Page 53 of Not Strictly Ballroom

I know it will. His speech to his parents a few days ago proved that. Showed me he was stronger than I thought he was, and I feel bad for underestimating him. It doesn’t stop me wanting to help, though.

“Alright, and I hope it goes well for Justin and Mark. I can’t wait to see them on Saturday.” I’m looking forward to their wedding and a surprise I have planned for Darcy. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw him down on the bed and not let him out of the room, not until he’s come, screaming my name. But well, parents. And now I can’t stop thinking about it, and the semi I’m sporting just from kissing him a minute ago is thickening. I adjust myself in my jeans.

“What’s got you all hot and bothered?” Darcy asks with a smirk, looking pointedly at my crotch.

“As if you need to ask that,” I say, trying not to look at him as it’s making matters worse.

“Do you need help?” He steps closer and places his hand over mine, which is ineffectually attempting to make it more comfortable.

I glance at him and see him nibble his bottom lip, with a question in his dark verdant eyes. I’m doomed.

I swallow.

“Er, that isn’t helping, D.” My voice is thick and I’m on a hair trigger. But a huge part of me doesn’t want him to stop at all, delighted that he seems to know what I need.

He gives me a sly smile and bats my hand away, unbuttoning my jeans before I can stop him. He pulls my trousers and boxer briefs down, allowing my cock to bounce free of its constraints.

“Um, D. Honey?” No, this isn’t really helping, and I utter a curse under my breath as he wraps his hand round my length.

He presses his lips to mine, questing with his tongue while he starts slow strokes with his hand, his thumb brushing over the tip. Then he walks me backwards until I’m up against the wall.

“Shhh now,” he whispers, before he drops to his knees.

I have to tip my head back and squeeze my eyes shut, as the sight of his lips engulfing my cock is too much, and I’m going to be coming within a few seconds. Instead, I give myself over to the feeling of his tongue swirling around my end and the exquisite sensation of his mouth. I try to steady my breathing and keep quiet, letting out a series of fucks under my breath. I feel rather than hear him chuckling round me at my struggle to hold on, and it’s enough to push me over the edge. I let the wall support me when my knees almost give way as I shoot straight to the back of his throat. He slowly slides his mouth off me and stands in one deft movement, always elegant.

I’m still recovering, unable to stand unaided and staring at him with a mixture of love and wonder.

“That was amazing, D,” I say, eventually managing to pull my jeans back on. “Thank you.”

“You looked like you needed that,” he says bluntly, and I mock-frown at him.

“That obvious, huh?”

“I can read you like a book.” His eyes are full of mirth. “But I need to go or I’ll miss the bus.” He presses a quick kiss to my lips and then he’s gone, and I’m still leaning against the wall trying to get my breath back.

When I’ve recovered, I go down to the kitchen, seeking out my parents. My dad is just off to take Gran to her appointment. He isn’t working today, either. I’ve asked for the rest of the week off to be with Darcy. Alan is still helping my dad as the job he wanted at the steelworks didn’t go his way, so taking time off isn’t difficult. But there is a big job planned for next week that will need all three of us. Until then, there’s something else I need to do, especially after what just happened. I need to double my efforts to find somewhere for Darcy and I to live.

Thankfully, my parents aren’t home when I enter the apartment above the studio. I have a short while before Justin and Mark are due to arrive, and then there are a couple of lessons after them.

I’m glad I don’t have to face my parents today—despite telling Nick I’d be fine, I’d rather not have another confrontation right now. It feels eerie walking through the empty house, as if it’s already been abandoned. In a way, it has. The family unit we had no longer exists, and the more I examine it, the more I wonder if it truly existed as I thought it did. Was I just a puppet for my mum’s dreams? The thought doesn’t diminish my love of dancing, but it does apply a tainted patina to what my childhood really was. Or rather, what it wasn’t. I had none of the experiences and friends that regular children have. It was full of practice and competitions and helping in the school. I didn’t have many friends at school either, not enough to bring them home. If it hadn’t been for Nick, I would have been an extremely sad and lonely boy. His friendship was solid and unconditional, and he’s always allowed me to be myself, supporting rather than pushing, and I am full of gratitude for him. I have no idea what he saw in me back then that made him want to be my friend, or what he sees in me now, but he’s more than family—he’s the other half of my soul.

As I stand in the quiet kitchen, I idly wonder where my parents are and then push the thought straight back out of my head. It’s clear their plans didn’t include me, so mine won’t include them. Not that I have any plans right now. That reminder flattens my mood, which had been quite buoyant after leaving Nick in his room, flushed and breathless. I smile to myself that I can do that to him, affecting his calm confidence that way.

I collect some more clothes from my room, but I can’t keep filling Nick’s room up. That situation isn’t ideal, and a layer of guilt that I’m being a burden further dulls how I’m feeling right now. Nick, with his starry blue eyes and a million smiles, is the only bright point in my life right now.

I go downstairs to open up the studio. I refuse to wallow in self-pity. I can at least help make someone else’s life better instead.

“Congratulations!” Justin says, as soon as he enters the studio. “You were amazing on Saturday.”

“You were there?” I ask, a little confused.

“We weren’t, but then Mark caught a newsreel reporting that you’d changed partners and were dancing with Nick, and then we just had to find everything we could about it.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say to that.

“Do you know how wonderful it was to see someone from our community dancing?” Mark chimes in. “We’ve not had that before.”

“I guess I didn’t,” I say hesitantly. I hadn’t thought about it, that it might be something others would want to see. I just wanted to dance with the person I wanted to.

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