Tempting /A Jordan Knight fanfic ✔️

39

Chapter 39: Brawls and Ballet

I woke up the next morning without Jordan next to me, just like I would every morning for the rest of my life.

When I got downstairs, Jordan and Mel were already there, packed and ready to leave. We all said goodbye to my parents and as my mom took me in for a hug, she whispered something that stuck with me the whole ride home.

"Whatever you're going through, you'll get through it."

And for the first time in my adult life, I was sure my mother was wrong.

There was no way I was getting through this. There was no getting through or over this sort of heartbreak. There was just figuring out how to live with it.

When we pulled up to Mel's house, I jumped out as fast as my feet could take me and beelined it for my car. A quick goodbye to Mel after making sure she was all right to be left alone was all I managed.

Saying goodbye to Jordan a second time wasn't something I could physically endure.

I made a short stop back at my apartment, grabbing some dance clothes and my pointe shoes before I was back in my car and on my way to the studio. I called Gabe on the way there, double checking that he was meeting me like we'd planned.

The dance competition was a week from today, and Gabe had driven up this morning to stay with me throughout the week.

To be perfectly honest, nothing sounded better than throwing myself into dance and as many distractions as I could find for an entire week with Gabe.

As I pulled up and parked across the street from the studio, I spotted Gabe standing with his back to me in front of the studio's entrance.

A smile went to tug onto my lips—then Gabe flung his arms out in front of him in a jerking, sort of angry motion.

The rising smile slipped from my mouth, confusion settling a frown in its place as I watched Gabe through my driver's side window.

Was he yelling?

Curiosity pulled me out of my car and onto the empty street. The cold air snuck in between my thin layers as I walked towards Gabe, yanking my jacket tighter around me.

"Why the fuck would you think this would be a good idea? You need to leave."

Gabe's voice grew angrier and louder the closer I got, which was extra worrying because Gabe wasn't someone who was easy to anger.

If he was pissed, it took something drastic to set him off.

"Gabe?" I called out to him, quickening my pace. "Are you okay?"

He whipped around, his eyes finding mine and widening just a hair.

"Amber, go wait in your car."

"Why? Are you o—"

The next word on my lips blew away with the wind, the breeze carrying them away, and frankly, I was jealous of my now distant words.

I wanted to blow away with them somewhere far, far away from here and far away from him. Him being here, him standing right there, him staring at me like he wasn't the one who tore my universe down.

Why was he here? Why was he here in front of my studio, in my town?

"No," I breathed, mostly to myself.

"Amber, just go back to your car. I'll handle him."

"Don't tell her what to do," the familiar voice scoffed, proving that he wasn't a mirage of my past. He was here.