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Ava and Hannah were still talking, when Nik turned to me. “I’m going to hold off on Connors unless he makes a move on Hannah.” Jeff Connors—the douchebag.
I raised my brows at him. “Is that a fact? Why?” Nik was a fighter. If he had decided not to fight Connors, I figured it wasn’t his choice.
He shook his head, as though still conflicted about the decision, then reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Hannah…”
I smirked, and he opened his mouth, probably to tell me to fuck off, when Hannah informed him that she and Ava were going to the bathroom. Nik wasn’t crazy about this, due to Connors’ presence at the party, but let her go off with Ava.
Ava, fuck. As happy as I was to get some distance from her, I couldn’t help but watch her sexy, denim-covered ass as she walked out of the room.
Fortunately, Nik was so caught up worrying about Hannah, he didn’t notice my staring. I grinned at him as he watched Hannah leave, his face creased in a worried frown.
He glanced at me. “What?”
I snorted. “You have got to be the best fucking actor I’ve ever seen,” I quipped.
He punched me. “Shut the fuck up. I’m just helping her out.”
“Oh, well, if that’s how you help her out, would you mind if I ‘helped her out’ after you?” I had no interest in Hannah—I just liked fucking with him. “I mean, if you aren’t into her, I’ll be happy to take her off your hands. She’s looks pretty damned good, now. Especially when her shirt slides forward and I can see down the front–”
“Keep your fucking eyes off her, Becker.” Nikolai growled, shoving me back against the wall.
I laughed, pushed his hand off my chest, and refilled my beer. “You’re fucked.”
“So, what’s up with you and that Ava chick?” he asked dryly.
My head swung toward him. Fuck. So much for him not noticing.
“Fuck you, Nik.”
****
Chapter 2
Ava
My first party after moving to a new town had lived up to all my expectations, and then some. Fighting, drinking, flirting—good lord, what a night.
I took a sip of my drink, wincing at the amount of Captain Morgan I used in my rum and Coke. I wasn’t much of a drinker, so the chemistry of cocktail making was new to me. I looked over at Hannah, holding a similar drink in her hand, and smiled at how quickly we had bonded over the course of a few hours. I was pretty buzzed, but she was completely smashed. She was currently talking a mile a minute to me about various people in the room who I had yet to meet, gesturing wildly with the hand that contained her drink and spilling it all over the floor.
“Oops, shit. Did I get any on you?” Hannah slurred, her brow puckering.
I laughed. “No, you’re fine. However, we’re probably going to end up sticking to the floor considering the amount we’ve spilled on it.”
Hannah chuckled and went to take a sip of her half-filled cup, but Nikolai plucked it out of her hand and replaced it with a cup of water.
I knew she told me her relationship with Nikolai Ivanov was fake, but right now it looked anything but. He was leaning against the wall and had her back pulled into his chest, his strong arm wrapped around the front her waist. He was talking to Jack but kept looking around the room to make sure there were no threats brewing. I don’t blame him after the earlier drama with Jeff, a guy who was basically stalking Hannah.
Hannah and I had gone to the bathroom when Jeff came out of nowhere and cornered Hannah. She screamed at me to get Nikolai, so, even though I’d felt terrible leaving her, I ran and got him as fast as possible. Needless to say, Nikolai absolutely pulverized Jeff.
I overheard people at the party murmuring about Nikolai’s family and the Russian mob, which I thought was ridiculous until I saw two huge guys arrive in a black SUV, take Jeff, and disappear. I have to admit, Nikolai is crazy hot, but I’d had my fill of dangerous guys. I left all that behind in Michigan.
“Ava! Drink! You’re making me drink alone and that’s unacceptable,” Hannah accused in a comically fierce voice.
“Hannah, Nikolai took your drink and gave you water, remember? It happened like two seconds ago.” She stared into her cup with glassy-eyed confusion. I laughed but complied with her request and took a healthy gulp of my overly strong drink, wincing as it burned its way down my throat.
My eyes wandered over to Jack Becker, as they had done many times tonight, and I found his intense dark-green gaze already fixed on me. The carbonated liquid seized in my throat, and the heat that was warming my chest had less to do with the rum and more to do with being the object of Jack’s focused attention. Jack was ridiculously hot. While Nikolai was brawny, Jack was leaner, his fitted t-shirt showcasing his broad shoulders and the muscles defining his arms and chest. He had medium-brown hair that was very short on the sides, but longer on the top. The dark color of his hair was a perfect contrast for those intense, dark-green eyes that I found myself seeking out time after time.
As I coughed and wiped at my watery eyes, Mark Cassidy came over and threw an arm around my shoulders.
