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  I tried to think of a good reason not to go over and say hi. Even though I didn’t want to say it out loud, I knew my bitterness would come through to him, and I didn’t want that.

  “We are never getting any service in this place,” Dell grumbled. “I’m gonna go up to the bar and order.”

  “I’ll do it. What do you want?”

  “Water and chili cheese fries.”

  I arched my brows at her. “No daiquiri?”

  “Not tonight.”

  “I’ll have yours and mine,” I said with a shrug.

  Niko and Orion were sitting at the dark wood bar, and I caught Niko’s eye as I approached. He got up from his barstool and met me when I got to the bar.

  “What the fuck was up with you disappearing at the party?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I was tired and you were busy. It’s not like we were there together, what’s the big deal?”

  His eyes darkened. “Busy? So you plan to punish me every time I speak to another woman?”

  I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Me going home is hardly a punishment, Niko.”

  “It is when I’m having a good time with you.”

  “Aren’t you one of those guys who has a good time no matter who you’re with? And where’s my ‘Hi, Sadie, how are you tonight?’”

  The corners of his mouth quirked up a little. “Hi, Sadie, how are you tonight?” he said in a patronizing tone.

  “I’m good. Getting in some girl time.”

  “Will you sit with me when you’re done?”

  I glanced over at the empty stool next to Orion. “Sure, if there’s an empty seat.”

  “That won’t be a problem. I’ve got somewhere you can sit.”

  His tone was wicked and full of innuendo. And damn, did he smell good. His cologne was woodsy and manly – it fit him well.

  “Okay,” I said. “And I left the party because I was jealous of Lauren.”

  “Why? I blew her off, spent half an hour looking for you and then went home alone.”

  I shrugged. “I’m sorry. I guess I don’t like competing for your attention, even though that’s impossible since you’re an NHL player.”

  “I feel the same way. Just don’t blame me for shit I can’t control, okay? I try not to be an asshole unless I have to, but you sure as hell didn’t see me lay a hand on Lauren.”

  He leaned closer, and I detected a faint smell of beer on his breath. I liked it. A lot. And that surprised me. It seemed this dark Russian sex god could do no wrong with me.

  “Okay,” I agreed. “Now go sit down so I can concentrate on ordering.”

  He smiled and lightly nuzzled his nose against my hair. “You look sexy as hell tonight, Sadie,” he said in a low tone. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  I let out a shaky breath and he walked away. The bartender was looking at me, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember what I wanted to order.

  “Um …” I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath. “I’ll take a water, a vodka and cranberry and some chili cheese fries.”

  The bartender told me they’d bring our order to the table, and I kept my gaze focused on Dell as I walked back toward her, not trusting myself to even glance Niko’s way.

  She cleared her throat as I sat down, grinning widely. “Well, that was interesting.”

  “Yeah.” I gathered my hair and lifted it away from my neck.

  “You’re hot?” Her brows were arched with amusement. “It’s December.”

  “I think we both know it has nothing to do with the weather.”

  I felt heat beside me and looked over, surprised to see a man had slid into the booth. Another man was sliding in next to Dell on the other side.

  “Surely two lovely ladies like you want to talk about something more exciting than the weather,” the man next to me said, putting his arm around my shoulders and squeezing me against him.

  Shock kept me frozen in place for a second, but Dell reacted in an instant.

  “What the fuck?” she cried.

  “Just introducing ourselves,” the guy next to her said, winking.

  The man invading my personal space was stocky and muscular. His head was shaved completely bald and he had several earrings.

  “I’m Chad,” he said. When the hand he was draping over my shoulder snaked over to squeeze my breast, my shock was replaced by outrage. Cocky bastard.

  “Don’t touch me,” I said, scowling and trying to free myself from his enormous arm. He opened his mouth to respond, but his lips formed an ‘o’ of surprise instead when he was yanked backwards by the collar of his t-shirt. Niko jerked him up from the floor and shoved his shoulders against an exposed brick wall.

