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  Her hair mussed from sleep, Stephanie propped herself up on one arm laid a calming hand on my thigh. “Easy, tiger,” she said. “Just calm down. It’s all going to be okay.”

  “It’s competition day!” I answered frantically.

  She nodded. “I know. Now calm down.”

  I took a few deep breaths and stopped shaking.

  “Good,” she said. “Now let’s get you ready. Lucas, wake up.”

  Her boyfriend groaned in response and she reached across me to smack him gently on the ass. “Up, Lucas!”

  “Okay, okay, I’m up,” he said, one hand reaching underneath him to fondle his morning erection.

  “I mean up out of bed,” Stephanie replied, rolling her eyes with a smile.

  “Much less fun,” he pouted as he rolled off the bed. Looking down at us, he smiled and pressed a kiss to each of our foreheads. “I have a good feeling about today,” he said and headed for the bathroom.

  I’m glad somebody does, I thought, fighting down butterflies.

  Chapter 8

  The competition was being held in the ballroom of the fanciest hotel in town. When we arrived, I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling at the sight of the bright lights, the judges, and all the other beautiful couples in their amazing outfits. Stephanie, always perceptive, put her arm around me and pulled me tight.

  “Jessica,” she whispered in my ear, “stop worrying. You are going to leave all those other dancers in the dust. Ignore the judges, ignore the audience, ignore everyone but Lucas. Remember last night?”

  I nodded. How could I ever forget?

  “Do you remember how beautiful you were? How sexy you felt when Lucas watched you?”

  I swallowed.

  “Just focus on that. It’s just you and Lucas out there. Focus on that desire, that passion. I want to come just watching you two dance, okay?”

  I looked up at her, amazed at her bluntness, and she smiled at me, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “And I know you know what I like,” she whispered. Her warm breath against my ear sent shivers racing down my spine.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “I can do that.”

  “Good,” said Stephanie. “Now go win this thing. You deserve it!”

  “All ready?” Lucas came up next to us, looking to die for in his fitted white button-down shirt and tight black pants. I nodded. He leaned down and gave Stephanie a long, intimate kiss. I watched them without jealousy. I knew that’s what he and I would be doing in a moment.

  “For luck,” Lucas said, winking. He held out his hand and led me onto the floor.

  We were the last to dance alone and, as we waited for the music to start, I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I focused on Lucas, on his fingers gently teasing my sensitive mound, on his mouth brushing my bare shoulder, and I knew I could do this.

  And I did. Our routine went by in a swirl of undulating hips and smoldering near-kisses. As the song climaxed, the lights began to grow dark, and Lucas lowered himself onto me at last, I reached up, hooking my leg around his and drew him to me, kissing him with all the passion I had denied myself for so long.

  As the last notes faded, the judges and the audience alike rose to their feet, yelling and clapping. The noise was like a tidal wave as Lucas helped me stand. I was so overwhelmed that he had to press his hand to my back to remind me the curtsy. As we accepted our applause, I looked over to where Stephanie was sitting. She was grinning and clapping and wiping away tears. I caught her eye and we smiled at each other. We had done it!

  We all waited in line as the judges made their final deliberations before standing to announce the winners. Now that the dance was over, my nerves had returned and I stood with weak knees as they read out the third and second place winners. And then, finally, as if in a dream, they read out our names. Lucas led me to the raised middle of the podium and held my hands as the judges passed me the golden cup. Together we stood in the middle of the crowd, holding the cup over our heads as lights flashed and photographers took our picture. I looked out over the crowd and felt pride swell in me. Not only had I proved what a dancer I truly was, I had overcome my fears and spent the best night of my life with two people I now counted as some of my closest friends. I felt like nothing would ever be able to stop me again.

  THE END

  SEAL Stepbrother

  Chapter 1

  To say Jason was shocked when the punch landed and his head went flying back was a bit of an understatement. He’d been sure there was no chance that some two bit out of towner would outsmart him. Now, he’d somehow found himself on the losing side of a bar fight.

  Shaking his head, trying to clear it from the punch and the booze, he steadied himself and prepared his attack. Just as he was about to swing his arm, a voice from behind the bar called his name.

  “Jason, that’s enough.”

  “Come on Bill, you heard him, the guy’s asking for it.” He looked at the grizzled bar-keeper who’d seen enough bar fights to know which ones needed stopping, and despite the amount of liquor Jason had put away tonight there was still no match between a Navy SEAL and a mouthy kid with an inflated sense of ego.

  “I doubt anyone here is asking for the kind of fight you’re in the mood for tonight, son.”

  Really, really feeling the need to hit something, or just release some of the anger that was always building inside of him, Jason stepped forward and picked the out of towner up by his shirt collar.

