Chapter 54
Izzy
“They want to have the wedding at your parents’ after all?”
I glance at Victoria as I take out my notebook. Technically, class should have started already, but our professor is still
fussing with the projector. This class on Greek mythology is as much a chance to spend time with her as it is an easy way
to earn credits.
“Yeah. It’s what they were going to do originally.”
“Does that make it easier for you? Or harder?”
“A bit of both.” I fish around in my bag for a pen. My fingers brush against a crumpled bit of paper. The flyer. I sigh, pulling
it out—along with a highlighter, but not a pen. “Venues that do a lot of weddings usually have set ways that they do things,
so it makes certain parts of planning easier. With this, we’re creating a venue ourselves. I have a bunch of tent companies
to talk to later. Once that ball is rolling, I’ll apply for permits, all that boring but necessary stuff.”
Nik hasn’t pushed me about the volleyball thing, but it’s definitely been on my mind the past few days. When I finally could
think about anything other than the way he fucked me after his last game, that is. I adjust in my chair, ducking my head until
I get my blush under control. What we did was intense. If I close my eyes, I can still feel the weight of his hand on my throat.
He made sure, after, that he hadn’t gone too far, but I loved every moment. I practically cried when I had to take the jersey
off for our aftercare shower. If I could, I’d wear his marks all the time.
“What’s this?” Victoria asks.
I look up. She has the flyer in her hands.
“Nothing,” I say, reaching for it.
“This looks really cool, Iz.”
I snatch it away and stuff it into my bag. “It’s just some stupid thing Nik showed me.”
“It doesn’t look stupid.” She leans back in her chair, tapping her pen against the edge of the table. “Are you doing it?”
I shrug as I glance at the professor. He’s still fiddling with the projector.
“I’m busy. The tent companies aren’t going to call themselves.”
“I’ll go with you. It’s tomorrow? I’ll bet Ellie and Shona would come, too.”
“Wait, really?”
“Of course. Where is it, just at Moorbridge High? That’s like ten minutes away.”
“Ugh, I don’t know.”
“Are you scared of a bunch of high schoolers? Don’t tell me you’re too busy.”
“I am busy,” I grumble, but without any bite in my voice. “You’d really come?”
“Ladies,” the professor says, like he isn’t the one starting class fifteen minutes late. “If you’d join us, please.”
Victoria and I turn to the front of the room. I open my notebook to a fresh page and write the date across the top. When the
professor dims the lights and starts the lecture, she leans over.
“I think it’d be fun. Like that summer camp we taught together, remember?”
“Those kids were in elementary school. It was barely volleyball.”
She smirks. “You’re totally scared of the high schoolers.”
“No way.”
“So let’s go. It sounds fun, I’m all about helping more girls discover how cool volleyball is.” She draws a heart on my paper. I pull hers over and add a star. “And then you can come to spring league practice.”
“Torie—”
“Just saying.” She nudges my shoe with hers. “We all miss you.”
“Fine.” A guy turns around to shush us. I drop my voice to a whisper, even though it’s not like there’s anything fascinating
to pay attention to. I’m not sure how this professor manages to make the drama of Greek mythology so boring. “Just one practice.”
“Hey,” I call as I enter the house. I toss my keys onto the table in the foyer, poking my head around the corner. “Nik? You
here?”
He should be; he’s spent the better part of the week here. He hasn’t spent much time at his dorm at all, lately, which I selfishly
love. I get to sleep beside him at night, but surrounded by my stuffed animals, with all of my hair products in the bathroom.
We don’t have to deal with his dorm neighbors, and if Cooper has heard anything he doesn’t want to hear, he has the good sense
not to bring it up. It’s perfection.
“Kitchen,” he calls.
I slip out of my shoes and jacket. At the doorway to the kitchen, I smile. He’s chopping bell peppers with careful concentration.
Penny’s at the kitchen table, typing on her laptop, and Cooper’s standing by the stove, making a face at whatever is in the
Dutch oven.
“I should have paid more attention when Sebastian made this,” he says. “How’s it going, Iz?”
I kiss Nik on the cheek, stealing a piece of pepper. “What are you making?”
“A Thai-style curry,” Nik says. He sets down the knife, putting his arm around my waist so he can give me a proper kiss. “Allegedly.
I’m just playing sous-chef, so don’t blame me if it sucks.”
“They’ve been very involved,” Penny says, a touch dryly. “I was just on the phone with Mia, Iz, she’ll be sad she missed you.”
I grab a seltzer from the fridge and crack it open as I sit next to her at the table. “I’ll text her later.”
“How was the volunteer thing?” Nik asks. “You’re home late.”
I bring my knees to my chest, hugging them as I sip the seltzer. “It was actually really fun.” I snort as I remember Victoria’s
dramatic speech to our team during the scrimmage; Ellie and Shona handled the other team. We pulled out the win, but it wasn’t
very serious. “The kids were all into it. There were only a few, but still. The gym teacher loved us. We’re going back next
week.”
“That’s great.”
“But, um... I’m later than I thought because I went to spring league practice after. Don’t say I told you so,” I warn when
his eyes widen.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He passes Cooper the peppers, then starts in on the broccoli. “I’m happy to hear it, that’s all.”
“Same,” Penny says, smiling as she shuts her laptop and sets it aside. “It’s fun to teach, isn’t it?”
“It’s fun to be reminded that you’re actually good at something,” I admit.
It might be silly, but demonstrating skills, cheering from the sidelines—it was a confidence boost. Whenever I’ve thought
about volleyball lately, it’s been wrapped in uncertainty, but this brought me all the way back to the basics. I spent a while
teaching this one girl, Joana, how to serve the ball, and when she finally got the hang of it, we celebrated like she just
won the lottery.
“I like passing on skills,” Penny says. “We all had to learn from someone, in the beginning.”
“Yeah,” I say, smiling at the memory of Joana hugging me before I left. “I’m glad I went.”
Cooper looks over his shoulder, a pair of tongs in hand. His shirt is covered in oil splatters. I wince, but don’t say anything about missing Sebastian’s cooking. Between the two of us, it’s a miracle we haven’t set the house on fire.
“And I’ll bet your teammates were happy to see you,” he says.
I smile. They embraced me the moment I walked through the doors with Victoria. I thought it would feel strange, but I fell
back into the routine as easily as slipping into my favorite pair of pajamas.
“Don’t give me that look.”
“What look?” he says, glancing at Nik. They smile at each other.
“Both of you are doing it. Ugh. ”
Nik comes around the island, flicking my cheek. I blush at the fondness in his expression.
“It’s just nice to see you happy,” he says.
“Christ,” Cooper says, pushing the Dutch oven, now smoking, to the back of the stove. “Okay, this is a disaster. Let’s get
takeout.”
“You’re staying over later, right?” I ask Nik as Cooper and Penny haggle over the takeout menu. “Although fair warning, I
have more work to do.”
“If you’ll have me,” he says.
“Stay. I like waking up next to you.” I turn in his embrace, kissing his cheek as I remember the voice mails we woke up to
this morning. “Did your dad call again? Did you talk to him?”
He shakes his head. “The captain of the team tried earlier, but we didn’t talk. He’s a big name over there.”
“He can’t come here, Nik.” My insides twist into knots at the thought of his father stepping foot on our campus. If I were
him, I’d have changed my phone number long ago. He remains frustratingly unable to move on, even with the evidence of why
he should on his face. I hate to push him, but I’m terrified of what will happen if we come face-to-face with Andrei Volkov.
He sighs heavily. “I know, Isabelle.”