I WANTED TO INSIST ON taking Scarlet back home, but I understood her. She wanted to be trusted to handle herself. She wanted independence, and I wanted to show her she had one person who wasn’t going to control her—me.
When Zoey came back, I met her at the door with the juicer in one hand. “Hand over my key. You’ve lost your privileges here.” I held out the other hand, waiting for her to put the key in it.
“Come on, Tyler, stop being dramatic,” Zoey said, moving past me like I hadn’t just kicked her out. “You were with my best friend, for fuck’s sake. How the hell else did you expect me to act?”
I put the juicer down on the counter, harder than I intended to. It made an unsettling bang, which startled both of us. “Fine,” I snarled. I took out my phone and hit up my Yelp app. “Keep the key as a souvenir. I’ll get it changed anyway.”
I ignored her mocking snorts and made an emergency appointment with a locksmith. It was over the fucking top, but so was the way she’d embarrassed the shit out of me in front of Scarlet, coming at me like we were kids caught with our hands in the cookie jar. “I’ll let you know when you can come over again.” I put my phone away and gestured toward the juicer.
“I’m sorry,” she said, finally picking it up. “I just freaked when I saw you with her. She likes you.”
“Maybe I like her back,” I said, surprising myself, but I went with it.
I wasn’t lying; I did like Scarlet. She was easy to talk to and funny. She was also beautiful, sweet, and unassuming. I was turned on by her acquiescence and got a rush from the control, and kissing her was crazy addictive. She wanted the sexual experience, and I was more than willing to give it to her.
“Sure, you like her as a friend,” Zoey said. “But you kissing her means more to her than just friendship. What she needs is someone who’s serious. That’s why I asked Scarlet if she’d go on a double date with me.”
My jaw tightened. “Oh, you did, did you?”
She smirked. “Yeah, and she seemed interested. Unlike you, he’s looking for a relationship.”
She was pissing me off, so much so that I was looking around for something to break. The juicer was the only thing in reach, and believe me, I thought about it. Fuck. A date with who? I frowned.
“Now I don’t care who else you’re with,” she continued. “But Scarlet’s my best friend. I don’t want her avoiding me like all the rest of the women did after you dumped them.”
I’d had enough of Zoey so I opened the door wider so she could go on back home. Scarlet and I could both make up our own damn minds.
“Fine. Later.” She sauntered out and I slammed the door behind her.
I decided to send a message over to Scarlet.
Tyler.Wilson: Call me when you get home
I was too keyed up to sit, so I went up to my home gym and kicked the shit out of my bag until my phone rang. I picked it up, but the display was a number I didn’t recognize. “Hello?”
“Hello, Tyler. It’s Yasmine from the ballet,” she said in an upbeat tone.
“Hello, Yasmine from the ballet,” I repeated flatly. “How did you get my number?”
She laughed. “It wasn’t easy. Anyway, I think I might be able to get us partnered up for the show.”
“Since when do dancers get to choose their partners?” I asked in a way that let her know I knew better. Christophe, their instructor, would choose the partners.
“There are ways to influence the choice,” she said. “Let me explain. I heard from Zoey you’ve danced before?”
I blew out my breath. “Yeah, a little. So?”
“Well, that can be an advantage,” she said. “I’m a soloist and sometimes help other corps members as a mentor. We could practice together and that could strengthen the possibility of us partnering in the show.”
“I still don’t see what the advantage of doing this would be for me.” It was my way of letting her know I wasn’t interested in her without having to spell it out, but she wasn’t done.
“Okay. There’s more,” she said. “The couple that gets a solo dance will more than likely get to do the promotional spots for the performance. It would involve doing the morning shows and other events. It’s great publicity.”
Now she was talking about something I was interested in. This could give me a chance to show myself as someone who could be used as a spokesperson for the team professionally—though I wasn’t sure about dancing on television and told her so.
“We won’t have to dance,” she assured. “It will probably be a recorded clip like I’ve seen done for other events. The couple gets to talk about the charity and our work. If there is dancing, it would be short, and if you take me up on practicing together, you’d be ready. I know we’d look great together.”
