Chapter 31 – Lexi
thirty-one
Lexi
“Well, well, well,” Ariella says to me once I get closer, “isn’t this a surprise?
” She smirks at me before coming in and giving me a hug and a side air kiss.
She then turns to Kylie. “What the fuck?” She rolls her eyes.
“It’s enough that this one over here”—she points to me—“is all sexy and class, but then you come in as if you are queen of the fashion show.”
“What are you talking about?” Kylie asks her.
“It’s just a skirt and a top,” she says of her outfit, but it’s more than that.
It’s a mini black-and-gold sparkly skirt, the gold shimmers in the light and shows off her ridiculously long, toned legs.
The silk top has long sleeves tucked in, but is slightly open all the way down, showing off the black satin bra she has underneath it.
It’s barely open, but if she moves right or left, you get a glimpse of it.
The strappy black heels on her feet that make the outfit complete.
“You are the one wearing red.” Kylie stops talking when one of the servers comes over to us and offers us champagne, and we each take a glass except Ariella.
“I can’t, I’m still breastfeeding,” she groans, “but the minute Jagger and I cut ties with breastfeeding, I’m going to have a whole bottle of wine.
Not one glass, but the whole bottle.” She smiles.
“Even if I have to drink it by myself in a bathtub.” I look over at Kylie, trying not to laugh at Ariella as she holds up her glass to her.
“I will then have to drink for both of us,” Kylie announces. “It would be my honor.” She takes a sip of her champagne, downing half the glass.
“Okay, so what’s going on here?” Ariella turns back to me. “What does this mean?” she asks me, motioning with her chin toward the guys, and I can’t help but put my head back and laugh at her.
“It means I’m here with him,” I tell her, taking my own sip of champagne and avoiding putting a label on whatever this is.
“We’re friends,” I say and Kylie, who is taking another sip of her champagne, starts to cough, making me roll my eyes.
Friends who sleep with each other occasionally, I think instead of saying it out loud.
“So you don’t mind if I set him up with someone?” The question earns her a little glare, at the same time the champagne I just took a sip of starts to feel like the bubbles are coming back up. “There is a super nice girl I know. I met her in yoga class; she’s new in town.”
I cough and almost choke on my spit, turning to glare at her and the notion that she would set him up with someone else makes me see red.
Looking at her I see she’s fucking with me as she tries not to laugh at my reaction.
I put the glass to my lips again and can’t help but smirk at her. “You don’t do yoga.”
“No.” She shakes her head as she grabs a bottle of water from one of the trays that is being passed around. “I don’t, but now you know that you don’t want anyone else dating him.” She untwists the cap and puts it to her lips. “You’re welcome.”
“Oh,” Kylie adds, “that was a good one.”
“That was not a good one,” I disagree with Kylie. “That was not good at all.”
“I don’t know,” Kylie pushes, finishing her champagne. “She was like, can he date my friend, and then you went all breathing fire out of your nose like a bull.”
“I was not.” I try to defend myself.
“Oh, you were.” Ariella laughs. “Your face drained of color and then your jaw got tight and your hand gripped the glass.”
I just stare at them, not bothering to say anything because they might be right. I was not happy thinking of him dating someone else; in fact, I sort of got this feeling I’ve never had before.
“Hey.” I hear Jaxon from beside us, followed by Kirby, who stands beside me with his hands in his pockets, his shirt pulled across his chest, and I have this sudden desire to walk up to him and kiss him.
My lips tingle thinking about it. I’ve never felt this need before.
I’ve been to countless events with Trent and I smiled when I was supposed to smile and talked to a few people, but I never had this need to be beside him.
I drink the champagne when I think about the reason why, telling myself it’s crazy.
“How are you doing?” Jaxon puts a hand around Ariella and pulls her to him. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” She looks up at him with a semi-smile on her face, then it goes into a full-blown smile.
“Okay, this was fun,” Kylie states, staring at the four of us, “but I’m going to go mingle.
” She puts her empty glass of champagne on a tray and then takes another one.
“I’m drinking for two tonight,” she says to her brother, “and I’m going to go gamble.
” She looks around. “So I just tell them your name and they’ll front me chips and you pay for it? ”
I can’t help but laugh. “Story of my life,” he says with a sigh. “You know, you probably have more money than I do.”
