Chapter 12 #2
Allie shoots me a disbelieving look. “More like Sitka and I will be crashing the party so we can make sure no one drowns.”
Her mom grins back at us. “That’s probably the safest bet. You two can keep them in line, or at least try.”
Wallace runs out to greet us when we hit their driveway, and I drop to one knee so I can hug on him without spilling the food.
He wags his tail and licks my face before running off again.
Excitement and nerves hit me when Talia opens the door and waves us all inside.
I hug my cousin and then immediately search the room for the one person I’m desperate to see.
I’m prepared for a lot of things—the possibility that he’s not here, that I might see him walking into the room and immediately blow our cover—every scenario that runs through my head is one I’m on the lookout for, but none of those scenarios involved Damien sitting on the couch with a very happy Lyra in his arms.
Allie gives me a discreet nudge when my feet stay rooted to the hardwood floor. Damien’s dark eyes are watching me, and there’s a definite smirk playing at his lips. Even Lyra’s happy squeal isn’t enough to make me break eye contact.
“Jesus,” Allie mutters. “Sexual tension alert,” she warns. “Like inferno level. Move your ass,” she whispers, hissing it right into my ear before anyone else can notice.
Ev must notice something, because he walks over and stands in front of us, blocking me from view of the others.
“Help,” Allie whispers to him.
I finally snap out of it and look up at the two of them. “I’m not that bad.”
They both raise a brow like they’d choreographed it beforehand.
“I’m not,” I insist, keeping my voice low.
“I’ll hold them off for a few minutes, but seriously, Sitka, you might as well be announcing it with a bullhorn.” She gives me a wink before grabbing the bag of food I’m still holding and carrying it into the kitchen to run interference while I get my shit together.
I look up at Ev. “Was it that noticeable?”
He’s kind enough to not laugh, but I can tell he wants to. Before he walks off, he leans in close and says, “Don’t feel too bad. Damien has more practice hiding things, but even I can see it written all over his face.”
When he walks off to join the others, I hurry over to where Damien is waiting with Lyra. She squeals when she sees me and waves her arms while letting out a long string of gibberish.
“I’m just as excited to see you,” he says, making me smile. “It’s just not socially acceptable for me to show it like she does.”
I lean in and kiss Lyra’s chubby cheek, and Damien takes advantage of my closeness to brush his lips along my temple, that one small touch making my heart stutter.
“I missed you,” he whispers.
“I missed you too,” I tell him.
Before he can say anything else, Svetlana and Talia walk back in, both of them headed straight towards us.
Damien hands Lyra to her mom when she tries to lunge out of his arms, and while they’re busy loving on her, I feel the soft drag of his fingers along the small of my back before he takes a step to stand next to Ev.
I slowly let out the breath I’d been holding.
Today is going to be a very long day. I try my best to pay attention and act normal, but if it wasn’t for Allie and Ev, I’d be fucked.
They keep the conversation going and the attention off me, and when we sit down to eat, Allie makes sure to squeeze in next to me.
I give her a look, but she just shares a smile with Ev.
They’re obviously working together on this one.
Damien ends up sitting across from me instead of right next to me, and I’m not so sure this is all that better because I can’t seem to pull my eyes off him for longer than a few minutes at a time.
When I feel his foot nudge mine, I hide my smile behind another mouthful of food and kick my shoes off so I can put my feet on his legs.
In seconds, he’s reaching a hand under the table to grab onto my ankle.
I brace my other foot on the floor and discreetly pull my chair up a bit, cursing my short legs and wishing they were long like Allie’s.
The corner of his mouth lifts as he squeezes my ankle and then brushes his thumb along my skin.
He keeps his hand on me while he finishes eating, dragging his fingers along my skin, snaking them as far up my pants as he can get before lightly sliding them back down.
It’s intoxicating, and when Talia asks me if I’m staying at Allie’s again, it takes me a second to answer.
I laugh and point to the chocolate cake in front of me. “Sorry, this is so good. I kind of spaced out for a sec.”
Damien squeezes my foot and then kneads his thumb along the arch of my foot, nearly making me moan for a very different reason. He rubs out all the tension while I look over at Talia and say, “I’d love to stay again if it’s okay with Aunt Svetlana.”
Svetlana smiles and says, “You know you can stay as long as you want if it’s okay with your parents.”
“I’ll talk to my mom,” I tell her.
It’s never mattered that I’m eighteen. Now that I’m an adult, it makes no difference, so I’m not surprised that I still need the go-ahead from my parents to do things around here.
