Contemporary Love

Chapter Six: Meeting Ruth
The next few months went past in a blur. The ten of us that were chosen to go to the national dance competition were moved into our own dance grouping and the rest were kept together. We were worked until we dropped but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Alright! After that sashay, you need to go directly into the jumping split, otherwise all of the other counts will be off and we don’t want to be eliminated on the first round do we? We haven’t worked this hard to just throw it all away! Now do that sequence over again girls and get it right!” Autumn yelled and I wiped the sweat from my brows. I took a deep breath and waited for my musical cue to come in.
“Yes, finally girls. Now take a water break and then come back and we will move on to the next portion of the female group dance. We need to finish this by tomorrow, or else we will get behind and we won’t make it for the video cutoffs.” Autumn said and I sighed. I jogged over to the corner where I had dropped my bag this afternoon and swooped up my water bottle. After downing the whole thing I leaned against the wall and took a moment to gather my breath. A few seconds later Blake wandered over to me and grabbed my water from me and chugged some of it down.
“I take it Justin isn’t taking it easy on you guys either?” I asked and Blake groaned.
“I think you may have to carry me out of here. My feet feel like they are going to fall off they’re so numb.” He said and I snuggled my face into his shoulder.
“If you’re a good boy and do well with your choreography, then maybe I’ll give you a back massage tonight.” I said and my squeezed my sides.
“I’m looking forward to it Ms. Crane.” He growled out and planted a haste kiss on my lips. I pecked his lips quickly and then pulled away.
“I wasn’t done with you yet.” He said and pulled me back. I gave him another quick peck and pulled away again.
“I know but Medusa will have my head if I don’t return soon.” I said and squeezed his hand and walked back to the girls group.
“Now this will be the next part of the dance that you will be learning.” Autumn said and showed us. It looked interesting and I knew that it would be a challenge too.

An hour and a half later Blake and I were on our way to pick up Danny. It was going to be an early night for all of us because I was shot. I was surprised that I was still awake at this point.
“Do you want me to stay for dinner tonight?” Blake asked and I nodded.
“I always want you to stay for dinner. I feel less lonely, and I think Danny likes having you there too. Since dad isn’t in the picture anymore, you’re like the only adult like male figure he has in his life.” I said and he nodded.
“I’ll let my mom know, and then I’ll be right over.” He said as I pulled into Mrs. Jones’s driveway.
“I totally forgot! Of course your mother would like you to be home for a meal. If you want to stay home to eat that’s fine. She probably thinks that I’m a selfish person who is trying to steal her son away.” I said and Blake laughed and pulled me into his side as we walked up the walkway to the front door.
“You are so considerate of others. And to be honest I would rather eat with you than with my mother. She’s an alcoholic who only cares about when her next drink will be. That’s why Natalie lives with my dad and I live with my mom. Dad couldn’t afford to take care of both of us, so I volunteered myself so Nat wouldn’t have to live with mom in a hellhole.” He said.
“You are considerate of others too Blake. Natalie is lucky to have a brother like you.” I said and opened the door.
“Mac, what’s for dinner?” Danny asked as he pulled his coat off and put it into the closet. I shrugged and walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer and then looked into the fridge. I grabbed out some frozen ground turkey, along with some catsup, BBQ sauce, cumin, and a few other ingredients and put them all out on the counter.
“How do sloppy joes sound?” I asked Danny as I set out to make the homemade sauce.
“Mac! I’m not a cambinol! Especially not for messy people named Joe.” Danny said and I laughed as I put the turkey into the microwave to defrost quickly.
“Danny, it’s cannibal, and neither am I, it’s a food. Its ground up meat cooked and then you mix it with a sauce and put it on a bun and eat it.” I said as I chopped up some onion and garlic to be the aromatics to the turkey.
“Oh. Well they should have called it something else. It’s very misleading.” Danny said as he grabbed his coloring book and came to the breakfast bar. He colored pictures while I finished up dinner and waited for Blake to arrive. A few minutes later the door opened as I was adding the sauce to the meat.
“Honey I’m home!” Blake yelled as he closed the door behind him. I laughed and Danny looked up from his picture. Blake walked into the kitchen and walked over to me and gave me a quick kiss on the temple and then walked over next to Danny and sat down next to him.
