Jude
I’m a little early, but I don’t mind. I wasn’t supposed to be here for another twenty minutes, but I’m sorta glad I came early. I love seeing my girl in her element. Bracing my forearm against the doorframe, I lean into the wall, watching through a window as Claire trains one of her dancers. The dancer doesn’t look that much younger than Claire, but it’s obvious that she looks up to my girl. Her eyes haven’t left Claire’s body since I took up my post against the wall, but neither have mine.
She is breathtaking.
The song that is playing is the one we danced to after my game, a lit
tle over week ago. “Latch” by Sam Smith. I’ve downloaded the song and listen to it on repeat when we’re apart, which has been a lot lately. Tonight is the first night we actually get to have a date night, and I can’t wait to just be enveloped by her awesomeness. We text constantly and see each other randomly throughout the day, but for the next twelve hours, she’s mine.
“Megan, you have to pay attention. You’re missing most of the song’s key parts, and you have to have the emotion. You’ve been in love, right?” Claire asks. Her voice is muffled by the glass, but I can still hear what she’s saying.
Megan nods. “Yeah. I have.”
“Okay, channel that. This dance, this song is about having the soul-deep, amazing love that leaves you breathless and wanting more every second of the day. It’s like when you’re apart from that person, your heart is coming out of your chest, trying to find the person who causes it to race. It’s almost like you are dancing for that person. You’re doing great, technically, but you need the emotion for this song to work. I’m going to show you, full-out, okay? Watch me,” she demands as she goes to the middle of the floor.
I’m not sure how she hasn’t seen me yet, but I’m thankful for that. I want to watch her do this full-out because I feel like this is for me. Pulling out my phone, I go to my camera and push record as I wait for the music to start. And for the next minute and thirty-nine seconds, I’m completely speechless. Every emotion she described to Megan is brought to life by her body. It is honestly the most gorgeous thing I’ve seen in my entire life. It’s not only her body that has me completely enraptured, it’s her face, the way her eyes tell the story along with her body.
A small smile tugs at my mouth as she turns, letting her back arch before slowly pulling it up. When she is fully erect, her eyes meet mine, and a grin pulls at her lips before she waves at me. I hit the end button on my camera and wave back, my heart coming out of my chest for this girl. I want to go through the wall to close the distance between us. I want to hold her, tell her how much she means to me and how life is nothing without her. Because without her, I’m not complete.
Tucking my phone in my pocket, I listen as she says, “That’s how you do it.”
“Wow,” Megan says, her face full of awe. “That was beautiful.”
“Thank you. Now go home, practice, and when we meet up next week, I want that emotion.”
Megan nods and I watch as they clean up before both coming out, grins on their face. When Megan’s eyes meet mine, she giggles before sending a look at Claire. “So he’s the reason for all that emotion?”
Claire’s face fills with color before she wraps her arms around my waist. “Yup, he sure is.”
I kiss her temple and hug her tightly as Megan says, “Cool, see y’all later.”
“Bye, Megan,” Claire calls as she cuddles into me tighter. Once I hear the door shut, she looks up at me. “I’ve been waiting all day to see you.”
“Me too. All day, I’ve been watching the clock.”
She hugs me tighter. “I’m sorry for this week. With Reese and Phillip gone, I had to take over the studio, and I’m so damn tired.”
I hug her back, dusting her jaw with kisses. “I understand. I’ve been busy too.”
“They come back tomorrow, though, so hopefully things will go back to normal.”
“There is a normal with us?” I joke and she smiles.
“Very good point. You know what I mean,” she says and I nod.
“I know. Come on, let’s get out of here. We don’t want to be late,” I say as we start for the door.
Once there, Claire locks everything up and then we head toward her car. I had Jayden drop me off since it’s a chilly night. I didn’t want to freeze on my bike or subject Claire to that. Might be time to put the bike up; the weather is starting to stay cold instead of fluctuating like it had been doing. Taking the keys from Claire, I kiss her knuckles and she bats her eyelashes at me before she heads to the other side to get in.
Getting in, I adjust the seat and put my seat belt on as she says, “I still can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
I grin over at her. “What better way to spend date night than in a tattoo parlor?”
“I can give you a lot of places we could spend date night, mainly my bed or yours, but tattoos it is.”
I laugh. “You know you’re excited.”
She shrugs, but I can see the grin pulling at her lips. “Maybe.”