Free The Audition by Tara Crescent

conclusion. I feel about two inches tall.
    “And Allie?” His voice is silky. “You have earned yourself quite the punishment for that little outburst.”
    I’m too chastened to protest.
    ***
    My embarrassment mounts when I meet his friends.
    There’s Ned and Gloria. They are in their sixties. She’s tall and thin, and she wears a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and radiates Parisian chic. He’s rumpled and has a hot professor vibe going on.
    There’s Ash, who looks twenty. He hugs his djembe close to him, and seems painfully shy.
    Anita brings a guitar and a wide, cheerful smile. From the familiarity with which she greets Nikolai, I’m fairly sure she’s an ex-lover. But there’s no lingering glances from either of them, and she’s warm and friendly when she chats with me.
    Finally, there’s Sergei, who holds a saxophone. Okay, Sergei is hot. I kind of regret telling Nikolai I don’t want to be shared. My brain wants to linger on some very inappropriate fantasies of being sandwiched between Nikolai and Sergei.
    Nikolai introduces me as an old friend. If he’s angry with me, he shows no sign of it. He beckons me to sit with him on the piano stool, and we launch into a duet.
    This isn’t a night of quiet, classical music, serious and contemplative. This isn’t the kind of music that will bring tears to your eyes. No. The djembe’s beats, the saxophone’s strident sound, the guitar’s strums and our own raucous playing on the piano – this is the kind of music that will get you to dance.
    I laugh in sheer glee as we play. Nikolai shoots me a sidelong glance, and I see a small smile dance on his lips. At some point, he leans in. “Music,” he says, very, very quietly. “It lives in your heart.”
    Damn him. I blink back my sudden tears.
    This man was going to be the finest pianist of his generation. That he is here, playing with his friends, fingers thrumming out the melody, just surrendering himself to the rhythm? I have never felt more humbled, and I have never been as inspired.
    ***
    “Do you know,” I say thoughtfully, when his friends have left, and we are washing up. “I have no idea what you do.”
    “I teach,” he says, offering the information readily. “Piano, of course. At Boston College.”
    “Today was a working day,” I point out. “Did you stay home because you had to babysit me?”
    He laughs. “It’s spring break, Allie. I’m luxuriating in my week off.”
    I make a face. He’s given up some precious free time to tutor me and I feel quite selfish about it. “It’s hardly a week off if you are teaching me.”
    “The perks are excellent though. I can’t actually use these training methods on my undergrads.”
    “So, nipple clamps are reserved for your best students?” I tease.
    “Something like that,” he says dryly.
    “Is Anita an ex-girlfriend?” I continue my interrogation, but he’s in a talkative mood, and he nods.
    “Are you jealous?” he asks, sounding curious.
    I shake my head. “I don’t think I really have the right to be.”
    “Maybe. But you also have nothing to be jealous about. Our relationship is very much in the past.” He raises one eyebrow. “I noticed you seemed quite enamoured by Sergei.”
    I blush. So he has noticed. “Okay,” I confess. “If you wanted to share me with Sergei,” I start, and he laughs aloud.
    “Such a bad girl.” His lips twitch. “You know you have a punishment coming now, don’t you?”
    “For mentioning Sergei?” I don’t know if Nikolai is the jealous sort. Is he really that perturbed by my offhand comment that I found his friend hot?
    “For screaming at me earlier.”
    Ah. Yeah, I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten my outburst earlier. We finish the dishes, and I dry my hands on the towel. He comes up to me, and kisses the back of my neck. “Ready?”
    I’m nervous, but I trust Nikolai. “I’m ready.”
    ***
    “Tell me about your life,” he says conversationally, as we make our way to the dungeon.
    I