“What smells so delicious?” Blake asked as Danny shoved a coloring book in his direction, silently telling him that he was going to color whether he liked it or not.
“A messy man named Joe!” Danny exclaimed and Blake laughed.
“What?” he asked and looked at me.
“Sloppy joes.” I explained as I transferred the mixture to some whole wheat buns. I quickly added the green beans that I had sautéed in garlic to the plates and turned around with two plates in my hands.
“Bon apatite!” I exclaimed like I was Julia Child and set them down in front of Blake and Danny. I quickly sat down in between them with my plate after setting Danny’s artistic supplies away. Blake ate a few bites and let out a throaty groan. I chuckled and shivered at the same time.
“God woman, if dancing doesn’t work out; you will always have a safe scape as a chef. This is to die for.” Blake said and squeezed my hand closest to him. I blushed and quietly thanked him before returning to my meal.
“Mac, can we watch a movie after dinner?” Danny asked me as we were all finishing up our meal.
“After we pick up and you get your shower, then we can watch a short movie. It’s almost bed time mister. I think I just might go to bed when you go to bed too. I’m really tired.” I said and he nodded.
“Okay. I’m gonna go take my shower now then.” He said and scurried out of the kitchen and down the hall into the bathroom.
“Well he didn’t take too much convincing.” Blake said as he scooped up our empty plates and brought them over to the sink. I followed behind him with the glasses and started filling the sink with water and soap.
“I’ll wash and you dry?” I asked Blake and he nodded. We chatted while we worked and after that we put them away.
“If you go pick out a movie and set it up, I’ll go get Danny to move along.” I said as we walked into the living room.
“Alright, any specific one?” he asked looking at the extensive collection of movies that we had acquired over the years. My father was a movie lover, and I had taken on that ascribed status from him and over time the collection had blossomed into a giant wall of movies.
“Pick a kid friendly one that’s kind of short.” I said and went to turn down the hallway. Blake grabbed my wrist a second later and tugged me back into his chest.
“Where do you think that you are going?” he asked in a husky voice before claiming my lips with his. I smiled into the kiss and leaned into him. Pulling away after a while to catch our breath, Blake trailed his lips down my neck and settled his lips where my shoulder and neck met and nibbled there. I let out an audible gasp and tightened my grip on his arms. I felt electricity zip from my head to my toes and my knees wobbled as he trailed his way back up my neck to my lips where the kiss became heated on a whole other level. I welcomed his tongue with open arms, yet still hesitantly because this was all new to me. His caressed my own and he moaned in the back of his throat with sent another pleasurable shiver down my spine. His hands slid down my sides and rested on my behind before giving it a gentle squeeze which made me squeal and pull my mouth away from his.
We were both breathing hard and I finally relaxed my grip on his arms, while he still semi-supported me to stand. I looked up at him through my thick eye lashes and he had a smile on his face as big as the empire state building and as bright as a Christmas tree all lit up. His lips were red and swollen and his face was flushed, but he was still the best looking guy I had ever seen. I’m sure that my face was the exact replica of his too after what just occurred too.
“I liked that…a lot.” Blake said and I blushed. I had liked it a whole lot too.
“Me too.” I said and he smiled down at me. I quickly pecked his lips one more time and walked out to get Danny ready, but not before I slapped Blake’s behind before scurrying out of there before I lost all confidence in what I had just done. Danny was just finishing getting his pajamas on when I got into his room so all I had to do was dry his hair some more and carried him on my hip back to the living room.
“Blake what did you pick out?” Danny asked as I sat him down on the love seat with his teddy bear and Buzz-Light year blanket.
“I chose Open Season.” Blake said as I sat down next to him. Danny nodded and snuggled down into his blanket. A half an hour later he was zonked out and I was grateful. I nudged Blake and nodded my head in Danny’s direction. He got my message and turned the movie off and grabbed Danny up in his arms and carried him down to his room. I tucked him in and turned on his nightlight before closing his door halfway and walking down to my room where Blake was waiting for me. I smiled at him as I shut my door behind me and walked over to my dresser and grabbed out some pajamas before turning back to him.