Was she flirting or just giving me the hard sell? Probably both, but her offer wasn’t something for me to dismiss. My phone sounded with an incoming call. “I’ll think about it. I have another call.” I ended the call and switched over to find Scarlet on the other line. I got that weird feeling in my chest at the sound of her voice.
“I got home okay,” she said.
“Good. I would have taken you.”
“I was happy you didn’t. I needed the space. Zoey was really upset,” she said.
“Sorry,” I said quietly.
“I’ve got some news,” she said. “I just got a call from Christophe. He said he has all the dancers set for your class, but he’s considering using me for demonstrations.”
I chewed my lip. Demonstrations… “That’s good, right?”
“It’s a chance to get his attention and advice,” she answered. “I’ll take that over being completely excluded from the program. He was clear I won’t be used in the performance.”
“That’s crap, sweetheart,” I said without thinking. “I mean, I’m sorry.”
“I understand,” she said. “It’s fine.”
Neither of us said anything for a few beats, then I got her talking again, about what she thought of Yankee Stadium—anything to get her mind moving off the bad. I decided it wasn’t a good time to ask her about Yasmine, and she didn’t bring up Zoey trying to set her up on a date.
When we hit a lull in our conversation again, she said, “I’d like to see you again…for more lessons. After class, next week? I’ll have the rest of the day off.”
I grinned. A chance to touch more of Scarlet? No-brainer. “All right.”
My doorbell sounded. Zoey again? Or it could be that locksmith.
“Okay. It’s a sex date,” she said, laughing, then hung up before I could say anything.
She had me smiling. She was so different than anyone I’d ever been with, so innocent. I knew I needed to set more boundaries with her, but I was too curious about what she’d do. I liked it. I liked her. Then it hit me: technically, she was now in the class. Didn’t that mean we had to stop?
Then again, she wasn’t performing. It was a fine line that may or may not get one of us kicked out. Either way, it wouldn’t look good for either of us, but with the pounding on my door, I had the distraction I needed to not dwell on it, or the uneasy feeling that came over me at the thought of disappointing Scarlet.
The locksmith was at the door, but he wasn’t the only one standing there. Lance was next to him in one of our team tracksuits, smiling shiftily, his daughter Rayne’s teddy bear-shaped bag on his shoulder.
“Hey. What’s up?” he said, like I’d invited him over, not that I minded drop-ins—I did it all the time at his place. He wasn’t moving, even when I made space for him to come on inside.
I looked down the hallway. “Are Kayla and Rayne with you?”
His wife Kayla had a wicked sense of humor, and my goddaughter, Rayne, was my soft spot, which brought me back to wondering why he was hanging back like a weirdo.
“Not exactly,” Lance said. “Come on out,” he called over his shoulder.
Ace peeked his big mug around the corner with baby Rayne strapped to his massive body. “Hey, man,” he said, like we were good, not a drop of shame to be found.
“Hey nothing,” I gritted out. I glared over at Lance, who had a smug look about him. “You’re an ass for bringing him over here after what he did with Scarlet today.”
“No,” he said, finally walking through the door, and my locksmith got to work. “I’m smart. And don’t curse in front of Rayne.”
She was now within reaching distance of me. She had her hair in two little pigtails, and her huge honey brown eyes shining reminded me a little of Scarlet. She smiled for me, showing off her new teeth. She was a beauty. Ace tensed when I reached over and rubbed on her chubby cheek.
“Give Rayne to Lance then I’ll just punch you in the gut and you can go home,” I said cheerfully.
“You wouldn’t last a minute,” he said, moving past me and over to join Lance on my couch.
“Ace, I didn’t bring you here for you to talk to Tyler that way,” Lance said. “You clear the air and we move on, that’s how we do. I told Coach Frost I’d take care of it without fighting. The team needs you both to play in all the games.”
I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to miss a game, but Ace going behind my back irritated me. Rayne chose that moment to coo, and it was hard to hold onto my anger. “Fine, but I expect some groveling after what he pulled today.”
Ace snorted and bounced Rayne on his lap.
“It’s still hot out there and we’re parched. Refreshments?” Lance said.
