Midnight Ballerina (36 page)

“Are you done working?” Monroe asked, her hand now dangerously close to my dick, so I moved it down a few inches or I wouldn’t have been able to control myself.

“Yup, I just needed to cover for Luke for a little bit.” I took a sip of the beer that Jenny promptly brought over, thanking her.

“Well that was awfully nice of you,” Monroe said, tipping her head toward Jenny who was now having a conversation with Tanner. Well, she was talking to him and he was just staring at her boobs while Amelia watched them with a scowl on her face. Yeah, there was something going on with those two.

“Because I thanked her? I’m not that big of an asshole, Monroe.”

“I didn’t say you were, but most of the time you’re a little scary whenever you’re at the club.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, really.” She licked her lips and I bent down to kiss them.

“Why don’t we get out of here and go to a few clubs? Think Tanner and Amelia want to tag along?”

“If they want to. Amelia,” she threw her hands up in the air, shouting, “we’re going to dance our asses off!”

We ended up going to three different clubs. By the time we got to the second one, Monroe began drinking water, so when we were getting ready to leave the third, she was starting to sober up. That didn’t stop her from dancing and I certainly didn’t mind.

Right now, she was currently grinding her ass against my dick, my hands planted firmly on her hips. She rested her head on my shoulder for just a second, and I whispered hoarsely into her ear, “You really need to stop doing that or I’m gonna have to fuck you right here.”

She jumped away, spinning around to face me, and began pulling on my arm. “I think it’s time to go home. Let me see if Amelia’s ready and we can drop her off since we left her car at the club.”

I watched impatiently as she found Amelia, who was standing at the bar with Tanner. Luckily, she was only over there for a minute before she came back and yanked on my hand, dragging me toward the front entrance and out to the parking lot. “They’re finding their own ride back. Let’s go.”

Monroe’s hands were all over me the second we got into my truck, and I think I broke several traffic laws just so I could get back to my house and get her into my bed. I’d only had two beers so I didn’t have to worry about how we were getting back to my house at the end of the night.

As soon as we made it to my bedroom, Monroe pushed me with both hands onto my bed, grabbed her phone out and turned some music on. Apparently, she wasn’t done dancing quite yet. I watched with hungry eyes as she slowly stripped away every piece of clothing she had on until she was standing in front of me with nothing on but a pair of high heels and the cowboy hat she’d picked up off of my nightstand. It had to be the sexiest thing I’d ever seen in my life. She was still swaying her hips back and forth in time to the music but I couldn’t keep my hands to myself any longer.

“Come here, cowgirl.” I jumped off the bed, pulling on her waist, and she squealed when I pulled her on top of me on the bed. “Time for you to saddle up. Better hang on, it’s gonna be a rough ride.”

“I’m ready,” she purred into my ear.

“HAVE YOU DECIDED what you’re going to do this summer?” I asked Monroe, playing with her hair as we laid in my bed watching the morning news. She was just a few weeks from finishing up her spring semester and I’d tried not to ask her what her plans were, but it was getting hard as hell. I didn’t want to come off as overbearing. I knew I wasn’t the only person in her life. She had her family back in Michigan and I knew she missed them.

“Well, I don’t know. My boss is kind of a jerk and never lets me have any time off. He’s very demanding, always working me so hard.” She pouted her lips and I slapped her ass just as she turned away from me in bed.

“You can have whatever time you want off, just tell me when.”

“You’re way too nice, Mr. Buchanan, and I’m not going to take advantage of you just because you’re my boss and my boyfriend. I’ll figure things out, I still haven’t decided what to do.”

“You know what would help?” I sat up and she held up a finger.

“Hold that thought, I have to pee.” I watched her run toward the bathroom, willing her to come back as quickly as possible so I didn’t lose the nerve to say what I was going to say. I’d been thinking about it for some time now, hinting at it here and there, but Monroe always brushed it off as a joke.

“So, what would help?” she asked, jumping back onto the bed and curling into my side.

“Well, I was thinking that maybe you could move in here. That way you wouldn’t need to worry about paying rent, utilities, and all that. Then taking time off during the summer wouldn’t hurt ya so bad financially. Not that I want you to go or anything.”

“Miller, I’m not moving in here so I don’t have to worry about paying bills.”

I sighed loudly. “Of course that’s not why I want you to move in, Monroe. I want you to move in because I want to wake up with you in my bed like this every morning. I want you to move in because I love it when you’re here and hate it when you’re not. I just want you here because I want you all the time.”

