Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MICAH
The silence was overwhelming inside the house. They knew. They were nosy little fucks, so of course they were watching, and it had been a conscious decision to lean into Vanya, to take the comfort he was offering.
I knew it would blow my cover.
But I also knew that Vanya wanted to tell the world about us. That he wanted this to be an us. I was the one who had been fighting him. It was up to me to fix it. He deserved better, but rather than leaving him so he could find someone else, I could be the man worthy of him.
Maybe.
Probably.
With enough help and with getting Hunter the fuck out of my way. But that was a problem for later. Right now, holding Vanya’s hand as we walked into Caleb’s living room, I had a lot of crow to eat.
“So,” I started.
“We should have been taking bets,” Jonah said. “Alexio swore you two fucked in his car. Oh god, you actually did, didn’t you.”
My silence was his answer.
“I hate you,” Jonah said. “I told him you would never.”
Vanya cleared his throat, his fingers gently playing with mine as he shifted from side to side, bumping against me as he moved. “It was…not on purpose. And I cleaned up!”
I almost choked on my own tongue. “Anyway, do we have to have a big discussion about all of this, or—”
“I think we need to focus on the fact that some monster is stalking you and apparently also vandalizing other people’s homes,” Tucker said, matter-of-fact.
“I mean, that’s the real fucking problem, and one we can probably solve with a couple of well-timed fists to his fucking mouth. We’ve done it before.”
Amedeo gave a small laugh. “Oh god, more punching?”
I’d almost forgotten Jonah and the other boys had flown to California to knock Amedeo’s shitty ex on his ass. And to their credit, he hadn’t tried to contact Amedeo again after that.
But I didn’t think that was going to work with Hunter.
“This is more than him being a dickhead,” I told them. “I don’t even know how he’s able to do all of this.”
“Clearly, he has connections.” I recognized the soft lilt of Killian’s voice, which sounded so much like Tucker’s, except he was always so hesitant. “We need to figure out who he’s connected to.”
“I already solve this problem,” Vanya said. “My brother knows people. We just need to give him time.”
“Meanwhile, your house is fucked, and Micah clearly can’t go home,” Jonah cut in. “How much time does he need?”
“Just two days, but is okay. My sister get us hotel for the next few days. We can get scratched another game or two,” he said, and I shuddered.
Ben would agree, but he was not going to like it. I’d already been gone for too long, and asking for more time was pushing it. Our backup goalie was good, but he was so fucking green.
“I’ll talk to Ben,” Tucker said. “Coach to coach.”
I scoffed, but he did have a point. He could probably make Ben see more reason than I could, and frankly, I really didn’t want to think about this more than I had to.
At least for a little while.
“Thanks,” I eventually said.
Vanya squeezed my hand. “Then we can go, yes? To hotel? Then I will talk to my sister and my brother, and we can figure out a place to live.”
“Uh,” Jonah started.
“Yeah, okay. That’s fine.” This whole “we” business wasn’t something I wanted to address in front of a crowd, and I was eager to get the fuck out of Caleb’s house and away from my well-meaning but suffocating friends.
The silence was thick and heavy, but one by one, I got pulled into hugs, my ears filled with whispers of offers to help me. They all had tender hands and kind words, and it did help.
Even Caleb was a little less sharp as he squeezed the back of my neck. “This should have happened a lot sooner. And also, next time, tell me if you’re fucking some guy I’m trying to pull.”
“Fuck off,” I said, pulling back. The idea of Vanya and Caleb was still pissing me off, but I trusted now it wasn’t going to happen.
And the other man in question was standing right behind me, his massive hands falling to my waist as if to remind me of that silent statement. Vanya squeezed me gently before letting go, and I breathed a little easier when he and Caleb didn’t exchange more than quick words of goodbye.
I grabbed what little I’d taken to my brother’s, then unfolded my cane as we stepped past his front door. And then I froze.
“What’s wrong?” Vanya asked.
“All my stuff. Everything I took to your house…”
He sighed loudly. “Yes. Is…disaster there. Big disaster. I don’t know if it’s safe.”
“Fuck it,” I said. There were things I’d grabbed that were technically irreplaceable, but nothing was worth going to back to a place Hunter had touched.
I didn’t want to think about that, or him, or any of it. I wanted a soft bed, good food, and Vanya’s arms. And as he let me take his elbow to guide me to his car, I realized that this time, that wasn’t too big of an ask.
“Where are we?” I asked as I felt Vanya’s car begin to slow. He was taking a loping left turn, which I assumed was some kind of hotel driveway.
“Is some place my sister find. Katya only like very posh places, and—oh. She is here. She’s waiting for us.”
My nerves immediately fired up at the realization I was about to meet Vanya’s sister. Meeting any of his family seemed a little overwhelming. Not just because I’d never done anything like that before, but also because I’d been the world’s biggest shit to the world’s kindest man.
And granted, I was going through it, but Vanya hadn’t deserved any of it.
They would most definitely agree with that, and I had no idea how much they all knew about me. Were they the people he vented to when I made him feel bad?
Was I about to get verbally ripped a new asshole for my bad attitude and for ditching him the way I did?
“You’re pale,” Vanya said as the car rolled to a stop. I jumped when he touched my cheek with his palm, but the feeling of anxiety faded into an almost overwhelming comfort. “Feeling sick?”
“No, just, ah—” I couldn’t make the words come. I didn’t want to admit aloud what a shitty person I’d been, even if Vanya deserved to hear it. And more than once.
“Come,” Vanya said. He stroked his thumb over my jaw before pulling away. “We can valet the car, get some food, have nice nap. My sister won’t keep us long.”
My heart was beating in my throat as I stepped out of the car and onto the curb. I swiped the tip of my cane in a small circle around me to make sure I wasn’t all up in someone’s personal bubble, and then I waited, listening to the smile in Vanya’s voice as he talked to the valet driver.
It wasn’t long before he was at my side again, his hip brushing mine, even as he turned away from me and said, “Katya!”
I got a whiff of a very subtle, very floral perfume before I heard her delicate footsteps on the pavement. Her laugh was soft too, and beside me, Vanya leaned into what I assumed was either a hug or a cheek kiss.
“This is Micah?” she asked. She had one of those rough, lounge singer voices—her accent less thick than Vanya’s, but he had told me she was the better one at English.
“Nice to meet you,” I told her. I extended my hand in her direction and was startled to feel that her fingers were small. I didn’t know why I imagined her towering over me—some lovely right from the pages of Greek mythology.
“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 put distance 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 from the entrance, and the speaker alerted the riders to each floor, which I appreciated.