Ripped by Lisa Edward

wouldn’t enjoy it at all.”
    “But I just thought—”
    “No, Jaz, seriously. I don’t want you going anywhere near the place. Please promise me you won’t come down there. I’ll figure something out, maybe work extra shifts, but you need to focus on your dancing.” He stroked my back gently. “You’re exhausted every night after rehearsing all day; you need to rest, but you need somewhere to call your own where you feel comfortable and taken care of.”
    I knew the set of his jaw, and I was never going to win.
    “I’ll take on more. If I can’t get more work at the bar or the pizzeria, I’ll find another part-time job. I want to look after you, Jaz. Please let me.”
    I couldn’t argue with that, but at the same time I knew that if he worked another job then it would pull him farther and farther away from dance and he may never find his way back.
    “You could try dancing again. I know the pay’s not great during the rehearsal stage, but at least you’d be doing something you love.”
    “And we would never find a place to move in to if we were both surviving on dancer’s salaries.”
    He’d made up his mind, and I knew him well enough to know there was no point arguing with him. “Whatever you think is best, Bax. I trust you to make the right decision for your career and for us.”
    Of course I knew it was the wrong decision. Bax should be dancing even more than I should. He was so much better than I could ever hope to be, but I knew he’d taken a pounding, and the last thing I wanted to do was drag him down further. His pride wouldn’t take me browbeating him over this, so I let it go, for now.

    “Is that you, Baxter?” Mama called as we tried our best but failed to sneak up the side staircase to Bax’s apartment.
    I frowned as Bax smiled before answering, “Yes, Mama. Jaz and I are having a quiet night tonight.”
    The side door flew open and Mama’s beaming face greeted us. “Ah, Jasmine is with you again.” She embraced us both in an anaconda-tight grip. “Come, come. You must be hungry after all the dancing, no? Come eat.”
    This wasn’t how I’d wanted to spend the evening. I’d danced all day with only one thing on my mind, and it wasn’t sitting around a huge table with ten people I was getting to know, while they shoved plates of food at me. I wanted to spend the evening with Bax, alone, and if I could keep my nerve without chickening out, I wanted to spend that time naked.
    I sighed in defeat. “Yes, I’m hungry. Thank you.” There was no way out of it; Mama could be very persistent.
    “But she’s also really tired, Mama,” Bax interjected. “Maybe we could take something upstairs so Jaz can rest her aching feet? All the dancing really wears her out, Mama. You understand, don’t you?”
    “Ah, your feet, they ache?” Mama asked. I nodded, joining in on whatever Bax had planned. “Baxter, you must rub the feet, help poor Jasmine feel better. I’ll fix you a plate to take upstairs.” Mama scurried off, leaving us standing in the open doorway.
    “Genius,” I whispered.
    “I have my moments.”
    The pasta was delicious as always, but I was preoccupied with my own carnal thoughts. I’d told Bax I wasn’t ready, and he’d promised not to rush me and to wait for me to tell him when the time was right. As I perched on the edge of the couch, jiggling my legs, I wondered how to go about it. Did I just blurt it out? ‘So Bax, how about it?’
    Trying to seduce him would be an epic fail. I was about as sexy today as I had been all those years ago when I was totally clueless. I was still the awkward, gangly girl I had been when my mom had first taken me to ballet lessons to teach me some poise and grace; the only difference now was I’d learnt tricks to conceal the inner dork.
    Bax sat beside me, leaning back comfortably into the soft cushions, then pulled me closer to nuzzle in to his side. “So, whatcha thinking about?”
    Gnawing on my lower lip, I tried to word it