Chapter Eleven Cord
Eleven
Cord
My eyes fall closed the moment the screen goes dark and the FaceTime ends.
But the darkness doesn’t help. All I see in my mind is Allegra, her leg wrapped around that pole, spinning like it was effortless.
Like she was having fun. I toss aside the choreography notes I’ve been working on, knowing there’s no hope for my focus now.
I envy my sister for the ease she has with people, even after everything she went through. She never lost her ability to trust and open up. I don’t know that I had that ability to begin with. But watching her and Allegra together, it hits me harder than it ever has before.
My phone buzzes in my hand, where my fingers are still clenched tightly around it.
Chloe: Mind if I ask Allegra out?
Me: Seriously Coco? I’ve been gone for like three days.
Chloe: What does that have to do with anything? You aren’t going to ask her out, so why can’t I?
I rub a hand over my face.
Me: I don’t even know if she likes girls.
Chloe: She’s bi. I asked. All the best of us are
I fall back on the too-firm hotel bed. I’ve been in Texas trying to work with this struggling franchise, which is normally a part of the job that I love. But I do not love living in hotel rooms.
I probably should have sent Noah in my place. He’s capable and from the area, and I do want to train him to take on a bigger role in the company. And yet, when it became clear someone needed to come here in person, I jumped at the chance to put some space between me and Allegra.
Which probably means I shouldn’t care that my sister wants to ask her out.
Me: Yeah. Okay. I guess if you really like her and you think you can handle the ballet of it all.
I watch the typing bubbles dance across the bottom of my screen.
Chloe: Wow. I honestly wasn’t expecting you to agree.
Chloe: I thought you really liked her.
Me: I do. We both know I can’t be any good for her. But maybe you can be.
Me: I think she could probably use someone like you.
Chloe: Shit. You do really like her.
Chloe: I have no intentions of asking her out, btw.
Relief washes over me but I swipe it aside.
Me: Then why are you torturing me?
Chloe: I wanted to see how much you like her, and it’s even more than I thought.
Me: Me telling you to ask her out means I like her more than you thought?
Chloe: You want her to be happy.
Chloe: That says a lot, Cord.
Chloe: And for what it’s worth, I think you should go for it.
Me: Not going to happen. Take your little rom-com dreams elsewhere.
Chloe: Yeah yeah. Love you.
Me: Love you too.
No sooner have I tossed my phone to the side than it buzzes again. I sigh, about to swipe open and call Chloe rather than deal with another barrage of texts.
But it isn’t her name on the screen.
Allegra: Thanks for setting up the class. That was a lot of fun.
Me: Yes, Chloe is the fun twin, I’m well aware
Allegra: You’re not wrong, but I appreciate you connecting us.
My stomach spins. Is Allegra hoping for more of a connection between her and Chloe? Damn, it’s not often I have to compete with my sister over potential partners. Not that that’s what Allegra is, obviously.
Allegra: Any chance you’re going to be home by Friday?
I’m scheduled to be in Texas until Monday morning, but my curiosity is piqued.
Me: Why, what’s going on?
Allegra: One of the guys in the company was asking if anyone wanted his two tickets to the Brooklyn Food Festival and that sort of went over like a lead balloon with our crowd, but if you were going to be home, I wondered if maybe you would want to go?
Allegra: You being a foodie and all
I actually already had tickets to the food festival, but I’d passed them along to one of my guys when I realized I was going to be out of town. I’d been looking forward to going, and it doesn’t escape me how a food festival is likely not how Allegra wants to spend her typical Friday afternoon.
Me: I’m coming home Friday morning, actually.
Me: And I would love to go with you.
Allegra: Great! I’ll send you the info. Have a good night!
Me: You too.
I close my messages and swipe over to my airline app. Booking a last-minute flight isn’t cheap, and I’ll have to turn around and come back to Texas Saturday morning.
But something tells me the cost will be worth it.
I’m jet-lagged and exhausted when my Lyft arrives in Park Slope. My flight was delayed so I barely had time to drop off my suitcase at my place before I had to grab a ride over the bridge.
But all that seems to fade away when I see Allegra waiting out in front of the check-in tent for me.
She’s wearing jeans and a plain gray T-shirt, white sneakers on her feet and a gold necklace around her neck.
