Blue Lines(51)

Erik was, hands down, the best.

“That’s nice to know,” he said and that was the last of their conversation for the rest of the car ride.

When he pulled into Reese’s parking lot, he got out and she watched as he came around the car, opening the door for her. It was a little shocking but it was good to know that he meant what he said last night. But as he reached for her hand, something else bothered her, and when he shut the door behind her, she asked, “How’d you know where Reese’s studio was?”

Her fears of him sleeping with Reese came back in full force because how would he know unless he had been there before? She never asked Reese if they had been together, and really, she was afraid of the answer. More than likely Reese would have told her if she had slept with Erik, especially now, she thought. Reese lived above the dance studio, in a cute little apartment, and Piper had a horrible feeling that he had been up there, in Reese’s bed. Hell, he’d been in everyone else’s bed, so why not hers? Oh Lord, she was a mess.

“I was here once with Jacob to take Ally to dance,” he said as he made his way back around the car. “Why?”

“Just wondering,” she said, feeling stupid.

She recalled the time Erik would have driven Ally to class. It was after Harper had one of her miscarriages and Piper couldn’t get out of work in time to take Ally to her lesson.

“Okay, so I’ll pick you back up, when?”

“I’ll be done at three, but I wanted to take a shower and get ready to go on the plane, so three thirty?”

“All right, well, I’ll be done earlier than that, so I’ll just come back here and wait.”

She eyed him and said, “Wait where?”

“I don’t know, wherever you’ll be.”

“I’ll be dancing.”

“Dancing?”

“Yeah, I’m helping with some choreography for a duet that Reese is doing,” she explained.

Erik had a shocked look on his face as he pointed at her and asked again, “You’re dancing?”

“Yeah, I used to dance when I was kid. I went to the same school Reese went to, but dropped out for some reason I can’t remember. Probably to sing, but no telling.”

Erik blinked a few times, and then turned to get into the car.

“I’ll see you later.”

“What?” She laughed. “Why’d you make that face!”

Erik smiled.

“Because you just seem to be able to do a lot of different things, and it’s kind of amazing. Later.”

She watched as he got into the car. She waved goodbye to Stanley as Erik glanced back and nodded bye to her. It was moments like these when he totally confused her, and she didn’t know if he was lying or not.

With a shake of her head, she made her way up the stairs to Reese Allen’s Dance Studio. Music blasted from the back, and a smile came across Piper’s face as she followed the music to where she knew her sister would be. “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys shook the walls as Reese moved to the music in a way that only she could.

Reese was a choreographic genius. It was breathtaking to watch her dance and sometimes it brought tears to Piper’s eyes because Reese was so beautiful. They resembled each other, but not as much as twins should. She was darker in skin tone, with dark hair and green eyes, while Piper had a ruddier complexion, with blondish brown hair and blue eyes. Piper was small while Reese was tall and had a dancer’s athletic build. They had the same drive in them, only Reese was dead set on being the best dancer imaginable, while Piper’s focus was on a variety of things. Reese could be a little bitchy at times but they were sisters and loved each other and always worked out their differences.

When the music stopped, Reese looked over at her and smiled as she breathed deep.

“I only need you to go over the beginning and I think I got it,” Piper said, taking her shirt off and then her sweatpants. Underneath she wore a sports bra and a pair of booty shorts. When Reese started laughing, Piper looked up, confused.

“What?”

“How in the world did I miss this pregnancy? I thought you were just getting pudgy all this time,” she said with a smile.

Piper laughed.

“It just popped, I swear. My clothes used to fit but now, this kiddo is like ‘Hey! I’m here!’ ”

Reese smiled as she came over and held Piper’s little bump in her hands. When the baby kicked, Reese’s smile grew as she looked into her twin’s eyes.

“I would have been there for you, you know.”

“I know. I just wasn’t ready to tell anyone.”

“I’m not anyone. I’m your twin,” Reese said.