Page 22

vladi

W aking up this morning to my room feeling like the surface of the sun was not in my plan today.

That damn thermostat will not stay where I set it .

I called maintenance to come take a look at it, and now I’m torturing myself by sweating even more in the resort gym with some of my teammates.

I enjoy getting my workout in, but I need it cold.

Ice cold. Even battling the heat, at least I can throw some weights around to get these thoughts about her out of my brain. If only it were working.

“Hey Vladi, need a spot?” EJ asks as he walks across the gym.

“Sure,” I reply, slamming the plates violently onto the bench press bar.

“Do you have something against this equipment? Or you having some issues with your living arrangement this week?” he snarks, elbowing me as he wiggles his eyebrows.

Sitting down on the bench, I let out a loud sigh. “It’s…complicated.”

“What’s complicated?” Bougie quips, walking over to nose his way into the conversation, as usual .

“None of your goddamn business.”

“Oh, come on Vladi—talk to me! We’re BFFs now, right?”

My jaw clenches so hard I am worried I will crack a tooth, but it grounds me enough to keep me from attacking the fucker.

The amount of peppiness in his voice today, every day, is beyond annoying.

I don’t do peppy. If this damn kid wouldn’t have sat next to me on a flight when I started a winning streak, no thanks to a bait-and-switch by Larsy, I wouldn’t even be giving him the time of day outside of our required team activities.

But despite his constant state of happiness, the damn kid grew on me like the bourbon at the gala.

At first, I was pissed it wasn’t my precious vodka.

But now? I’ve come to enjoy it in small doses. Very. Small. Doses.

Bougie leans dangerously close to my face, cocking his head to the side as he waits for me to respond. Shit. I wasn’t paying attention to the last thing he said. “What the hell is a BFF?”

“Uhhh, hello? Best Friends Forever! Come on, you know that! We’re a team, Vladi. We’re all BFFs!”

“No the fuck we’re not.”

With those words, Bougie starts singing some ridiculous song about everyone being in this together, along with full dance choreography, I notice some of the other guys joining in with. I drop my face into my hands, my jaw clenching. Someone get me out of this hellhole.

“Oh my God, Bougie, enough with the High School Musical dances!” Zack Reeves shouts, coming over to rescue me. “We get it. You’re young. We don’t need to see your moves to know you’re only twenty-two.”

“Don’t be such a boomer, Z! If you prefer, I have another song I can sing about being twenty-two,” Bougie says with a wink.

Zack looks my way, his face grim. “When did we become the parents of this team?”

I snort out a laugh. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. ”

“Ignore them,” EJ chimes in. “I want to hear about you sharing a room with Maggie James. What’s up with that?”

“Nothing is up with that,” I snarl back at him.

He gives me an inquisitive look, his eyes lighting up, and I know this isn’t going to end well. “Nothing, huh? So…she’s available? I was thinking about seeing if she wanted to be my date to the recept-”

“No,” I snap, lying under the bar gripping it with all my strength in an attempt to keep my rage from boiling over as I prepare to lift.

A wide smile spreads across his face as he winks, fucking winks , at me. “That’s what I thought, big guy.”

“Are you going to spot me or not?” I growl.

“Oh, calm down, Vladi,” Zach says as I pump out my reps on the bench. “He’s just giving you shit. We’re all just…curious.”

I place the bar back on the rack and sit up, grabbing my towel to wipe my face. “There is nothing to know. We are sharing a room. She has a fortress of pillows built up between us in the bed. We’ll be friendly when we need to. That’s it.”

“Ouch,” EJ winces. “A wall of pillows? Damn, that’s harsh. She afraid of the Russian giant between your legs or what?”

“Can we not talk about the size of my cock, please?” I grumble, knowing my workout is a lost cause.

“I’m just saying, man! We’ve all seen what you’re packing down there. I’m not making fun; I’m impressed! And a little jealous…”

Zack lets out a loud sigh and places a hand on my shoulder. “What EJ is trying to ask is why you have a beautiful woman like Maggie James in your bed with a giant wall of pillows between you. Most women would be dying to hop in bed with a guy like you.”

I shake my head, looking to the floor. My chest tightens, aching at how I want her. Every damn part of her. If only that were possible . “She’s not most women.”

