Page 3 of Dancing With Lies

She didn’t wait for a reply, she’d look at it later when she’d had a shower and changed. When she came downstairs, she found her mom in the living room, ready for a night out if the Chanel dress she wore and the exquisite style of her blonde hair meant anything. “You going now, Chloe?”

“I am, Mom.” Chloe went up and hugged her mother and gave her a peck on the cheek. She didn’t want to mess up her mother’s makeup, not when she looked so happy and pretty.

“Are you sure you don’t want your father to drive you?” Her mother asked but Chloe shook her head.

Chloe still hadn’t learned to drive, it wasn’t high on her list of priorities, especially when she loved the alone time she got with her parents when they drove her somewhere. Tonight was special, though, and she’d let them have some peace. Even Aunt Katie had taken the night off and had gone to visit her son.

“I’m good, Mom. I’ve got my bike and it’s not that far to June’s. It’s a safe neighborhood, anyway.” She shrugged and plaited her hair quickly before she wrapped a scrunchie at the end. “I’ve got clothes at June’s and my cell phone in my backpack. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m so lucky to have such a good daughter.” Her mom wrapped her in an envelope of Dolce and Gabbana perfume, her arms tight around her daughter for a minute before she let go. “I can’t believe how fast you’re growing up.”

“Oh, Mom, I’m only eighteen.” Chloe couldn’t help but blush though, in pleasure and embarrassment.

“That’s nearly grown, darling. Soon you’ll be leaving me forever.” Her mother brushed a finger down Chloe’s cheek, her blue eyes, so similar to Chloe’s, misty for a moment. “You’ll go to a ballet academy and then on to something else. You’ll have a life of your own and my baby will be grown.”

“I have plenty of time to grow up, Mom. All I want to do now is dance and be here with you and dad.” And maybe kiss Liam again tonight.

“Well, I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, Mom. Have fun tonight.” She pecked her mom’s cheek again and headed out the back door to get her bike. She loved her parents, but she liked the independence of being on her bike, and it was their anniversary. True love deserved a night off from kids.

3

Chloe was on her way out to June’s again a few days later, her mom’s watch on her arm. Her mom didn’t complain when Chloe snuck into her bedroom to ‘borrow’ jewelry without permission, because Chloe always made it back in time to replace whatever she’d taken before her mom woke up the next morning. She wasn’t exactly sure why she’d taken the watch earlier. She’d looked it up and discovered it cost over a hundred grand so it wasn’t like the earrings or necklaces she sometimes pilfered, but she knew that all she really wanted to do was show the watch to June. They’d talked about it a few times since her parent’s anniversary. She’d bring it back, safe and sound in the morning.

She walked out to the barn behind the house, a barn that cost nearly as much as the house, and straddled the bike she kept there. She’d taken out her iPhone and had David Gray playing through her headphones. She loved most of his music, but one song in particular made her think of nights like this, cool nights full of hope and mystery.

She’d had crushes on boys before, but she’d never expected to feel like this about Liam. He was June’s older brother and had always been a nuisance, but then one day he wasn’t. She’d smiled at him in a way she’d never smiled before and she’d seen a look on his face…uncertainty? Interest? He’d almost kissed her beside his family’s pool that evening, which would have been her first real kiss, and she’d felt everything swell with what she thought could only be love. Lincoln, known as Link by his friends, came out and interrupted before their lips could meet though. He was such an asshole, she thought with a frown. Lincoln always got in the way.

Chloe let thoughts of the other boy go as she turned down the driveway that would lead to June’s house, her thoughts back on Liam. When she’d heard David Gray sing ‘This Year’s Love’ it made her remember that night he’d almost kissed her and she knew what she felt must be love.

Since then, there’d been no more attempts at stolen kisses, only promises made and notes left in a birdhouse on the edge of his family’s property. The green and white birdhouse was perched on a fence, a few rows down from their mailbox and it was the hiding spot where they left their notes to each other when he was home. The brothers sometimes came home on the weekends, just because they liked to show off for their friends, Chloe thought, since they always came home with a crowd of boys.

