saw
Marlie come up behind them and felt relieved.

“No, we’re talking about this now. What’s going on between you two?”
Jake looked me inthe eyes.

I held my breath and prepared myself for a whole bunch of heartbreak. “Yes. I have feelings for him.”

“Well, I’ll get your stuff packed up. It’d probably be best if you went home with your parents,” he straightened up and tried to hold in the heartbreak.

“I’m sorry, Ali. I just couldn’t stand you lying to yourself and I couldn’t stand me lying to myself either,” Eli looked at me as Jake started walking away and all I could do was
stare.

“Oh, before I forget,” Jake knocked the lights out of Eli. “That’s for kissing my girl, asshole.”

“Oh my gosh! Eli, are you ok?” I rushed over to him as he fell to the ground.

“I’ll go talk to Jake,”
Marlie ran after Jake.

“Get me an ice pack and a wet cloth,” I shouted out and I saw someone jump up and sprint off.

“Thank you. Eli, you ok?” I saw his eyes flutter open a little.

“Damn, he’s strong,” he groaned.

“I could have told you that,” I put the ice pack on his eye and wiped off the blood on his lip.

“Thanks for taking care of me,” he smiled slightly.

“I couldn’t just leave you here,” I smiled back.

“So, I guess the word’s out. I like you. A lot,” he squinted, his eyes in pain.

“That makes two of us,” I sighed and looked away.

“So where do we go from here?” His voice seemed distant.

“I have no idea.” I let a tear run down my face.