“I wish the circumstances were better,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to meet you forever.”
That was…unexpected. But it took some of the pressure off. I pulled my hand back and managed something that felt like a smile. “Yeah. Uh. It’s been…”
“No, you don’t need to explain. Give me your wrist. The key cards are actually little bracelets. They work on your door and on the hotel lift.”
Her fingers took my arm, and she wrapped a soft, elastic band around my wrist that had a small plastic tab in the center. I brushed my fingers over it, but there were no markings I could feel.
“Thank you,” Vanya told her, moving a little closer to my side.
“Of course. You’re in room six-oh-seven. I put everything on Kolya’s card, so you can order whatever you want.”
Vanya burst into laughter, and when I frowned, he knocked his elbow into me. “Is our oldest brother, Nikolai, with big, fancy lawyer job. He used to make more than me and is angry that he doesn’t anymore.”
He sounded so…happy. Like his family was a source of joy for him, and I had no idea what that was like. Jonah, Caleb, and I had been bonded by shared trauma, but I wasn’t even sure if we liked each other at all these days.
Caleb seemed bound and determined to putdistance between us, and Jonah was still angry at both himself and us for the position he’d gotten into with our dad. It felt like cracks were starting to turn into valleys between us.
And I couldn’t remember laughing the way Vanya and Katya were doing in…hell, maybe ever? We had shared good moments, but not like this.
The envy that rose in my gut was like bitter acid, and it was hard to swallow it down.
“Not to be a dick,” I said, sounding exactly like someone who was a dick, “but I’m kind of exhausted.”
“Of course,” Katya said without missing a beat. “Maybe we can meet up for breakfast if you feel up for it.” She squeezed my wrist again, then let me go, and her perfume faded as she walked off.
“I didn’t mean to be an ass,” I eventually confessed.
Vanya was a little stiff beside me, but he melted the moment I spoke. “No, is okay. My family can be a lot.”
At that, I laughed. “And kind of terrifying. Not Russian Mafia, but lots of connections?”
“Yes, something like that. Come on. I can see elevator from here.” There was a smile in his voice as he tapped his elbow against my hand and led the way past the swooshing automatic doors.
The lobby sounded mostly empty—a few voices here and there, but nothing like the usual crowds where teams stayed. The elevators weren’t far fromthe entrance, and the speaker alerted the riders to each floor, which I appreciated.
Vanya led the way to the right as we stepped out, then came to a halt, and I put myself in front of him, feeling along the door first for the handle, then for the little round disc where we’re meant to scan our bracelets.
I tapped it twice before I heard the click, then pushed inside, and the echo of my shoes immediately told me it was a huge room.
“Suite?”
“I think so, yes.” Vanya moved away from me as my hand found the wall so I could keep myself oriented. I listened to him walk around, jumpy at each sound, though that wasn’t his fault. A door slid to the side, and then he laughed. “Oh, it has nice bath. Separate shower. And—ah, yes. Very nice fuzzy robe. You want a bath?”
I probably needed one, but what I really needed was sleep. “Would I be the biggest asshole in the world if I took a nap instead?”
Vanya sighed loudly as he came back to me, and his huge hands cupped the sides of my neck as he dropped his forehead against mine. It was so fucking comforting when he did that. I could get lost in that gesture forever.
“Why you think you’re such an asshole, little goalie?”
“Because I am one. I knew how you felt, and I treated you like shit, and?—”
“No. I knew what you wanted. You were having hard time and I…maybe crossed some lines.”
“Vanya—”
“We start fresh, yes? Clean…what is the word.” He said something in Russian, and I didn’t understand it, but I knew what he was getting at.
“Clean slate?”
