The Perfect Partner

4

Chris' p.o.v

"Uncle Chris, we're soo early!" I glanced at Stella, who was practically dragging her bag on the ground.

"I know, but we were late last time so I wanted to make sure it didn't happen again." She gave me a look, plopping into a seat and putting her bag next to her feet.

"I thought it was because you think Miss Hughes is hot."

"Stella!"

"What? It's true. Uncle Scott says you wanna make kissy faces with her." I'm going to kill Scott. Before I could address Stella, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, drawing my attention to it. The classroom was empty except for a sole dancer pouring everything out onto the floor. Her body moved so fluidly you didn't know when one move ended and another began, her feet painted pictures while her face told a story, her arms framing it all. Everything about the way she moved was captivating, and I found myself unable to turn away.

"Wow." I mumbled under my breath when the song came to a close, Kitty's movements seizing on the last note.

"She's pretty amazing, isn't she? Her talents are wasted here, but she refuses to leave." The woman who spoke came up beside me and held out her hand. "I'm Edie, I teach the 3-6 year olds."

"Nice to meet you Edie, I'm Chris." She smiled then turned her attention back to the studio where Kitty was trying to figure out a move. They were both very beautiful women, but were basically complete opposites. Edie was tall and lanky with very small curves, short brown hair with brown eyes to match, where Kitty was short and sturdy with accentuated curves, her long hair a deep auburn, eyes an icy blue that entranced you. Again, both beautiful, but there was no competition in my mind.

"Oh my gosh, I don't think you've ever been early Stella!" Her silky voice pulled me from my daze, my heart beat accelerating. A woman has never had such an affect on me, so this was all very foreign.

"I know, but Uncle Chris insisted we get here early since we were late last week." Electrifyingly blue eyes pinned me to my spot, all her attention now focused on me. So maybe we hadn't talked since our get together thing like five days ago, but it wasn't because I didn't try. Unless she changed her number, she was receiving the texts and not responding. And maybe this was my way of getting answers.

"Harder to ignore me when I'm actually standing here, isn't it?" She sighed deeply and whispered something in Stella's ear, my niece running off with Edie just after.

"Hi Chris."

"'Hi Chris'? That's it? No explanation as to why you haven't returned any of my texts? I at least expected to see you at the park, but no, instead I see some blonde girl walking what I'm ninety percent sure was Stitch. Conclusion, you're avoiding me." At least she had the decency to drop her head in embarrassment or shame, one.

"You're right, I've been ghosting you, and I'm sorry for that, but..." Her face said there was some kind of major war raging inside her, and part of me wanted to let her off easy because she just looked so torn, a bigger part of me needed closure though, so that won out. "You have to understand, Chris, that I don't date. Okay? I don't do relationships, or puppy love, or any of that romantic shit because I can't afford to. I don't do heart to hearts, hell, I try as much as possible to leave emotions out of my life completely! They're a distraction that I can't allow in my life, and I've done a really great job at avoiding them for nearly three years now.  

"Then you come along... You come along with your charming smile, and amazing personality, and your wits and jokes and I find myself blushing and giggling like a schoolgirl. But in the back of my head, as much as I want to believe that you are really, truly everything you showed me five days ago, I was burned too bad before to accept it easily. You scare me Chris Evans, because you make me feel things I haven't felt in years, and have been fine not feeling. These stupid games always end in someone hurt, sadly it's usually me. So I'm sorry Chris, you're a really great guy, I honestly think you are, but I can't go there with you, because I think it would be too easy for me to get lost, and I can't do that."