  “You’re lucky that Bill here stopped me. We were all just about to find out how high your voice can go.” He looked over at Bill who simply raised one eyebrow. It was enough for Jason though, he liked Bill and he liked drinking here. He definitely didn’t want to ruin that over some stupid kid. Breaking his hold on the stranger’s shirt, he lightly ran his hand over it, in a sarcastic matter.

  “Well, good night then.” He turned towards the rest of the bar. “Good night all.”

  “Good night Jason”. The entire bar let out a gasp of relief as he left.

  The walk back to his house was a familiar route that his legs always seemed to manage no matter how drunk or preoccupied he was. He fumbled around in his pockets before finding and lighting his cigarette and taking a deep breath as he inhaled the smoke.

  Bill was probably right, he thought to himself. He was in need of a good fight, one that would probably have ended up with that stranger either in a hospital or worse. He just didn’t know what he was supposed to do with himself. Since his discharge he’d been lost, with no discipline and no one who understood everything that he’d seen and been through, he’d lost himself increasingly in the bottom of the bottle but even that was starting to lose its appeal and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could go on like this for.

  Reaching his house, he scrambled around for his keys, swearing as he dropped them on the floor and lost his balance slightly whilst trying to pick them up. Straightening he rubbed his shoulder, his mood darkening further as memories of his injury and Matthew started to push through the fog of his drunkenness. No, that wouldn’t do at all. Entering his house, he lurched into the living room and grabbed the half empty bottle that lay on the floor before collapsing on his chair.

  Just for a few minutes, he allowed himself to think of Mattie. They’d been best friends from the moment they met at the SEAL Physical Screening Test, always helping each other out and pushing each other to be the best. When on a mission they instinctively had each other’s backs and always knew when the other was in trouble. So it was no surprise that when Mattie got shot during an ISIS assault in Iraq, Jason was the first to him. Seeing that he was bleeding out from his stomach he’d quickly picked him up and started to run for cover, stumbling only slightly as he felt something hit his right shoulder. Crouching behind a rock for cover, he’d laid Mattie down but he’d known from just one look that it wasn’t good. Mattie, of course, had made a joke but his voice was shaking and there was fear in his eyes. Jason had stayed with him until the
end, holding his friend’s hand and promising to pass a message on to his Mom.

  It had been the first place that Jason had gone once he’d been released from the hospital. Seeing her crumple as he’d relayed the message from her precious son had pretty much broken him and that night was the first night that he’d drank to blank out the pain and the vision of his friend dying. It certainly wasn’t the last time, though, but the more he drank the harder it got to block it all out. He’d been sent to a therapist who had diagnosed him with PTSD and been given a temporary discharge until he’d recuperated from both the PTSD and the damage to his shoulder. He worked on fixing his shoulder every day, keeping to a strict training regime in order to make sure he was still as physically fit as possible. Keeping himself mentally fit was proving to be a lot more difficult. He was just so fucking tired all the time and the alcohol was the only thing that helped him get some sleep. Rubbing his hand over his face, trying to stop the memories taking completely over he finished the bottle and fell into oblivion.

  ***

  He’d been dreaming again, dreaming he was back in Iraq with Mattie, but this time was slightly different, there was a constant ringing in the background like a mosquito. He kept trying to swat it with his hands but it just kept buzzing. Eventually, it got louder and louder until he started to wake and realized it was his phone ringing. He felt along the side of the chair managing to find his phone and press the answer button without opening his eyes.

  “Yeah…?”

  “Hello, Jason?”

  Jason couldn’t recognize the voice on the other end. Probably some sales call. “Yes.”

  “Jason, it's Emma.”

  There was a silence as Jason, still half drunk, tried to work out which Emma he knew.

  “Your step-sister.”

  Shit. Fully awake now he grasped the phone tighter in his hand.

  “Emma? Is everything ok? Is Dad ok?”

  “Yes, Dad’s fine.” Jason sighed with relief, but why would she be calling?

  “What about Margaret?

  “Mom’s fine too. You don’t need to worry everybody is fine. I spoke to them both yesterday.” There was a hint of scorn in her voice that Jason ignored. So she was still the perfect daughter and step-daughter then. Well, good for her.

  “Then, that’s great. What can I do for you?”

  “The thing is. We’re doing a performance in Oakdale in a few days and I wondered if I could crash at yours for a bit?”

  “You’re doing a performance here?” Oakdale was quite a large town, but it didn’t really have much in the way of culture and it was a strange place to want to hold a ballet.

  Her voice betrayed exactly what she thought about performing in such a place. “I know. Apparently, the director has some family here and so he pulled a few strings and has managed to fit it in as a stopover on our way to Seattle.”

  Jason was silent for a second, thinking it over. He looked around his lounge, which was a mess. Did he really want her here? No, of course, he didn’t but there was a part of him that wanted to see how the little Princess would react to having to stay in such a mess.Besides, his hangover was starting to take over and the last thing he desired was to stay on the phone with his spoilt little step-sister any longer.

