Page 31 of Scoring Chance

I smiled, happy to be included. We broke apart and went back to the front of the house. Derrek was talking with Nikolay and Elena, and the second I saw him I knew Madi was right. I took in his tall frame and wide shoulders. His shirt stretched over his chest with his defined arms crossed. He should be imposing, but he was gentle with me. He accepted me and made me feel comfortable enough to me myself. I liked how easy it was to be with him. I liked that we could be blunt and tell each other exactly what we thought. I liked Derrek.

“Hey, you ready to go?” He held up my coat for me, but I shook my head.

“Actually, do you mind staying?”

His eyebrows pulled up and I knew I was confusing him, but he simply smiled. “Okay.”

Elena watched us with an amused expression, but I chose to ignore her. We walked as a group to the living room. Nikolay leaned up against the back of the sofa with tired eyes.

“How’s Yula?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t the wrong thing to say.

His shoulders slumped. “She starts her next course a week from Monday. She’s tired, but trying to stay positive.”

I hated that his little sister was going through such a horrible thing. Cancer was a monster, but we were all praying she would beat it.

“When I can I visit?” I was excited to see her. We had fun teasing Nikolay together over video chats, and I couldn’t wait to join forces in person.

“Hopefully sometime next week.”

“We can call her now.” Elena offered and I immediately agreed. She pulled out her phone and Yula answered the video call after just a few seconds.

“Hi Elena.” Her sweet voice sounded more exhausted than the last time I talked to her.

“I have someone here that wants to say hi.” My sister turned her phone so I was facing the camera.”

“Amelia!” She smiled and tried to sit up.

“Hi Yula.” I looked to Nikolay and caught a hint of relief as slowly released a sigh. “I’ve got a new one for you.”

I started telling her cheesy jokes after our first call to try to make her smile. It was now our thing.

Here eyes lit up. “Okay.”

“Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?”

Nikolay started shaking his head.

“Tank.”

Yula scrunched her nose. “Tank who?”

“You’re welcome.” I watched as she repeated it and started giggling.

“That was a good one. I’m going to tell it to the nurses.”

Nikolay caught my eye and mouthed ‘thank you’. I just smiled. “I’m going to try to come visit you next week. So I’ll see you soon okay?”

She nodded covered her mouth as she yawned. “Bye, Amelia.”

“Bye.” I handed the phone back to Elena. A hand rested on my shoulder and I looked up to Derrek.

“Do you want me to grab you a plate?”

“I’ll come with you.” Before I walked away, I gave Nikolay a hug. He tensed for a moment before lightly placing his hands on my back. I leaned back and smiled. “She’s going to be okay.”

I wasn’t capable of making such a promise, but I knew he needed to hear it. His eyes lit up a bit and he didn’t appear as dejected. He took Elena’s hand and they followed behind us to the kitchen.