Player(36)

The set felt forever long, and by the end, I was itching to get my hands around Val’s waist. From the confines of the stage, I’d witnessed a string of guys ask her to dance. But she’d turned them all down.

The teacher in me shook his head. She’d missed the point.

The player in me thumbed his suspenders, nodding his approval. I had an itching notion I wouldn’t take kindly to watching another man twirl her around the dance floor.

I rushed off the stage, hurrying my instrument into its case, taking the stairs down to the floor in a leap, eating up the space between me and her in a series of strides and a handful of heartbeats.

She didn’t see me coming, not until I was almost on her. I stepped into her seamlessly, slipped one hand in the notch of her waist and grabbed her hand with the other, spinning us in a single motion. And just like that, we were dancing. Around and around, into me and away from me, her skirts flying and smile bright, her laughter in my ears and her body against mine.

I quit tricking her around so we could catch our breaths, and she fit into the frame of my arms with precision and grace that always surprised me, no matter how many times I’d held her like this.

“Having fun?” I asked.

“Always. Is there any other way to swing?”

“Nope,” I said as I sped us around in a little triple step, spinning her around before slowing us again.

“The band was on fire tonight. You guys were feeling it, huh? The crowd was hoppin’.”

“We were definitely feeling it.”

A pause breathed between us, and something akin to guilt rose in my chest, a dreadful, sinking feeling.

She’s not for you. Just once. You promised.

I opened my mouth to say something—anything—to reinforce the fences, to keep her away, but she spoke first.

“So, I’ve been thinking about our lessons.”

“Have you?” I asked, praying my voice was devoid of hope.

“Mmhmm,” she answered with a nod and a smile. “I’ve been thinking about them a lot. I learned something very valuable last night.”

I swallowed hard enough to make my Adam’s apple ride from jaw to clavicle. “Oh?”

“Yup. And that lesson was that I have no idea what I’m doing.”

I laughed my relief. “I don’t know about that, Val. Seems to me you don’t need any lessons at all.”

“That’s sweet, but I’m pretty sure it’s like dancing. You’re good enough for the both of us.”

God, she was so pretty in my arms, her face shy and devoted and laced with levity. “You have no idea how wrong you are.”

Her cheeks flushed, but she didn’t waver. “So I have some ideas about my next lessons.”

“All right. Shoot. What do you want to know?”

“How to give blowjobs.”

I tripped over her feet, and we took a dangerous tilt, but I caught us, somehow spinning us so the dance didn’t break.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked once I had us righted. My heart was louder than the music. My mouth watered with anticipation that I’d heard what I thought I’d heard.

“Blowjobs. I mean, for one. I’d also like to experience sex in several positions and cunnilingus by a man who actually knows where a clitoris is.”

That time, my feet just quit. I stood stupidly in the middle of the dance floor as a hundred people danced around us, looking down at Val’s face, which was the picture of calm determination.

“So you…you want…you’re saying you want to…”

She waited for me to finish, but I only kept stammering. “I want our lessons to extend to the physical. For science.”

“For…science?”

“You’re clearly an expert kisser, which leads me to believe you’re an expert…well, everything else. I’ve only been with two guys, and neither of them knew what to do with my body any better than I knew what to do with theirs.”

“Val…” Everything in me screamed both yes and no at equal decibels.

“Before you say no, I want you to know there are no strings. This is just for educational purposes. You’ve already helped me so much, and I’m eager to learn. If you aren’t interested in sleeping with me, I totally understand. No hard feelings. But I had to ask.”

Her face was so full of hope and resolve. Something in my chest split and ached. “Val, if I wasn’t interested in sleeping with you, I’d need to have my pulse checked.”

She drew in a breath that seemed to give her confidence. “Good. Then—”

“Hang on,” I started, sobering. “This…this isn’t like going to practice dinner. It’s not so easy to separate your feelings when you’re hooking up. I don’t want to hurt you, and this complicates things in a way I’m not sure you’re ready for.”

That confidence shifted to fury in the span of a heartbeat. “Now, hang on just one fucking minute, Sam. You don’t get to decide what I’m ready for and what I’m not. Don’t tell me what I’m emotionally capable of handling. I mean, I appreciate you being the white knight and all, but who the hell do you think you are?”

I opened my mouth, found no words, and closed it again.

“I’ve thought through this, and I know the risk. My terms, if you’d have let me finish, are to give you the topics of education in an order I’m comfortable with. And if something happens to change the dynamic of our relationship or how I feel, I’ll tell you so, and we can end the lessons. You said you’re always upfront, and you’ve been upfront with me. I don’t have any misgivings or expectations of you.”