“Trust me, dude, that’s not going to happen. Hunter’s been up my ass for…” I stopped. I really didn’t want to get into this now. “It doesn’t matter. I just need a night to figure this out, okay?”
Vanya made a small noise of protest. “More than that,” he repeated.
“You’re so fucking annoying.” And he was, but I also found myself pulling more clothes into the bag. I was going to regret not keeping everything ordered, but I was still off-kilter from Hunter showing up at the arena—and not knowing how the fuck he got past the gates.
Vanya was right. I had to figure some of this out at the very least. I couldn’t let this go on any longer.
My phone began buzzing in my pocket, and I knew it was Hunter. My gut was screaming at me to turn the damn thing off.
“Is him?”
I let out a puff of air. “Probably. I’m not going to worry about it right now.”
“Good plan. Tonight, we can—ack!” There was a crash as he let out a few curses in Russian. “Sorry. I’m still working on blind skills. Tiago help me with some, but it takes practice.”
“Why are you working on—you know what, never mind.” I dropped the bag on the floor and knelt down to zip it up. I didn’t want to know what he was doing right now. My head was already too full. “Let me grab my toothbrush, then we can head out.”
“Okay. I take your bag.” Before I could protest, Vanya’s large body swayed into my space, and the fabric slipped from beneath my fingers. Yet one more annoying thing, but it wasn’t worth an argument.
I pushed to my feet and grabbed my toiletriesbag, shoving in my toothbrush and toothpaste, brush, and whatever product I could get my hands on. The truth was, I needed to get the fuck out of there. I had every reason to believe that Hunter was sitting in my parking lot, watching my front door.
God, I needed an escape route or something.
“You still in here?” I asked, making my way to the bedroom. I was met with silence, so I moved toward the living room and heard noises in the kitchen. My heart hammered too hard in my chest. “Ivan?”
“In the kitchen. You angry with me? I’m not trying to do anything wrong.”
“What?” I stopped with my hand on the wall near the entry to the kitchen. “Why would I be mad at you?”
“I don’t know, but you called me Ivan.”
My brows dipped further. “That’s your name…isn’t it?”
“Yes, but no one call me that. Announcers call me that,” he clarified. “Mama when she’s very mad at me. Strangers. Not friends. Only Vanya, please.”
I was not his friend. I needed to remember that. We were passing acquaintances, and he was being nice. It wasn’t deeper than that.
But I could respect his request. “What does your mom call you when she’s not pissed?”
He boomed a laugh. “She call me Ivanushka sometimes. Or Vashka when I’m being her special little boy. But that doesn’t happen often.”
“I bet.” Taking a breath, I squared my shoulders. “If you’re done snooping,Vanya, I’m ready to go.”
He let out a put-upon sigh, but I could tell he was smiling. “Yes, okay. But you invite me over soon so I can inspect your kitchen and feed your fish.”
“Uh…okay.”
His hand touched my arm. “What else you need? Just this? Have books? Laptop?”
I wasn’t a reader, and I didn’t feel like hauling half my apartment to his place. I really wasn’t going to stay long. Just long enough to figure out how the fuck Hunter got to me two nights in a goddamn row—and maybe how to prevent it from happening again.
“I’m good.”
His fingers tightened on my arm, and then he retreated, and I heard him sling the bag up over his back. I moved to the front door for my shoes and cane, then pulled my keys out of my pocket. I couldn’t trust that Hunter wouldn’t get into my place, but I had nothing worth stealing, so let him have at it.
Let him do whatever he wanted. So long as I wasn’t there.
God, that was a fucked-up way of thinking, but what else could I do.