If I didn’t have my dirt bike, I’d go crazy.
I think that’s why my dad never tried to discourage it.
He knew I’d need an outlet, an escape that gives the illusion of freedom.
“Perfect,” Talia says, grinning over at Allie and me. “You two should hang out here tonight. Max will be back later, but I’m sure Damien and Ev are bored out of their minds.”
I can practically feel the hesitancy coming off Svetlana, and Talia must sense it too because she quickly adds, “My brothers mentioned something about coming over, too. We’ll probably order pizza and watch a movie.”
That seems to appease Svetlana’s fears of us being alone with two men who haven’t pledged their life and loyalty to the Medvedev family.
She still gives her daughter a look that makes it clear she expects her to behave herself.
I hear Allie’s soft snort of a laugh before her mom finally says, “Well, I’m sure that’ll be fun.
” She looks at Ev and Damien, who’s still secretly rubbing my foot under the table.
“Are you both enjoying your visit so far?”
“We’re having a great time,” Ev says. He turns his head and grins at his cousin. “What about you, Damien? Having fun?”
Damien smiles at Svetlana and caresses my ankle before hooking his fingers into my sock so he can touch the top of my foot. “It’s easily the best time I’ve ever had. I love it here.”
“It is gorgeous,” Svetlana agrees. “I fell in love with it as soon as we moved here. It’s so much quieter than Moscow. I bet it’s going to be hard for you to get on that plane and go back home.”
My body stiffens at the reminder, but Damien clutches my foot tighter, both hands now holding onto me while his fingers continue their gentle, reassuring touches.
“I’ll definitely miss Oregon,” he says while dragging his thumb along my skin, “but I’ll be taking a piece of it with me when I leave.”
My heart speeds up while Allie’s mom thankfully misses the real meaning of his message and says, “It is a place that sticks with you.”
“It sure is,” Ev agrees.
When Lyra starts baby talking from her highchair, I chance a quick look at Damien. His dark eyes are already on me, and when our eyes meet, he gives me a wink as he squeezes my big toe. A smile plays at his lips, and I return it before I force myself to look away.
Before I do anything that reveals how I’m really feeling, I wiggle my toes against his hand and then pull my feet away so I can help clear the table. When Damien and Ev start to help, Talia says, “No, no, you guys just relax. We’ve got this. Don’t we, girls?”
She’s looking directly at Allie and me, so we both nod while Svetlana grabs Lyra and smiles. “I’ll babysit.”
As soon as we’re in the kitchen, Talia sets the plates she’s carrying on the counter and turns to look at us. With one hand on her hip, she stares at us with a raised brow.
Allie laughs and leans her hip against the counter. “Wow, Talia, you’ve definitely got the mom stare down.”
Talia takes a second to grin. “Thanks. I’ve been working on it. I need to perfect it before Lyra hits her teens.” Getting back on track, she looks at me and asks, “What the hell is going on between you and Damien?”
Allie lets out another laugh and crosses her arms over her chest, leaning back so she can watch the show.
“What do you mean?” I ask, playing dumb.
The hurt look on Talia’s face has me regretting my words immediately.
“Why are you lying to me? Just because I got married and had a baby doesn’t mean I’m not still your cousin and your friend.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” I tell her and then give her a quick hug. “I just didn’t want to make things hard for you. I thought the less you knew, the better. Hell, the less everyone knows, the better, but that plan is falling apart.”
“Yeah, because you two can’t stop eye-fucking each other,” Allie says.
Talia grins. “You really can’t. I thought I was going to have to throw a pitcher of water on the two of you.” Looking at Allie, she adds, “I can’t believe your mom didn’t notice.”
Allie shrugs. “She’s too busy worrying about me keeping my virginity intact. She’s not too worried about anyone else’s cherry at the moment.”
I start loading the dishwasher while Talia says, “I thought my inviting you both over was a pretty smooth move.”
“It was,” I tell her. “Thanks for that.”
“Yeah, it beats you having to sneak out again.” She grins over at Talia. “They had a serious makeout session under the bluff last night.”
Talia shoots me a huge smile and leans in closer. “The Melnikov men are crazy talented, aren’t they?”
I laugh before I can stop it. “They are,” I agree.
“I thought I was going to swoon a little bit when he said he’d be taking a piece of Oregon back with him,” Allie says.
Talia puts her hand on her heart and gives me a sappy look. “That was so sweet.”