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I tried to catch her eye and subtly shake my head, but she was oblivious.
“What did you say?” Ivan bit out. “What guy?”
“Oh, some guy from Emmy’s class. He was like, ‘Your boyfriend’s too controlling, I’m worried about you,’ and I was like, yeah right, more like worried he wouldn’t be able to ask you out,” Laney said, laughing.
Ivan turned his intense green gaze to me. “Was it that guy Kevin? The guy from orchestra?”
I opened my mouth, hoping to deescalate the situation, but Laney beat me to the punch.
“Yes! That’s the guy. Don’t worry, Ivan, we set him straight. But how desperate do you have to be to try and pick up a girl who’s in a happy relationship, right?” she asked, giving Will a conspiratorial nudge.
“Totally, Solnyshko,” Will said, grinning widely.
“Oh my god, I love the Russian,” Delaney squealed.
Will slid his arm around Laney’s shoulders and started whispering what sounded like Russian in her ear as she practically swooned against him. He could be reciting a grocery list for all she knew.
Unfortunately, this gave Ivan an opportunity to question me further about Kevin. “You want to tell me about your chat with Kevin?”
The way he stressed Kevin’s name told everything about how this conversation was going to go.
“Look, Kevin doesn’t know you’re protecting me. Some of your behaviors seem…a little over the top when taken out of context, right?” I asked in a quiet voice, imploring him to agree with me if only to avoid the rest of this conversation.
Ivan’s eyebrows slammed together. “I don’t give a fuck about what Kevin thinks about anything. Who the hell does he think he is to come up to you and act like some concerned friend when it’s obvious he just wants to fuck you?” Ivan fumed, his voice not remotely quiet.
I wanted to argue, but that was definitely a possibility.
“Well, it doesn’t matter what Kevin wants. I told him I was happy and to drop it. Actually, Laney told him the same thing.”
“I did,” Laney chimed in, her attention once again focused on us. “Some people may think your overprotectiveness is a little alarming, but I find it sweet. It shows how much you really care about Emmy,” she said, stars practically shining in her eyes.
Ivan growled faintly in his throat. I didn’t think he was enjoying the overly romanticized version of his behavior any more than he enjoyed Kevin’s “abusive” interpretation.
Ignoring Delaney, he turned back to me. “Jesus, I can’t take my eyes off you for a second without some dickhead trying to make a move on you,” he muttered, tossing back his beer.
It was difficult to control my shivers of delight at Ivan’s jealousy. It was reassuring particularly in light of what just happened between us.
“Hey, me and Laney were talking earlier about getting a late breakfast at the Golden Angel Restaurant around the corner. You guys want to come?” Will asked.
Ivan and I looked at each other, then responded in unison. “No.”
Will threw his head back and laughed.
Chapter 18
Ivan
Delaney begged us to join her and Will for late-night breakfast, but I was too eager to get the fuck out of there and end this disaster of a night.
I thought Orlov was the biggest problem to deal with, and he was, but fuck if Emmy didn’t attract motherfuckers like a moth to a flame. Orlov, that frat guy, the music professor, Kevin—who thought I was an overly controlling asshole. I was infuriated that he was trying to scare Emmy off, but I couldn't say his observations were incorrect.
I was going to walk Emmy back to her room and get the hell out of here before I did any other stupid, impulsive shit. I still couldn’t believe what I’d allowed to happen. Fucking around with her in a closet at a frat party.
I snorted. Allowed? More like instigated.
The worst part about dragging Emmy into that room and getting her off was that I couldn’t even blame my dick because I wasn’t even thinking about sex when I dragged her in there. I was consumed with the need to get her somewhere private and keep her away from anyone else who might want to put their hands on her. Unfortunately, once we were alone, my dick definitely did jump into the decision-making process.
Even though I wanted to distance myself from her as soon as possible, that didn’t stop me from keeping an arm around her waist as I walked her home. I told myself that it was for show, but there were very few people walking around at this time of night, and I knew it.
