Page 79 of Worth the Trouble

I sit up and feel her in the air. I feel her in my bones. The girl is downright dangerous.

Slipping on sweats, I make my way toward the music playing in my living room. And when I turn the corner, I freeze at the sight of her.

She’s dancing in an open space in front of the glass doors that lead to the backyard. Morning sunshine coats her in a warm glow, and she looks almost angelic. She’s wearing one of my T-shirts, tied in a knot at the front because it’s too big, along with a pair of my boxers.

Something about the sight of her in my clothes feels like she’s in my skin. And I don’t know what I like more, that she’s wearing them or that she helped herself to them without me offering because she felt comfortable.

It doesn’t take a genius to know her seemingly perfect life is glass, one tap away from breaking. She’s careful about every movement. But around me, she feels safe to move freely. To take what she wants without apology. No restraints, unless I’m tying her to my bed.

The music stops, but Lili continues to dance, almost as if she’s still hearing the song in her head. She moves like she’s feeling a beat in her bloodstream. Muscle memory as she hits her marks and glides across the room.

She bends back as her arms swim over her head and her leg sweeps up and around. Skipping, floating. She’s practically weightless with her movements. And it’s more than the fact that the girl is petite because it’s clear her dance takes all her strength and flexibility. But she glides like the movements aren’t just movements.

She is them.

Her other leg swings up in a wide arc that forces her into the splits at the top before she plants both feet on the ground. She tips her chin to the side and glances over her shoulder at me.

“Enjoying the show?”

“Lose the top and I’ll enjoy it more.”

She rolls her eyes but smiles at the same time. And I wonder if she sees through the joke as easily as it feels like she can. Because I don’t need her naked and pleasing me for me to want to be around her. I just needher—her presence—in my house and in my life. I need her like I never thought I was capable of needing anyone. Because she makes me feel like I can let my guard down and be the guy I forgot existed years ago.

Lili walks over to me and wraps her arms around my shoulders. She’s been working hard, and her skin is glowing with the slightest sheen of sweat. Her passion for dance leaking from her pores is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.

She lifts up onto her toes, kissing me, and it's casual and nonchalant. Like a habit we do every day. I’m not sure what to make of it.

“Are you trying to get me to strip for you, Rome Moreno?” Her eyes dart to the two poles in the middle of the room

“I mean…” I trail off, grinning. “I wouldn’t complain if you did.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t.” She’s still smiling, but there’s a pause behind it, and a pinch forms between her eyebrows.

“What was that thought?” I brush her hair aside.

“You saw that?”

I nod, watching her expression shift as she probably decides if she wants to tell me or not.

“I shouldn’t say it.”

I tip her chin up so she’s facing me directly. “Say it anyway.”

“I was just thinking I’m going to miss this.”

“The stripper poles?” I joke.

Lili frowns. “You.”

“Already thinking about disappearing again, huh?” I brush my thumb over her bottom lip. “I thought we went over your punishment for that last night. But if you need me to remind you…”

I’m not good at facing conversations like this head-on, so I can’t help but turn it sexual just to avoid the fact that her statement has me feeling like I’m drowning.

“You know what I’m saying.”

Lili blushes, and I wonder if she just replayed last night in her head like I did. Because it was mind-altering. Wicked in a way that didn’t feel cheap. Intense in a way that carved a piece of me out.

She took it, unapologetically.