Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Lauren
“We made it, Yatesy!”
I chuckled. Mel had just about squeaked through and got to walk at commencement, after I spent the last month tutoring her in math.
Some girls were so sure they were going to head straight to the pros that they slacked off on their studies.
I was determined that none of my girls would be in that position, so I had spent three months organizing study groups in between practice and games to guarantee the best possible outcome.
All of them made it.
“We sure did.” I had one eye on the entrance to Brewski’s. Jason hadn’t shown up yet, so I imagined he was with his teammates or maybe even his family getting trashed before they had to pay top dollar here.
An arm snaked around my waist, and I turned to my sister, all shiny eyes and trembling lips.
“I’m so proud of you, sis.” She hugged me for the zillionth time while I blinked at Gunnar over her shoulder. My brother-in-law nodded, his lips curved in a knowing smile that managed to peek through his beard.
Sadie drew back. “And it’s just the icing on the cake of an amazing season. The Patty Kazmaier and top in points.”
“Don’t forget number one in the draft!” Mel shook her head, all amazement. “With the way things are going now, you could end up in Chicago or Miami. I’d be rooting for the heat, girl.”
While I couldn’t really control which city I ended up in, I was hoping for Florida.
Alexei would be there. We had spent every night together over the last week, exploring each other’s bodies, but leaving our future unexamined, as if we were afraid to jinx it.
He would be here tonight. I’d spotted him in the distance at commencement, but the class was so large we were separated by rows of students.
Boo to having a last name beginning with Y.
My father couldn’t make it to the ceremony.
He wasn’t allowed to leave Illinois while awaiting his sentencing, but he’d sent me a nice voice mail congratulating me on my achievement.
Then in the same breath, he had asked me to reconsider showing up as a character witness for his sentencing, due to happen in a week. Always with the ulterior motive.
The door opened and my eyes immediately flew to the entrance. Jason walked in with Theo and his sister-in-law, Elle. He waved at me, but his attention was immediately snagged by one of his classmates.
When I’d asked Alexei if his father would attend his graduation, he had shrugged and said, “it is unlikely.” I had hoped he’d be here, so I could introduce him to my family. Let him know that he wasn’t alone. But perhaps that was Jason’s job, not mine.
My phone buzzed with a message from the man himself.
Alexei
Meet me outside. The alley.
He wasn’t coming in? Panic made my hands itchy.
“I need to hit the bathroom,” I said to my family, and I headed to the restrooms’ corridor. I walked to the bar’s emergency exit, which I knew from experience was not alarmed because the staff needed unfettered access for smoke breaks. I pushed through and looked around.
He was waiting on the other side of the dumpster. Our spot.
Yatesy, you are such a sap.
“Hey!” I moved toward him, unsure about how to greet him. A kiss? A high five?
He pulled me into his arms and hugged me. It felt so good, yet there was something else. A hesitancy I couldn’t define.
After a long pause, he pulled back. He looked absolutely gorgeous in his suit, as if he was already part of the professional hockey world. No sign of his cap and gown, though.
“Congratulations on graduating, Silver Eyes.”
“You, too,” I whispered. “Why don’t you come inside?”
“I have to leave.”
“Leave?”
“I must return to Moscow. My father is ill.”
I gripped his upper arms. “Alexei! Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shook his head. “I just found out. I’m not sure when I’ll return, and when I do, I will be in Miami.”
Right. It seemed so far away, both time and distance. But it didn’t have to be. “You never know, I might end up there.”
No reaction, just pure Russian stoicism. The response, when it came, was flat, lifeless:
“It would be easier if you didn’t.”
Oh. Here I was trying to pretzel my life around his. Absolutely pathetic.
I dropped my hands and stepped back. My chest felt like the cavity had been scooped out. “Got it.”
He winced at my candid assessment. Tough tatas, Nazarov.
“Lauren, I hope we can be friends. But anything more …” He left it hanging.
“No, I get it. I do.” It wasn’t as if we would see each other much, as both of us headed into the pros. He would end up playing three times as many games as me, and even if we were both in Miami, our schedules would rarely align.
Now I prayed I would be drafted by Chicago. Ending up in the same city as him would be torture.
But tonight, I could be gracious. There would be time later to more thoroughly calcify my bruised heart. “You should come in anyway. It’s a night to celebrate, right?”
His usually fatalist expression flickered. A muscle twitched in his jaw. I was clearly annoying the fuck out of him.
“I should go.”
I had prostrated myself enough here. “I hope your father gets better soon. And good luck in the fall.”
He stared at me for a moment, as if trying to commit my stupid, lovelorn expression to memory. Always good to remember the warning signs for the next stupid girl who fell ass over skates. I raised an eyebrow, going for aloof and abso-fucking-lutely okay with what was happening here.
I expected him to back away, but instead he grasped my arms and pulled me close, his lips barely a whisper from mine. That cool Arctic gaze fired hot for the briefest moment.
“Skate well, Silver Eyes.”
Then he released me and slipped into the shadows.