  “Don’t touch her,” he echoed, his tone low and ominous. Chad flailed, panic spreading across his face. Niko maintained his grip, and Chad couldn’t move an inch until his friend jumped out of the booth and barreled into Niko. He wrapped his arms around Niko from behind and Chad took a swing at him, making contact with Niko’s eye.

  I covered my mouth with my hand, horrified. Instinct drove me out of the booth, where I shoved Chad’s chest to move him away from Niko.

  “Back off, bitch,” he said, shoving me. My backside hit the edge of the table and Dell wrapped a hand around my wrist to keep me in place.

  “Fuck no,” Niko muttered, his expression darkening with fury. “I told you not to touch her.”

  He kicked Chad’s friend in the gut, sending him sprawling to the floor, and then launched himself toward Chad, landing punches to his jaw, face and stomach.

  “The fuck?” Orion said, running up to the table. “I go take a piss, and you start a fuckin’ brawl?”

  Niko was too busy beating on Chad to respond, so Orion looked over at Dell.

  “This guy deserve an ass kicking?” he asked. Dell nodded, and Orion started in on him.

  I looked at Dell with horror. Blood was gushing from Chad’s nose and he was wailing from the pain.

  “Shouldn’t we do something?” I cried.

  She waved a hand. “They’ve got it.”

  “No, I mean … I don’t want Niko to get arrested or anything. Not over this.”

  “Yeah, he’s probably had enough,” she agreed.

  “Niko,” I said, stepping forward and putting a hand on his shoulder. His muscles were taut with tension, and he froze. “Enough,” I said softly.

  He met my gaze and let go of Chad, who fell limply to the ground. Niko’s left eye was swollen and a trickle of blood ran down from his eyebrow.

  “Fuckin’ ring,” he muttered, wiping the blood away.

  “Hey, get the hell out of here!” a man wielding a baseball bat yelled. Niko turned and looked at him. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know it was you guys.”

  “We’re leaving,” Niko said, waving a hand. He reached up to wipe away another streak of blood. “You okay?”

  I laughed lightly. “Am I okay? Look at you. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. But where he pushed you into the table, are you hurt?”

  I grabbed my napkin and pressed it to his eyebrow. “I’m fine, Niko. But you need some ice and maybe even some stitches.”

  He shook his head. “Nah, it’s good.”

  “You might have a scar on your eyebrow.”

  He smiled at me. “Will you still like me if I’m not as pretty?”

  “Alright, you two,” Dell interrupted. “Sorry to break up your mating ritual, but bend down and let me look, Niko.”

  He crouched down and I pulled away the napkin. She peered at the cut.

  “Just needs cleaned and bandaged,” she said. “I can take you home and do it.”

  “I live closer,” I said. “We can take him to my place.”

  “That’s true. Hey, why don’t you just do it?”

  “Okay,” I agreed, a little too quickly.

  Chad groaned and got to his knees, but Niko kicked him in the gut and he fell back to the floor.

  “You’re not getting up ‘til you apologize to
her, asshole,” he said.

  “Sorry,” Chad choked out. “I’m sorry.”

  “Let’s go,” I said to Niko. “I’ll drive. It’s only about fifteen minutes. We can get your car later.”

  He nodded, reaching into the booth for my coat and holding it open for me. “Let’s go to my place instead. I’m closer.”

  I slid my arms into my coat and he massaged my shoulders gently as he put it on me. My body warmed in response to the gesture, which felt intimate. Dell and Orion were waving from the door and I smiled.

  Niko took my hand, leading me through the crowded bar. We stepped into the brisk December night and I buttoned my coat.

  “It’s uh … my place may be a bit messy,” he said. “You’ll be the first person who’s been there besides me. If I’d known you were coming over, I would’ve—”

  “We can go to my place,” I cut in. “It’s fine. Plus I have Hello Kitty bandages.”

  “No,” he said, grinning. “I mean, that sounds nice, but … I want you to come to my place. And I’ll drive.”

