“You don’t see him, right?”
“No. If I see him, I get my knuckles all bloody from the punching.” He shifted, and then his arm moved around my waist. I wanted to shove him away, but the comforting weight of him wasn’t letting me act like my usual self. “This guy—he’s not ex-boyfriend, right?”
“He wishes,” I blurted, then sighed. “We went on two dates. Both dates were terrible, and he turned into a real fucking asshole. I thought I got rid of him, but he popped up last season, and—” I didn’t want to tell him the rest.
I wasn’t telling anyone the rest.
“Well, if you want punching—or you want me to kill him—I will.”
“I don’t want you to kill him,” I sighed out.
“Mm, if you say so. But I could find someone. I know people. They know where to hide bodies.”
“Because you’re Russian, right?” I knew plenty of Russian players who liked to claim they were the best at everything.
Vanya just laughed. “Because I watch so much murder TV shows. You know…where guy is…I forget the word. Talking, then camera show person whose sister die because she’s meeting bad guy who hides her body under big tree or in basement?”
“True crime?”
“Yes, yes! True crime. I listen to podcasts, then watch shows in hotels. And people…they’re so stupid, you know? Make terrible mistakes with murders. Leave so many clues!”
“That’s kind of a good thing? So they get solved?”
“Maybe for killing good guys, yes. But bad guys? Trust me, I can do much better.”
I knew I should step away from him after that. But I didn’t. “I have no idea what to say to that.”
“Just be glad we’re friends, yes?”
I didn’t get the chance to answer. Tires popped and crackled on loose gravel sprinkled across asphalt, and then Vanya moved his arm away from me, giving me time to catch the back of his elbow.
I checked my pockets for my wallet, room key, phone, and cane as he handled the valet, and then he led me to the passenger door.
“I can’t believe I’m riding in Alexio’s precious baby.” I didn’t know my brother’s fiancé very well, but he had a reputation for being kind of a dick, kind of thick-brained, and obsessed with his car.
I was pretty sure one of those was true.
“He would probably get mad at me for letting someone in, but it’s you, so it doesn’t count. Jonah loves you, so he loves you.”
“Is that some kind of rule?” I asked as I felt along the lush leather seats before climbing in. It was tall and probably the nicest place I had ever rested my ass.
Vanya didn’t answer until he’d climbed in andshut the door. “Is rule for you. I love Jonah, then I meet you and love.”
I didn’t know what to say to that either, so I kept my mouth shut and instead felt around the console, then the dash. It was very smooth, and it smelled incredibly clean. I could easily picture him sitting inside the thing for hours, rubbing microfiber cloths over every surface.
“Alright. Your team staying at same hotel?”
“Oh…uh. Probably?” I had no idea. I just went wherever they told me to go, and I didn’t usually interact with my own team, let alone the NHL assholes who were rarely around if we were playing on the same night. “I’m at the Riverside something or other.”
“Is same, yes.” Vanya went quiet again as he pulled out onto the main road, and I held my breath because even outside of NYC, I hated the traffic.
Late at night, it was a lot, and being that I had no way to see what was coming, it was jarring when we were surrounded by bad drivers.
But with Vanya, it was different. The first time he had to brake quickly, I gasped, and before I could react further, his hand found mine on the console. He gripped my wrist first, and then his fingers loosened and stroked lazy lines over my palm.
Tell him to stop, I screamed in my head.Tell him to let go. Tell him you don’t want this.
But lying to myself never got me anywhere, and the one thing I didn’t want was for him to let go. I was treading dangerous water. I’d been here before—though not with the same ferocity I wanted him. But I’d felt comfortable around people before.