She stopped at the birdhouse, pulled off the roof, and felt around inside. It was dark already so she couldn’t see what was in there, but she felt a note and a small box. He’d sent her a gift, she thought with delight. That made up for all the times he reminded her they had to keep their romance a secret. She didn’t think her parents would mind at all if she was dating Liam, but he seemed to think they would, so she did as he wished.

With nervous fingers, she opened the note and pulled out her phone to light it up enough to see what he’d written. His handwriting was tight but neat, small but somehow still romantic. She giggled as she read his words, and nearly burst with glee when he wrote about how beautiful her full lips were, about how much he dreamed about kissing her. Which was why he’d sent her the small pink lipstick case. Dior lip balm, the kind June wore, one of her favorites. Chloe could have gotten her own, but she loved borrowing it from June and savoring the taste. He’d bought her a tube of her own so that he’d almost know what it was like to kiss her and so that her lips would be soft for him when he finally did get to kiss her.

A mosquito bit at her and Chloe jumped, wondering how long she’d stood there reading and re-reading the note Liam sent her. He was so sweet and romantic. He could have emailed her, but she loved seeing his handwriting, knowing he’d written these words just for her. It let her know just how special she was to him.

She touched the letter one last time, had one more sniff of the present he’d left for her, then tucked it all securely in her backpack. There was a huge smile on her face as she left the birdhouse behind and rode up to the front door of the three-story brick mansion. She wasn’t impressed by the house, hers was older and bigger, but she did love how it was always alive with sound and life.

Her bladder spasmed as she made her way in the door and she decided to head for the bathroom before she went up to June’s room. She didn’t worry about whether anyone knew she was there, she and June were such fixtures at the other’s house that it wasn’t necessary to knock or announce themselves anymore. She was humming along with the next David Gray song on her phone when she made it to the bathroom and pushed the closed door open.

Her jaw dropped when she saw Lincoln standing there, fussing with his hair, rubbing gel into the dark locks to get it to lie just right. He didn’t react when she opened the door, he just stood there, his swimmer’s body on display for anybody to see. Chloe couldn’t move, her eyes were caught by the muscles in his stomach, by the swell of his ass, and the strong, broad shoulders that could hold the world at bay if he so chose.

“Chloe? What are you doing?” He turned at last, a smirk on his face that she could have slapped off if she wasn’t busy trying to hide her flaming cheeks. He’d caught her staring! “Like what you see, honey?”

“As if, you asshole. Holy fuck, I just needed the bathroom you stupid ass! I hate you so much!” Chloe slammed the door on him and hurried off to the next bathroom before she embarrassed herself even more by wetting her own pants.

That was one of the reasons she hated Lincoln so much: he was always so full of himself, like he owned everything and everyone around him, just because he was the boy all the girls wanted to date back in high school. And he always had to pick on her. Of all the people in the world, why did he have to be June’s brother?

As she rushed off, she couldn’t get how hot Lincoln was out of her head. His skin had been smooth and tan and so silky looking she’d wanted to reach out and touch him. But that was wrong, she was in love with Liam, she admonished herself.

So why couldn’t she get the sight of Lincoln off her mind for the rest of the night? She had to wonder as she and June listened to the latest music Chloe had downloaded to her phone and then re-watched an episode of their favorite TV show ‘Pretty Little Liars’. And although Chloe and June normally told each other everything, they hadn’t talked about that day at her house and Chloe hadn’t told her best friend about the notes she exchanged with Liam. That was her secret. Kind of like the secret she now had about hot Lincoln was without his clothes. She’d seen far more when he turned around to face her with that smirk, and he was so…big. Everywhere.

“Are you staying the night, Chloe?” June asked as the show ended and she stretched with a yawn.

“No, I’m heading home. Mom wants to plan out some party or other and wants me to be there.” Chloe rolled her eyes to let her friend know what an absolute drag that was.