  I reached up, napkin in hand, and brushed away the fresh trickle of blood from his brow. “Your place it is, then.”

  Chapter 8

  Niko

  I rushed into my apartment ahead of Sadie, sliding my hand across the kitchen counter to sweep dirty dishes into the sink. When I did a quick once over of the living room, I cringed when I saw the dirty t-shirt I’d taken off the night before slung over the back of the couch, my shorts next to it. I’d stripped down on my way to the shower. Not having a roommate anymore was fucking awesome.

  “I’m gonna check the bathroom for some antibiotic,” Sadie said.

  I grabbed the dirty clothes and shoved them under a couch cushion when she wasn’t looking. “Uh … I can find something,” I said. “It’s a mess in there.”

  What the hell had I been thinking inviting her over here? I wanted to see Sadie in my space, but I wished I’d cleaned it up first.

  “This is nothing,” she said. “I dated a fraternity guy in college, and his fraternity house was a living thing. I wouldn’t walk on any floor there in my bare feet.”

  I followed her into the bathroom, where she was browsing in my tiny linen closet.

  “Holy shit, that’s a lot of condoms,” she murmured. She’d seen the basket my teammates had left in my locker when I got to Chicago. It had more than 100 condoms in it.

  “Uh, that was a gag gift from the guys,” I said. “I didn’t want to throw them away.”

  “Yeah,” she said, shrugging dismissively.

  “Not because I need ‘em,” I said. “I just don’t like wasting stuff.”

  She laughed and looked up, meeting my eyes.

  “I’m not judging. I’m glad to see them, actually, because Dell used to tell me about the guys on the minor league team coming to her with STDs because they didn’t use anything.”

  “Fuckin’ crazy,” I said.

  “This’ll work,” she said, reaching for a bottle. “Let’s go into the kitchen.”

  She pulled a chair out from the kitchen table and motioned for me to sit down in it. I did, and she approached with a white cloth, standing between my legs. I was face to tits with her, and I wanted to pull her closer so I could feel them. It’d been a long fucking time since I’d had sex, and I wanted her like no one else.

  But Luke’s face appeared in my mind. He was right – I was no good for Sadie. I wanted her, sure, but I couldn’t be the boyfriend she deserved. With my schedule, we’d rarely spend two nights in a row together.

  She touched the cloth to the cut on my face and I growled a little from the burn. Then she tested my resolve by leaning close and blowing lightly on my eyebrow to dry the alcohol. The softness of the gesture — and the way I could see down her shirt — made me want to forget about doing the right thing.

  I reached for her hips, letting my hands rest there.

  “What’s the story behind your tattoo?” she asked, letting me bring her in a little closer.

  “Which one?”

  Her eyes flicked down to meet mine. “The one on your arm.”

  I smiled. “Would you believe me if I said it’s a gang symbol?”

  She shook her head, her eyes bright. I’d figured out over the past few weeks they took on that golden glow when she was happy.

  “Yeah, there is a story behind it,” I said, sliding my hands under the bottom of her shirt and stroking my thumbs over her skin. “My sister Anna drew it. She always loved art. More than a love, really – she has a gift for it. When she was a senior in high school, she was planning to work at the deli after she graduated. My parents couldn’t afford to pay for her college. I wanted her to apply to NYU to study art. She wouldn’t, so I filled out the application and applied for her.”

  Sadie’s brows shot up, her eyes still sparkling.

  “Did she get in?”

  I nodded. “She did. But she was afraid to go. Said she’d end up buried in debt, wasn’t a good enough artist … so I made a deal with her that if she’d go, I’d get something she drew tattooed on me.”

  Sadie cupped my cheeks in her hands, her eyes locked on mine. “And she went.”

  “Yeah. I just paid off her loans. That’s … you know, my motivation. My drive to succeed. My family.”

  “I admire that,” she said, her voice nearly a whisper.

  “I’m closer to my brothers and sister because of what we went through. I can’t help but be. We used to pile our blankets together and all huddle under them to sleep at night when the heat was off.”