“I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you talk at one time.” She giggled, pressing her face into my chest. “And since you put so much effort into telling me why, I guess I could move in,” she said nonchalantly.

“You guess?” I dug my fingers into her sides, tickling her, and she squealed, squirming underneath me.

“Stop! Yes. I meant I would love to, let’s go get my stuff right now, I can’t wait any longer,” she finished dramatically, my fingers coming to a standstill, and I jumped off the bed.

“All right, sounds like a great idea.”

I WAS STARTING to get a little drained between work, finishing up for the semester at school, and the dance workshops on the weekends. I think Miller could tell, too, because he kept sending me home early, even though I argued endlessly with him. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. I refused to give anything up though. I didn’t need as much money as before because I was living with Miller, but I still needed money. I wasn’t going to depend on him for that. He wasn’t my sugar daddy.

I went to the grocery store when he was working, so he couldn’t get pissed about me using my own money to pay for groceries, and I grabbed a few utility bills out of the mailbox, mailing a check in before he even saw the bill. All he could do was shake his head at me and roll his eyes. School would be ending soon and I was relieved. It was a struggle, but I was keeping all of my grades up in every class and I was looking forward to next year and finally being finished, even though I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my degree right away.

Being back in the dancing world just made me want to stay there and never leave again. Nina mentioned something a few times about me coming on as a full-time teacher for the night classes during the summer and it sounded like an amazing opportunity, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do yet.

“Earth to Monroe.” Amelia snapped her fingers in my face, pulling me back to what I was supposed to be doing. Studying. It didn’t seem like much of that was happening though. We were in the courtyard, spread out in the grass with our books, just like ninety percent of the students were today since the sun was shining and the spring air was flowing. You could still see plenty of the locals though bundled up as if the low seventies temperature was chilly or something.

“Sorry.” I closed my book and stuck it in my bag. “I guess I’m not getting much done. Did you still want to grab something to eat before I head into work?”

“Sure.” She jumped up quickly and looped her arm through mine as we headed to grab some sandwiches. “We’re in need of a hang out soon. Maybe we should do something at your place, even though I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that you’re actually living with Miller. Tell me, how in the hell did he get you to move in so easily again?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged my shoulders and held the door open for her. “It just felt right so I said yes.”

“I can’t believe it was that easy. Actually, my feelings are pretty hurt since I tried to get you to move in with me over and over again and you flat out refused.”

“Because you have a roommate! Where did you expect me to sleep, the floor?”

“She’s never there, you know that.” She stopped talking once we reached the counter and we placed our orders and then found an empty table toward the back. “But anyway, we should have a barbeque or something. Franklin and I could bring over the food since I know both you and Miller shouldn’t be allowed in the kitchen. Oh, and I’ll bring plenty of dessert for you, too.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I held up a hand and Amelia’s lips turned downward. “Back up a step there. Did you just say
Franklin
? Did I miss something?” I think she was hoping that I hadn’t realized that she’d mentioned his name.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you we were seeing each other again? Yeah.” She waved a hand, like it was no big deal, but I knew better.

“Amelia, please tell me you’re not dating Franklin to make your parents happy. I know things haven’t been good between you guys, but you can’t let your parents dictate who you’re with. It’s just not right.” Amelia had been struggling in school lately, probably because she just wasn’t interested in it and would rather be doing something food related, and her grades slipped drastically. She would be lucky if she passed all of her classes when the semester was over. I just didn’t understand how her parents had that much of a hold over her. Sure, I cared what my parents thought, but I didn’t live to please them.

“Of course not!” She was acting way too offended by my accusation so I knew I had hit the nail right on the head. “I like Franklin, I really do. He’s a great guy, so smart, and knows what he wants to do with his life. He’s going places. He might even start working for my dad after he graduates.”

“What? Amelia, that can’t happen. That would mean things would be really awkward if they ended between you two.”

She fiddled with her straw wrapper before pasting a fake smile on her face. “Oh, Monroe, don’t worry your pretty little head about that. I’ve got things handled.” She changed the subject, going on and on about something one of her sorority sisters had done, so I half-tuned in while I ate my lunch and looked forward to the fact that I would be seeing Miller shortly. But Amelia’s situation would probably be right there in the back of my mind from now on. I wanted my best friend to be happy and I knew that she wasn’t truly happy with Franklin and she definitely wasn’t happy at school. I just needed to figure out how to make her see that.