Page 4 of Poles Apart
“That would be great. Joe dropped me home earlier, so I didn’t need to get an Uber.” Seb groaned.
“Who exactly is Joe?” Dom asked with a smirk, his previous annoyance almost forgotten. “You’ve not mentioned him before.”
Seb seemed reluctant to discuss him at first, but finally gave in, describing Joe in detail. The way he spoke about him, though, Dom worried his friend was getting too involved too quickly, but he had to trust that Seb knew what he was doing.
After a few more glasses of wine, they went to bed. Dom slung his arm across Seb’s waist, resting his head on his chest and snuggled into his side. Before long, they were both asleep.
The following morning, Seb’s parents called. Dom had a meeting with a potential new student, which he really shouldn’t be late for, so he left, dropping a kiss to Seb’s head.
He’d received the recommendation from a friend who had seen the girl dance at a school workshop. According to his friend, she had raw talent but hadn’t had any lessons yet. They’d discussed some one-on-one training, and the girl had agreed. Mia knew Dom was looking to gain some more teaching experience and, if he were honest, the extra money wouldn’t hurt either.
Dom wandered into the apartment he shared with his brother, finding him in the kitchen eating his breakfast. He slouched in the chair beside him, kissing his cheek.
“You had your meds this morning?” Dom asked him, stealing a cranberry from Jordan’s porridge.
“Yes, doctor. All done.” Jordan rolled his eyes as he slapped Dom’s hand away.
“Hey, no sass. I’m here to take care of you,” Dom said, booping him on the nose. His brother had been doing much better lately, but Dom was still here to look after him. Jordan couldn’t work yet, but they were hoping he’d be able to return part-time soon.
“Are you OK if I go out again today? I have a potential new student I have to meet in a while. Do you need anything before I go?”
His brother still struggled with his mobility sometimes because of the accident and would occasionally need Dom’s help to get around, but this was happening less and less now. Didn’t mean he stopped worrying, though. A couple of times, he’d come home to find him on the floor, unable to move. If Jordan weren’t up to it, he’d rearrange the appointment, but he was hoping he could get this done, see if this student was as good as Mia said she was.
“I’m feeling good today. You go and do what you need to do. I was going to have a rest on the sofa and do some of my exercises later. Will you be gone long?”
“Should only be a couple of hours. I’m meeting her at a local hall outside of town. I’m off to get changed and then go.” Dom leapt from his chair and looked at his brother. Jordan looked tired, and Dom knew he didn’t always sleep well.
“But I’ll only go if you’re sure.” His brother batted him away, clearly done with the inspection.
Dom entered his room and tiptoed through the mess on his bedroom floor. He really should try and tidy it. He picked through the clothes, trying to find his workout gear and finally selected a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and his dance shoes.
Carrying his holdall over his shoulder and grabbing a bottle of water from the kitchen, he turned to his brother. “You sure you’re going to be OK?”
“I’ll be fine, honestly. Now get out of here before I kick you out.” Jordan smiled at him, but Dom could see the tiredness setting in. “I’m just going to rest awhile.”
Dom grabbed his keys and, shouting a quick goodbye, closed the door behind him. He walked out to his car, checking his phone to make sure he had the address of the place and the student’s name.
Her name was Abigail, and as she was only sixteen, her brother would be coming with her. He was fine with that. He wouldn’t give private lessons without a chaperone to anyone under eighteen these days. It was the way it was.
His destination was on the other side of the city, and it took him about twenty minutes to reach the small hall. He was the first to arrive and went inside to set up. He was a little early and was standing with his back to the door, scrolling through some suitable music tracks, when he heard his student come in.
He turned at the noise and was about to say hello when his breath was stolen from his lungs. It couldn’t be, could it? He was definitely older, though. Yeah, fucking eight years older and still as sexy as fuck.
“Jacob?” he asked, not quite believing what he was seeing.
“That’s me.” Jacob’s eyes met his, and his mouth fell open. “Dominic?”
A girl he presumed was Abigail stood looking between them in confusion.
“I go by Dom now. Have done for the past few years, but you wouldn’t know that, would you?” Dom snapped and shut his emotions down, turning to Abigail or Abby as he now knew her to be. Why was he being such a dick? He’d thought he’d be OK seeing Jacob again, but eight years of hurt and not knowing what had happened to him, clearly made him the biggest dick of all.
“Hi, Abigail. I’m Dom, and I’m hopefully going to be your tutor.” He held his hand out to shake.
Shit, this was going to be hard if he was going to take her on, but he was here to do a job and not to pine over his lost love.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” He turned away from Jacob, and that’s the way it would have to stay. He wouldn’t risk getting close again.
Chapter Two