  “Yeah sure, of course, you can stay.”

  Emma was surprised. “You certain? Oh…. That’s great. Well, I guess I’ll see you in a few days then.”

  Chapter 2

  A few days later, when his doorbell rang, Jason was surprised to see a dark haired woman on his doorstep. Could that be Emma? He’d fell asleep straight after his conversation with her and he’d woken a few hours later not sure if it had been a dream. He’d been sure that she wouldn’t actually turn up. Why would she want to stay here with him? Surely she’d be better off in the posh hotel in the center of the town.

  Now that she was here and at his door he suddenly felt a little nervous and then angry with himself. He’d been into war zones for Christ’s sake, he shouldn’t be nervous about his step-sister visiting.

  He’d last seen Emma when he was 17 years old. His father had married Emma’s mother and suddenly he was expected to play happy families with a little girl running around in a fairy costume. Unhappy with his father and the world, in general, he’d left to join the Navy and then the SEALS. Since then he’d rarely been home, except occasionally at holidays and birthdays, but his leave had always seemed to coincide with Emma being at school, camp, or in more recent years, away training or performing with her ballet company. What would she be like? What did ballet dancers eat? Did they eat? Not sure why he even cared, Jason answered the door and was blown away by the woman standing in front of him. Holy shit! How could that be Emma? Gone was the spoilt little girl, she’d grown into a beautiful and elegant young woman.

  She was small, at around 5ft 3, and slim. She wore a mint green chiffon summer dress with tiny pink flowers on the collar. Her dark shiny hair had been plaited and pinned to the top of her head. Jason suddenly felt like a clumsy giant stood next to her, a perfect music box ballerina.

  He stepped to one side to welcome her into his house.

  “Emma? Hi… wow, you’ve grown. It’s nice to see you.”

  Emma smiled up at him and Jason was struck by how her almond shaped brown eyes seemed to sparkle. He hadn’t realized until now that eyes actually did that. Standing up on her tiptoes she reached up and kissed his cheek, her Chanel perfume lingering on his skin.

  “Jason, thank you so much for this. I hadn’t wanted to bother you but Dad had suggested it and you know what he’s like.”

  Jason winced. He knew exactly what his Dad was like. His suggestion was more of an order and if Emma had decided to stay in a hotel he would have found out about it and made his disappointment known.

  “It’s no bother at all. I’m just sorry that it isn’t the Ritz. I’m afraid I don’t do room service or breakfast.”

  ***

  Pleased to finally be back on solid ground after 6 hours traveling, Emma was ready to drop her bag in her room and maybe get a quick coffee with Jason before heading off to training. Sighing with relief as she finally got to put her bag down, she breezed into the living room.

  “I’m sure this will be…” She stopped and looked around her, instantly regretting her decision to stay here.

  What a mess! There were empty and half empty bottles of alcohol everywhere. There was one free chair, which was presumably where Jason sat. The couch and other chair were piled with clothes and empty takeaway containers. How had it gotten like this? How had he let it?

  She turned to get a good look at Jason. Christ, he looked awful. Tall and obviously still well-muscled, his t-shirt was stained and he’d obviously not had a shave in a few weeks. His blonde hair had grown straggly and was in need of a wash. His eyes, she almost felt heartbroken looking at them, so dark and obviously haunted.

  When she’d first met him as a little girl she thought he was a fairy-tale prince with his blonde hair and blue eyes. The photos that his Dad displayed of him in his Navy uniform had done nothing to dispel that notion either. Now, however, not much remained of the smart proud man from the photos. What had happened to him? Mom had rang and explained about his PTSD and that he was on a short break from duty, but this? She couldn’t believe that Donald knew his only son was living like this.

  “Shit Jason, you could have tidied up a little, I told you I was arriving today.”

  Jason looked at her aghast, had she just swore? Were ballerina’s supposed to do that? Then her words sunk in and he looked around, surveying the mess of his living room. Embarrassed he barked angrily at her. “Well you don’t have to stay here, I’ll happily give you a lift to the hotel. Dad won’t hear about it from me.”

  “Seriously Jason? What happened here?”

  “Nothing happened here. This is how I like to live.”

  She picked up a bottle and held it up between her finger and thumb. “You like
living in a pigsty? That doesn’t seem like you at all.”

  He snatched the bottle of her. “You haven’t seen me in years, don’t presume to know anything about me.

  “I’m not presuming anything just going off what Dad says and your letters. I thought that being a SEAL was all about discipline and self-control.”

  Jason scoffed “Well that just proves my point, you know nothing about me or my life.”

  Emma was angry now. What a jumped up prick he’d turned into.

  “Well, whose fault is that? You’re the one who has never given me a chance to get to know you. You disappeared when I was a kid and have avoided me ever since.