Chapter 44
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Savina
I WAKE UP alone in Dimitri’s bed. The pillows and sheets still carry his familiar scent, and I inhale deeply before sighing contentedly.
Glancing around his room and being able to actually see it in the light now, it’s exactly how I would have pictured it.
All dark tones, clean and manly but still cozy and comfortable.
I never would have thought someone like him would have so many pillows, but I woke up in a mountain of them, and it makes me smile.
Dimitri has a soft side even if he refuses to show it.
Yawning, I stretch and sit up. Too fast. Ouch. My head pounds, feeling like someone is drilling inside of my damn brain. I am completely and utterly hungover, and my stomach lurches in protest as I pull back the sheets and swing my legs over the side of the bed.
“Shit,” I mutter miserably.
It takes me several minutes to gather my wits about myself before I trot to Dimitri’s bathroom and relieve myself in the toilet.
Groaning, I go to the sink and splash water on my face.
Fumbling with a blob of toothpaste on my fingertip, I haphazardly scrub at my teeth and tongue, trying to get the stale alcohol taste out of my mouth.
Then, I follow up with some mouthwash I find stashed under the sink.
Feeling minutely better and a little more human, I make my way out of the bathroom, my bare feet sinking into the plush carpet in the hallway as I walk towards the delicious smell of food.
Dimitri’s apartment is spacious with an open floor plan.
The kitchen, dining room and living room are all interconnected but smartly divided by furniture and half walls.
Dimitri’s back is turned towards me as he stands over the stove.
I look at the small, round table and see that it is set with a plate, silverware, and a full glass of orange juice with two small pills sitting adjacent to it.
I pad quietly into the room, not wanting to startle him. But as if he already knew I was there, he says, “Good morning, Savina.”
“Good morning.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I got ran over by a big truck,” I confess with a sigh.
“Figured as much. Sit down. I’ll have breakfast ready for you in a moment,” he says.
I take a seat at the table and watch him closely. He’s making some eggs and bacon, and they smell divine. “You know how to cook?” I ask, curious.
“Learned a long time ago. Gradually got better,” he says with a shrug. Then, he turns and dishes out some scrambled eggs and three crispy pieces of bacon onto my plate.
“Are you not eating?” I question as he sets down a smaller plate, which contains two pieces of freshly buttered toast, next to the bigger one.
“Already ate. I’ve been awake for hours.”
I frown. I know I’m intruding in his personal space, and I’m sure babysitting me last night and this morning wasn’t on his agenda. “I can just take all of this to go and get out of your hair,” I offer, starting to stand.
He raises a dark brow and points at my chair. “Sit,” he demands. Then, his finger moves around the table and points at items in order as he says, “Food, juice, aspirin. Now.”
I take my seat and can’t stop the stupid smile that’s spreading across my lips. “Yes, sir,” I blurt out.
Dimitri’s eyes darken a bit as he stares at me, and I watch as his tongue darts out to lick his bottom lip.
Damn, does he like when I call him sir?
He crosses his arms in front of his chest, his fitted, black shirt putting in some work to not split at the seams as his long sleeves stretch to accommodate all of his muscles. “I’ll take you home after you’ve eaten,” he says.
I give him a nod in agreement. And then, I pick up my fork and say, “I should text Darby. Let her know I’m still alive.”
“Already done,” he says. “I texted her this morning.”
Of course he did. I’d like to say I’m angry about it, but I’m not.
It makes me feel better knowing that my best friend doesn’t think I’m lying dead in a ditch somewhere.
I know how much Darby worries. And so, with that out of the way, I load up some eggs on my fork and put them in my mouth.
And, to my surprise, they’re fluffy, delicious and seasoned just right.
“Wow,” I moan out loud after I’m done chewing and swallowing.
“I don’t know if it’s because I’m hungover, but these are the best eggs I’ve ever had. ”
“I’m sure it’s just the hangover,” he says with a grin. “I said I know how to cook. Not that I’m any good at it.”
But when I pick up a piece of perfectly fried bacon, I know he’s full of crap. He’s a great cook and way too humble about it. Every time I try to cook bacon, it comes out looking burnt beyond recognition.
While I eat, my mind starts rewinding over everything that happened last night.
Many things were said. I thought maybe I would forget some of them, but that’s simply not the case.
I remember everything. Especially the part about why Dimitri pushed me in the pool.
He said Corbin had tried drugging me. I vaguely remember that night when it comes to the party and my then boyfriend.
I do remember Corbin very earnestly trying to get me to drink and that I did not like the taste of it.
Dimitri tried everything to get me to put that drink down; finally resorting to pushing me in the pool. Back then, I had thought he was just being cruel and wanting me to be the laughing stock of the school. But knowing the truth behind it now, it makes me rethink everything.
Was Dimitri ever truly a bully? Sure, he made my life miserable at times, but was it because he was just trying to protect me? And then I have to wonder…what else hasn’t he told me?
The worst part is I can remember the first day of school after the party.
Dimitri was sporting a black eye. He clearly got in trouble with his father for being at the party.
He took a beating just so he could ultimately save me that night, and I never thanked him for it.
Instead, I treated him terribly because I thought he had done something awful to me first.
I stop eating, suddenly feeling ill. The juice and aspirin churns in my stomach as I stare up at Dimitri. He’s leaning against the cupboards, watching me.
When he sees my mood change, he straightens his back. “Something wrong with the food?” Dimitri asks, breaking through my inner turmoil.
“No, it’s not that,” I say, swallowing hard past the lump forming in my throat. “I just…I remember what you said last night about the party back in high school.”
He frowns. “I shouldn’t have said anything,” he mutters.
“No, I’m glad you told me. I was too na?ve back then. Maybe I am now too,” I say quietly. Tears blur my vision as I stare up at him. “Your father didn’t want you going to the party, did he?”
His frown deepens. “No, he did not.”
“Did he hurt you?”
He doesn’t answer me, but he doesn’t have to. I can see it written all over his face.
“Dimitri,” I start, but he doesn’t let me finish.
“It’s in the past now, Savina.” He points to his eye. “See? No more bruises. I’m completely healed.”
Yeah, maybe on the outside, I think to myself. But I know Dimitri has a lot of inner scars he’ll probably never let me see. And those will never truly go away.
I climb out of my seat and go to him. He stiffens as I approach him, unsure of what to do or say, but nothing needs to be done or said. I merely wrap my arms around him, press my head to his chest, listening to his heartbeat as I whisper, “Thank you. For that night. For everything.”
Eventually, his stiff demeanor melts, and his arms wrap around me, holding me tightly against him.
In that moment, I realize that we’ve never hugged before. And I can’t help but think how sad that is. Everything that’s gone on between us has been this primal urge and desire. But our bond has grown so much more beyond that. At least on my end.
But when I feel Dimitri kiss the top of my head and sigh contentedly in my hair, I know he feels it too.
And the thought of losing him because I have to marry his brother absolutely kills me inside.
I’ll never recover from this. I know that now.
I don’t want to live in this cruel world without Dimitri.
This risky game we’ve been playing is going to destroy us both. But that doesn’t make me pull away from him. It only makes me hug him tighter and silently beg for him to never let me go.