Chapter Ten
A Tale of Two Hotties
Chandra is standing in my living room like she has every right to be there, like she still lives here.
I feel a little queasy for some stupid reason, probably because I sense a chick fight brewing.
It's not as if I invited Chandra. I specifically told her, in no uncertain terms, that we were done.
But explaining that to Regan, who stands frozen in my doorway with two takeout bags and a look that could freeze hell, is going to be a challenge.
I am so fricking screwed.
"Mike?" Regan's voice is calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that precedes a hurricane.
"This isn't what it looks like," I assure her, but it sounds exactly like something a guilty man would say. Fantastic start, Hannigan.
Chandra slinks toward me, swaying her hips in a provocative manner that does nothing for me. "Mikey was just telling me how much he's missed our little conversations."
Her fingers brush my arm, and I jerk away as if I've been electrocuted.
"Actually, I was just telling Chandra that she needs to leave." I step away from her, moving toward Regan who's still clutching those two takeout bags like shields. "I did not invite my ex over here for a group sleepover. She showed up uninvited."
Regan flicks her gaze back and forth between me and Chandra as if she's assessing the situation. I can almost see the gears turning in her mind, calculating probabilities, just like she does when she's competing. This woman is no ordinary figure skater. She's a phenomenon.
"I brought pad thai," Regan finally says, lifting one of the bags. "But I'm thinking maybe this is a bad time."
"It's the perfect time," I announce, maybe a little bit too eagerly. "Chandra was just leaving."
The ex in question laughs, the way a female MMA fighter might before she reduces her competition to a bloody pulp. "Oh, sweetie. Is this your rebound? How...predictable."
My jaw tightens. The queasiness in my stomach transforms into a hot, burning anger. Nobody talks about Regan like that. Maybe she refuses to see me as anything more than a quick hookup, but I don't buy it. "Regan is not a rebound. And you need to leave. Now."
Chandra's perfectly sculpted eyebrows lift in mock surprise. "But I drove all this way to see you, stud muffin. Remember how good we were together?" She ambles closer, her chin lifted. "You can't deny that."
"We were good together for the first three months," I counter, keeping my tone calm.
"We stayed together long after we should've, and that's why we broke up.
And I've also asked you repeatedly to stop calling me and showing up whenever you feel like it.
We're exes because our relationship blew up. You need to accept that."
I risk a glance at Regan, who just set the takeout bags on the side table by the door.
Her expression is unreadable, but there's a tightness around her eyes that tells me she's processing her options.
Calculating. Deciding whether I'm worth the emotional investment or if I'm just another player with too much baggage.
Chandra huffs. "You can't be serious. This little ice princess is what you're settling for?"
Regan's lips curl into a smile that's both dazzling and dangerous.
"Actually, I am an ice queen. Three-time Olympic medalist, if you're keeping score.
" She extends her hand with the confidence of someone who's faced down international judges and millions of viewers.
"I'm Regan Banks. And you must be the ex who doesn't understand boundaries. "
I suppress a grin. God, I love it when she goes into full competitive mode.
Chandra ignores the outstretched hand. "Mike and I have history. Years of it. Whatever fling you're having, sweetie, it's temporary." She turns to me, and I notice her lip is trembling slightly. "Tell her, Mike. Tell her about all our plans. The house in the Hamptons we talked about. Our future."
I'm caught between two forces of nature, and for a guy who makes split-second decisions on the football field every Sunday, I'm suddenly paralyzed. But I know what I need to do.
"The only future I'm interested in doesn't include you, Chandra." I step closer to Regan, putting physical distance between myself and my ex. "We don't have plans. We don't have anything. What we did have ended a long time ago, and I've moved on."
Chandra's expression falls, as if someone deflated her balloon. "You don't mean that, Mike. You're only saying it because she's here."
"I've been saying it ever since you dumped me," I remind her. "You haven't been listening, that's all."
Chandra lifts her chin, swiveling her gaze between me and Regan.
I bar my arms across my chest.
She seems to realize she won't get what she wants, not today, because she whirls around and traipses out of the apartment. Once the door shuts behind her, I relax a little.
Regan walks up to me, spreading her hands over my chest, and wriggles her hips just enough to make me suck in a sharp breath. Is she about to seduce me? Not sure. But there's one surefire way to find out.
"I'm glad you don't have any feelings for your ex anymore," Regan purrs. "How about a quickie before we eat?"
"No." Can't believe how determined I sound. "We can eat the food you bought and then have sex. But it won't be a quickie. Not this time."
Regan's eyes widen, and a slow smile curves her lips. "Well, well, look who's laying down the law. That turns me on big time."
"I'm a quarterback. Leadership is my specialty." I try to sound confident, but my heart is pounding so hard I'm surprised she can't hear it.
The woman I need to fuck like crazy takes a step back. For a second, I worry I've overplayed my hand.
But then she picks up the takeout bags and sashays toward my kitchen. "In that case, Coach, I'm starving. Feed me first, then impress me."
I follow her, grateful she's giving me a moment to collect myself. The adrenaline from confronting Chandra still courses through my system, mixing with the electric anticipation of what's to come with Regan.
She pulls containers out of the bags. "So, that was your ex? The one who's been stalking you?"
"Chandra isn't exactly stalking me." I grab plates from the cabinet. "More like aggressively refusing to acknowledge reality."
Regan snorts. "That's a creative way of saying 'stalking' the quarterback."
I grin while I set the plates on the counter. "Point taken."
"She's gorgeous, though." Regan says it so casually that I nearly drop the forks I'm retrieving from the drawer. "I get it."
"Get what?"
"Why you were with her. I've got to admit she has style." Regan pops open one of the containers, and the smell of spicy pad thai fills the kitchen. "But she seems like a lot of work."
I try not to laugh and wind up snorting instead. The tension in my shoulders finally eases up while I finish setting the table. "You have no idea. Being with Chandra was like dating a full-time job. One with terrible benefits and mandatory overtime."
Regan laughs at that, and the sound does something to me that I don't care to examine closely. We move around each other in the kitchen with surprising ease, as if we've done this a hundred times before. It feels...comfortable.
She dishes out noodles onto our plates. "So, how many exes should I expect to find lurking in your apartment on any given day? Is there a schedule I should be aware of? Mondays for Chandra, Wednesdays for...what was her name, the yoga instructor?"
"Very funny." I grab two beers from the fridge and pop the tops off. "There's no yoga instructor. And hopefully, you've seen the full extent of my romantic history for the night." I slide a beer over to her. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about that. I didn't know she would show up."
"Relax, Hannigan." Regan twirls noodles around her fork with practiced precision. "I've dealt with worse than desperate exes. Once, a rival skater put itching powder in my costume before nationals."
I nearly choke on my beer. "What happened?"
Regan shrugs. "I scratched through my entire short program and still placed second. The next day, I nailed my free skate and took gold while she watched from the stands. Sometimes the best revenge is just being better."
Something about the way she says that makes me wonder if she's talking about more than skating competitions. I take a swig of beer to collect my thoughts. "Is that what's happening here? You're being better than Chandra?"
Regan pauses mid-bite, those blue eyes widening. "I'm not competing with your ex, Mike. I don't need to. That's the difference between us."
Damn. She's got me there.