“I’m going to go change quickly and then I’ll give you that back rub that I promised you earlier.” I said and he gave me a lazy smile as he nodded. I turned to my bathroom and shut the door quietly behind me. I changed into the pajamas and brushed through my hair one more time and brushed my teeth before walking back out. Blake was in the same spot I left him only he was just in a pair of black basketball shorts that hung low on his waist and nothing else, leaving his taunt chest exposed and the ‘V’ that trailed down exposed which left little to the imagination. I licked my lips as I finished eyeing him up and he had smirk on his face by the time I reached his face.
“Enjoying your view?” he asked and I shrugged.
“Eh, it’s okay.” I said. “When did you change?” I concluded as I climbed onto my bed.
“I slipped through your window and into my room and changed into something more comfortable.” He said and I nodded and motioned for him to turn onto his back. I straddled his bottom and put some lotion onto the palm of my hand before working the lather over both of my hands and then onto his back. He had a lot of knots in his back, especially in his shoulders. Every so often he would let out a few groans. The lower on his back the more tense he became. After I worked out the largest knot he let out an extremely loud groan. Not even three seconds later my bedroom door burst open and there stood the last person I expected to see.
“What in good heavens is going on in here?” Ruth asked and I flushed every shade of red in the rainbow and then some.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as Blake turned his head to look at my door way.
“I happen to live here, now answer my question young lady, what the hell are you two doing in here?” she demanded as Blake turned over with me still straddling him and sat up, pulling me to sit next to him.
“I was giving him a back massage.” I said and she shook her head.
“And if I hadn’t interrupted you two, it would have been more than a back rub. I did not raise some kind of slut!” she exclaimed and I ground my teeth together.
“No it would not have! I have more self-respect than that thank you very much! And you didn’t raise me, Dad did, and when he wasn’t here I raised myself, so don’t you dare say that you raised me because it’s a load of bullshit and you know it!” I said, my voice rising with each word.
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that!” Ruth exclaimed loudly and I let out a sarcastic laugh.
“Why? Because you know it’s true?” I said and stood up.
“It’s not, and you know it.” She hissed at me and I glared at her.
“Really? When was the last time you were here for a Christmas dinner or morning? How about Easter? When was the last time we spent a week end together? Do you even remember when my birthday is? No? What about Danny’s? Huh? The only think that you remember is how to go to fucking work and avoid all of your problems at home!” I screamed and by this point I was in tears.
“I lost my husband, I deserve time to myself!” she screamed back. By this time we were face to face, and Danny was now in my room, no doubt he was woken up from all the shouting. Blake was holding him close and covering his ears the best he could.
“Well Danny and I lost our father, and we don’t have a mother either! All three of us lost someone, well news flash, it’s been over five years, and we need our fucking mother back. Death is a part of life, and people are supposed to be there for each other during hard times. I’ve raised Danny more than you have and it sickens me to see him ask when mommy is going to come home, to hear him ask if mommy hates him because daddy isn’t around anymore, if mommy doesn’t love us anymore. And I have to cover for your ass, because I don’t know the answer to any of those god damn questions. I am Danny’s mother more than you are.” I concluded and sucked in a much needed breath. It was silent for a minute before I felt a stinging on the left side of my cheek as my head was whipped in that direction. I heard Danny scream before I registered what happened. I heard an animalistic growl escape Blake’s throat before he was in my mother’s Ruth’s face.
“It’s one thing to degrade your own daughter in the worst way possible, but it’s another to never be there for her or her brother and then come in here and abuse her not only physically, but verbally and mentally as well! I may not have known them for as long as you have, but I can guarantee you that I know more about them than you do! So before you come in here and think about doing what you just did again, you better think twice. I will be reporting this, so you can say your goodbyes right now.” Blake seethed at her as he released the death grip that he had on her wrist and shoved her backwards.
She scowled at me one last time before storming out of my room. A minute later I heard the sound of the front door slamming and her car pealing out of the front driveway. It was a minute or two before I was able to actually move again. When I could I looked at Danny who looked frightened beyond belief. He reached out for me and I took him with open arms. I dried the tears from underneath his eyes and kissed his forehead.
“What’s going to happen now Mac?” he asked with a shaky voice, and I let out a shaky breath myself.
“I don’t really know Danny, but I know that whatever happens, we will be together no matter what.” I said and he nodded and laid his head back down on my shoulder. My life had just gotten one thousand times more complicated.