That was usually my line. I joined in their laughing and brought out the drinks and snacks then took the seat on the couch nearest them.
Ace handed Rayne to Lance. “She’s hot, so I offered her a tour. She didn’t tell me she was with you.”
“She doesn’t have to tell you anything. I told you all to stay away from her,” I hissed. “You treated her like she was some cheap slut with your ‘tour’.”
Ace held up his hands. “Nothing happened. She showed up and expected a real tour.”
“Lucky for you,” I growled, though inwardly I was smiling. Scarlet was clueless. She’d probably had a map with a bunch of questions, throwing his coming-on-to-her game right off.
“That’s all you’re worried about, Tyler?” Ace said. He looked at Lance like they were in their own private conversation.
“I’m not worried about anything. I’m upset because she’s my sister Zoey’s best friend,” I replied, but even to me that sounded weak.
“It doesn’t matter. She’s with the ballet,” Lance said, cuddling Rayne. “If he goes there and it goes wrong—and I love you, man, but it will, just like it does with all the other women you’re with—it won’t just be on you this time. You’ll mess up opportunities for the team and management.”
My mouth went dry. “I’m not doing anything for you to worry about. So, are we done?”
Lance’s mouth twisted up like he didn’t believe me, but he blew out, letting me know he was dropping it.
“Fair enough,” Ace said and then turned on my television. “We good?”
I nodded and took Rayne, and we eased into conversation about the game and the game we were watching. I cuddled Rayne for a while too, until she cried and I passed her back over to Lance for the diaper change. Seeing how happy Lance had been with the baby made it not so scary, and Kayla trusted him to take her out and look after her. I was years from having a family myself, but I had to admit Rayne was good for them.
We were talking like normal, but I hadn’t forgotten what had been said. They were both sure I’d screw Scarlet up, and a part of me was fired up to prove them wrong. That was how I handled most things. When someone told me I couldn’t do something, I worked my ass off to do it. It happened with school, college, and even at the New York F.C. I broke my leg my first year, and everyone was sure I was done before I’d even started. I cut my rehab down and was back playing in record time.
I wasn’t going to hurt Scarlet. Most people judged me on my past or how I’d behaved at the beginning of my sports career. I put myself before the team, and sometimes it didn’t work out well in the end. That was part of life. Things don’t go right sometimes, but that didn’t mean I set out for things to go that way, not when I was interested in spending time with someone. I liked spending time with Scarlet. In fact, I was going to make things better between the two of us.
When they left, I dialed her up again.
“Everything okay?” she asked when she answered.
“Yes. I’ve been thinking—we should talk and hang out too, besides the lessons. It’ll make you more comfortable with me.”
“Oh, I’d love that,” she said, and from the sound of her voice, I knew I’d done right. “Maybe as much as I loved kissing you.”
My lip curved upward. “I did too. We do some more, and I’ll give you a lesson in dirty talk.”
We laughed.
“I’m not much for that,” she said. “I’d rather be in the same place.”
“That won’t always be easy. I work a lot too,” I pointed out. “We train a lot and travel for games, and then there’s my volunteering.”
“Yes, and you know how much time ballet takes up from Zoey,” she said quietly.
“Yes, I do,” I said. “What my dad used to do for her is add in fun hours. She’d pack in a lot of things on her list to do in an hour or store them all up for days off.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” she said.
“Then that could be our thing,” I half-teased.
“Besides the sex,” she teased back. “Do you think I’m ready?”
“There’s no timeframe,” I reminded her.
“I guess we’ll see how I respond to your next lesson,” she said with a lift in her voice.
My chest warmed. Everything about her was perfect to me. “I’m looking forward to it.”
When we hung up, I noticed a text from Eve.
Eve: I’ve got an old client I’m doing some physical therapy with nearby. Want me to come over?
Tyler.Wilson: Busy
Another message came in, this time from a number I didn’t recognize.
It’s Gina. You said I was a lot of fun and you’d see me again. I hear there is a party at Steven Perkins’ place tonight!
I smirked. And you need me to get you in. The rest of her message wasn’t any better.
We can go and then go to my hotel. I’m at the 76th Hotel, room 243.
I pressed delete and went back to my workout.