  Her eyes pooled with warmth and something compelled me to continue – to share more with her than I ever had with anyone.

  “I was the oldest, so I got the clothes people in the neighborhood gave my parents first,” I said. “They were used, but still decent. And when I outgrew them, Lyov got ‘em. By the time Alexei got those clothes, they were in pretty sad shape.” I smiled at the images this memory brought forth. “I just want to make up for all that. I don’t want my family to ever worry about being cold or hungry again.”

  The room was silent. Sadie’s thumbs stroked my cheeks while mine stroked the soft, smooth skin of her waistline. I’d exposed myself to her, and our closeness was palpable. I wanted to take her to bed and close the last tiny gap of distance between us. She’d seen parts of me no one else had, and I wanted to give her the last piece of me.

  She leaned down to kiss me, and an alarm sounded in my head. I wouldn’t be able to stop once I tasted her. My mind was spinning – with Luke’s warning, with my own vulnerability, and with my worry that she’d regret sleeping with me. Not doing it would be so much easier than doing it and having her regret it.

  I turned to the side, sliding my hands away from her waist. Her look of surprise, followed immediately by embarrassment, hurt worse than a punch in the face would’ve.

  “I’m done,” she said, stepping back. “I’m gonna go.”

  I ran a hand through my hair, sighing deeply. “Sadie, don’t.”

  “I need to go. I have to get home.”

  “Let me drive you.”

  She shook her head, refusing to look at me.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I just—”

  “I’m leaving.” Her voice was high – full of emotion. “I’ll see you later.”

  I jumped up and sped across the apartment, beating her to the door and holding it closed with my hand.

  “Let me out,” she said, her voice shaking. She looked up at me, the shine in her eyes making me feel like the world’s biggest asshole.

  “Can’t we just—”

  “No!” she cried, anger seeping into her tone. “We can’t. I want to leave. Now get the hell out of my way.”

  “I’ll drive you.”

  She laughed bitterly, shaking her head. “I’ll take the train. I need to go get my car. I took the train all the time before you moved here, so don’t go all noble and protective on me. I’m not just capable of taking care of myself – I prefe
r to.”

  “I’d feel better if I could see you home,” I said softly, trying to make peace.

  “I’d feel better if you’d get out of my fucking way,” she said bitterly.

  “Sadie—”

  “Move.”

  Her tone left no room for argument, so I stood aside. She was right. It wasn’t my place to act like she was mine. I moved my hand and she reached for the doorknob.

  “It’s not that I don’t want you,” I said.

  “You just want me when I don’t want you back,” she said. “Looks like I called your bluff.”

  It was the furthest thing from the truth, but I didn’t know how to explain the fucked-up jumble of emotions I was feeling, so I just watched as she picked up her purse, opened the door and left.

  I was no fucking good at this. One night of fucking a woman whose last name I didn’t know was my thing. At least it had been until I got to Chicago. This – being tied up in knots and left with blue balls on a regular basis – was foreign to me.

  A hard punch to the door after I closed it was the only release I’d find tonight. My fist burned from the force of it, but it still wasn’t anywhere close to what I needed.

  ***

  Sadie

  I pushed aside hanger after hanger in my closet, searching for a black dress that would be suitable for a stuffy dinner thing.

  “I don’t have anything to wear,” I said to Dell, who was on the other end of the phone begging me to attend a fundraiser event for Ryke and Kate’s foundation. “I don’t even have time to buy anything. This is crazy, Dell. I can’t go to this thing if it starts in two hours.”

  “Wear that long black dress with the slit,” she said. “You can ride with me and Luke and meet Orion there.”

  I groaned and located the dress she was talking about. “This dress is sleeveless and it’s the dead of winter.”

  “Wear a wrap over it. We’ll be there at 6:15.”

  “Hold on,” I said, flopping onto my bed. “Who is this guy again? He doesn’t think this is a date, does he?”

  “No. Orion’s a winger and he’s a really good guy. His girlfriend broke up with him yesterday and he’s a wreck over it.”