Her hair is down, the long blond waves hanging over her shoulders and highlighting the gorgeous angles of her face.
I don’t know that she’s ever looked more beautiful.
I take a chance, leaning in for a hug and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek when I greet her. She leans into me and I think it must be lavender, that floral scent that always seems to tease me.
A bright pink flush colors her cheeks when we part.
She hands me a lanyard with our plastic badges on them. “Shall we?”
I slip the badge over my neck and let her guide me, my hand falling to the delicate small of her back as we make our way through the narrow entrance.
The food festival is set up along one main street, traffic blocked off on either end.
There are booths lining the sidewalks on each side, offering everything from homemade bagels to gourmet mac and cheese.
The smells are mouthwatering and my stomach rumbles.
I haven’t eaten all day, wanting to leave room to sample as much as I can.
“Where should we start?” Allegra turns to me, her eyes a little wide.
“How about we start on the right and make our way down? We can loop around and end up back where we started?”
She nods, her teeth digging into her lower lip.
I reach for her hand as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. “I’m normally on a pretty strict diet, but I might splurge a little today. I’m going to be mindful of my portions, though, and probably just try a small sample from each booth.”
Her shoulders soften a little and she flashes me a small smile. “That sounds good.”
The first booth features a local Italian restaurant and I select gnocchi with pesto sauce and burrata with fresh tomatoes and olive oil.
Both are served in tiny disposable bamboo boats.
I hand the burrata to Allegra and try the gnocchi first. The sauce is creamy and fresh, the gnocchi perfectly cooked.
I make a happy humming sound. “This is amazing.”
Allegra cuts off a small piece of the burrata and spears it on her fork along with a tomato slice. I pay way too close attention to the way her lips part. Her eyes close for a half second and she sighs in pleasure. “It really is.”
We stop for a second at a high-top table set up in the middle of the street.
“Have you ever been to Italy before?” I ask her as I shovel another bite of gnocchi in my mouth.
She shakes her head, taking one more bite of the creamy cheese before pushing it over to my side of the table. “I really only travel when I’m dancing for other companies. Otherwise, I don’t want to be away from class for too long.”
I nod, all too familiar with that line of thinking. “It’s beautiful. Highly recommend if you get the chance to go.”
She stabs one piece of gnocchi and nibbles off a bite. “Have you done a lot of traveling?”
“Not as much as I would like, but it’s one of my favorite things to do.”
“Where’s your favorite place you’ve been?”
I scoop the remainder of the burrata on my fork. “Probably Scotland. Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities, but the Highlands are absolutely incredible. It’s like being in a fantasy novel.”
“Sounds amazing.” She watches me as I finish the last of the two dishes and I don’t miss how her eyes linger on my lips.
Gathering our trash, I sweep out my arm in the direction of the next booth. “Ready?”
She nods. Neither of us reaches for the other this time, but we walk with our shoulders close enough that they brush with each step. She doesn’t move away, so I don’t either.
The next booth features Indian food, which is one of my favorites. I ask for a samosa and butter chicken. Allegra tries a bite of each and when the flavorful foods hit her tongue, pleasure dances over her face.
If her diet is anything like I expect, coming to a festival like this probably isn’t easy for her. And yet, she went out of her way to ask for these tickets, because she knew I would like it.
Something warm spreads through my chest.
“Everything okay?” she asks me as I toss the wrapper of our latest treat—a homemade bagel with thick lox—in the trash. “You’re looking at me funny.”
I nudge her with my elbow. “Am not.”
She laughs, and more than one person in the vicinity turns to look at her. Not because she’s loud and obnoxious, but because she sounds like a fairy or a nymph or some otherworldly creature. I don’t miss how some of those looks linger. I press myself closer to her side as we come to the next booth.
“So you had fun with Chloe?” I ask as we wait for a freshly made sushi roll to be prepared.
“I think it’s impossible to not have fun with Chloe.”
“Oh trust me, it’s possible.”
She rolls her eyes. “I have a sister, I’m aware. But Chloe is pretty great.”
I take the proffered roll and we find a spot at another table. “She is.”
“You two are close?”
I nod. “We’ve been through a lot together.”
Allegra gives me time to expand, but I don’t, even though I’m tempted to. That’s a conversation I don’t ever want to have with her. Instead, I dip the sushi in eel sauce and shove it in my mouth. “Want a piece?”