“Yes.” She winks at him. “How do you think the rich stay rich? They spend other people’s money.” She smiles big at him and he wants to be annoyed with her, but the love on his face makes it hard to believe he’s that annoyed. “Also, thanks for the outfit.” She turns and walks away.
“Are you going to warn any of the rookies that Kylie’s off-limits,” Jaxon mumbles as we watch her move through the crowd.
“You think she’s going to give them the time of day?” Kirby shakes his head. “She’s a viper.”
“If you think that, you would be wrong,” I say and both of their eyes come back to me and Kirby gets what I’m saying.
“She looks soft on the exterior,” he explains, “but she’s locked up so tight, I just hope someone can get in there.”
“I have faith in her,” I reply as a man comes over to them. Kirby takes his hand out of his pocket to shake his hand.
“Martin,” he says to the guy, “this is Lexi Petrov.” He puts the hand that was just shaking the man’s hand on the base of my back. “This is my coach.”
“Petrov,” the man says right away, “Matty.” His eyes go into slits. “Viktor.”
“They would be my brother and my father,” I say proudly, extending my hand to him.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he says to me and then Kirby’s hand slides down from my back, and I slip my hand in his.
“Matthew Grant is—” he starts to say and then stops. “Holy shit, Cooper Stone.”
“That would be my grandfather,” I reply with a fondness in my voice.
“Legacy,” he declares. “It’s an honor.”
I look up at Kirby shyly, who is looking at me with the biggest smile on his face, and I can’t help but lean into him a little bit. “Well, I have to go and talk to everyone,” Martin says. “See you guys later.”
“Let’s go and see where I have to be,” Kirby suggests, pulling me away from Ariella and Jaxon, who laugh.
We stop when he spots a couple of guys he knows. “Hey,” he says to them, his hand never leaving mine as he introduces me to them. They all nod their heads, a couple of them do a double take when they hear the last name.
“Don’t we play Matty next week?” one of them says and he snickers. “I’ve got your back.”
“There will be no need for that,” I quickly put in. “It’s a game.” They all laugh at me. “And may the best team win.”
“The big question is,” one of them asks me, “what jersey will you be wearing?”
I bite my lower lip, looking up at Kirby. “That would be a game-time decision,” I joke, making them all laugh.
We turn and bump into one of his teammates and his wife. “Lexi,” Kirby says, “this is Knox and his wife, Josephine. This is Lexi.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I say to Knox and then turn to his wife, who is giving me the fakest smile I’ve ever seen in my life, and trust me, I know fake smiles when I see them.
“Yeah,” she says, holding out her hand and I think she’s only doing it because Knox is here.
“I love that dress.” I decide I’m going to kill her with kindness. I actually do like her dress. It’s a gold jacket dress, the top button is right between her fake breasts and looks like it’s about to pop off and hit me in the eye. I just don’t like her in the dress.
“Thank you,” she says tightly. “I’m going to go and see the girls.” She turns and walks away and I almost burst out laughing.
“Knox spent the summer in Italy,” Kirby says, trying not to let me feel uncomfortable by the whole Josephine thing.
“Oh, that sounds like heaven.”
“It was,” he confirms. “The kids had a blast and they picked up so much Italian, it was cute.”
“How old are your kids?” I ask him.
“We have three: ten, eight, and five. Two boys and a girl.”
“Fun, my sister has three-year-old twins,” I say, smiling at him when his eyes about come out of his sockets. “Boy and girl, both daredevils.”
“I think having two boys first was a mistake. They are all fun and loving and then you have my daughter, who I just knew was going to be chaos personified.” He shakes his head.
“The other day, her brothers told her it would be fun to use the top of the plastic bin to slide down the stairs.” I can’t help but laugh.
“In case anyone is wondering, it’s not fun.
She about broke five bones in her body and her head smashed into the wall.
” I put both hands in front of my mouth.
“You would think she would learn her lesson, but the only thing she learned is to put on a hockey helmet the next time.”
“Sounds like a smart kid to me,” Kirby pipes up, “unlike her father.”
Knox is about to say something else when Josephine calls his name from across the room. “Excuse me, duty calls.”
He walks away and I slip my hand in Kirby’s, stepping a touch closer to him. “He’s nice, I like him.” He just nods as I stand in front of him. “Is this okay?” I ask, lifting my hand with his.
“Do you not want to hold my hand?” he asks me, and I roll my eyes when he kisses my fingers and then drops our hands to our sides. “You look beautiful,” he tells me softly, “so fucking beautiful.”