She nods and reaches for a set of chopsticks, but I scoop up a piece, swirl it in the sauce, and offer it to her.
She lifts her eyebrow at me before leaning in, opening her mouth so I can feed her the sushi.
Strangely, it’s the most erotic thing I’ve witnessed in a long time.
Allegra covers her mouth as she chews, but she doesn’t drop my eye contact. “That’s really good,” she says once she’s swallowed.
I nod because my brain seems to have stopped functioning. I eat the last piece of sushi and then guide her to the next booth. We’ve almost made our way back to the beginning, but I’m not quite ready for our time together to end.
Instead of eating our last finds at the festival—pastries from a Japanese bakery—we take them in bags to go, some unspoken agreement between us that this won’t be our last stop.
We find a coffee shop and since the sun is just setting and it’s not too cool yet, we take seats at an outdoor table, a mug of coffee for me and of tea for her, plus our pastries to share.
“Thank you for bringing me to this tonight.”
Allegra wraps her hand around her mug, bringing it to her lips to blow on the steaming beverage. “You’re welcome. I figure it’s the least I can do with everything you’ve set up for me lately.”
“I’ve been enjoying spending time with you.” The words are out of my mouth before I can fully think them through. Not that I don’t mean them, but I don’t know if I should be saying them out loud.
She looks at me over the rim of her mug. “Me too.”
It would be so easy right now to close the small gap of space between us and press my lips to hers. There’s something here, something between us that I haven’t felt in a long time, and my chest physically aches with the longing.
But I don’t close the gap. Instead, I sit back farther in my seat. “But I think you should know I’m not really a relationship guy.”
Something in her hazel eyes darkens, her face falling without moving a muscle, though she tries to hide it. “Oh. Yeah, of course. I didn’t mean to imply…I just meant…the lessons have been helpful. That’s all.”
I nod, as if it doesn’t stab me in the heart to see the hurt in her eyes. “Yeah, I know. I know you probably don’t do relationships either. What with your schedule and all.”
“Totally. Yeah. Relationships are not really my thing.” She sips her tea and I don’t know if the wince is from the sting of a too-hot drink or the awkwardness of this conversation.
I mentally kick myself for ruining what had been a perfect night. Why couldn’t I just shut the hell up and text her later if I thought she was getting too close?
Because she’s not the one getting too close, idiot, I think.
“Ready to head home?” I ask, even though I still have half a mug of coffee and Allegra’s barely touched her tea.
She nods, abandoning her cup and pushing back her chair. “I’m just gonna catch the subway. You getting a ride?”
For a second I consider telling her I’ll ride the train with her, but right now she looks like she’d rather be anywhere but here. “Yeah. I’ll just catch a Lyft.” I follow her out to the sidewalk.
She hesitates, like she might just want to walk away without saying goodbye. “Are we on for our regularly scheduled lesson tomorrow then?”
Fuck. I’ve backed myself into a corner now. Of course she would assume I’m back in town for good. “Um, I’m not going to be around tomorrow, actually.”
Her brow furrows and I immediately sense that she’s jumping to the wrong conclusion.
“I have something else planned for you, promise,” I jump in. “But I actually have to go back to Texas tomorrow morning.”
The lines on her forehead deepen. “You’re going back tomorrow morning? You just got in this afternoon. Why did you come back for less than twenty-four hours?”
I drag my eyes away from hers and lock them on the sidewalk between us. “I had some work to do. And I didn’t want to miss the food festival.”
She takes a step closer to me, her shoes the only thing I can see. She waits for me to look at her, and when I do, all traces of ire have faded. “You flew here from Texas just to go to the food festival with me?”
I shrug, shoving my hands in my pockets so I don’t reach for her. “It wasn’t a big deal. I needed to come back to the office anyway.” It’s a lie and we both know it.
Allegra rises on her toes and presses a kiss to my cheek. “You didn’t have to do that. But I’m glad you did. Safe travels, Cord.”
“Have a good night,” I finally manage to choke out when my heart has stopped spinning from the feel of her lips on my skin.
I wait until she’s disappeared down the stairs of the subway before I force my suddenly leaden feet to move, my body just as mesmerized by her as my heart is.