“Oh, really?” Zack tilts his head. “Tell me then, how is she different?”

“She’s fucking annoying for starters. And crass. And gives me shit all day long. And calls me an asshole. She told me to eat shit and die on the flight over here, for God’s sake! And she struts around the room in her shorts and tank top like she owns the damn resort.”

Zack looks at me with a knowing smile. “So, she’s exactly your type.”

I grunt and narrow my brows. “Fuck you, Z.”

He holds his hands up in surrender. “I’m just saying! Someone like The Wolf needs a strong woman. Someone who can put up with your grumpy ass and still love you at the end of the day.”

And there it is. That damn word. Love. The only love I’ve ever known led to heartache, pain, and guilt.

Then this damn feisty woman pops into my life and turns it upside down.

With the pit permanently lodged in my stomach right now, I can’t tell if she’s breaking my heart into pieces or sewing it back together.

I swallow down the painful lump rising in my throat. “There is no love, Zack. She hates me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“She reminds me on the hour, so yes, I’m pretty confident.”

He smiles knowingly. “Sometimes things aren’t always what they seem,” he says, gesturing out the window of the gym.

Looking outside, all I can see is her . I suck in a sharp breath as I grip the side of the bench.

She’s strutting that damn ass by the gym, knowing full well I’m in here with all my teammates.

I don’t know if what she’s wearing can even be considered a bathing suit.

If I thought her chest was on display last night, I was sorely mistaken.

Her luscious, round, full tits are bouncing as she trots by the window, only the tiniest triangles of fabric covering what I know are the most amazing peaks I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Her bottoms barely cover the crack of her ass, those curvy cheeks on full display and leaving nothing to the imagination.

Yebat.

I’m getting hard sitting on this bench with my goddamn teammates all standing around gawking at her.

I shift to adjust myself, rage filling me knowing she’s doing this on purpose.

My pulse races at both the thoughts of what I want to do to her body, but also of everyone in this room having eyes on my lisichka .

I ball my hands into fists, cracking my knuckles to try and keep myself calm.

She takes a quick peek through the windows, tipping her sunglasses back as if she’s checking out the view.

I hear one of my teammates whistle at her from across the room, and she flashes a wide smile as she waves, wiggling her fingers toward the windows, and winks.

Fuck. Me.

I can’t hold it in any longer.

Slamming my hands down on the bench, I storm out of the gym, walking as quickly as possible without sprinting. Shouting her name, she doesn’t even turn around. What the hell kind of game is she playing? I finally catch up to her, grabbing her by the arm and whirling her around to face me.

“Helloooo roomie,” she says in a sing-song voice as she pats me on the chest through my sweaty t-shirt. She immediately pulls back in disgust, looking at her hand and instantly wiping it off on her beach towel. “Do you always sweat this much when you work out?”

I grunt, narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms.

“Anywhoozel, so good to see you, Vladi!” Why the hell is she being this chipper? “How’d you sleep last night? Enjoy your side of the bed? Enjoy anything else?”

My jaw ticks, hands still balled into fists at this damn woman. She knows exactly what she’s doing to me. “ Lishichka, what the hell are you wearing? Or, rather, not …wearing?” I spit.

“Oh, this old thing? It’s called a bikini, Vladi. It’s what people typically wear to the beach to sunbathe. Do you have a problem with it?”

“Yes,” I snap, immediately regretting my tone when her eyes flash with defiance. “I mean…no. You…you can’t just….”

“I can’t what? Go and sunbathe with my girlfriends on the beach? I’m on vacation. Is Hayes in the gym?” she says, peeking around me to look through the gym windows once more. “You’re not going to cause a scene and disrupt day three of the wedding festivities, are you?”

“No. Larsy is not in there. But…you-” I grit my teeth, trying to stay calm “…you are barely wearing anything, Magdalina.”

“Hmmm…” she taps her chin, her forced pout riling me up even further. “Seems to me the other day you were wearing less than this walking around in our room, Vladi. Why is it any different for me to wear this? I’m at least covered.”

“This is not covered.”

“Are you, how did you put it, enjoying the view ?” she asks, the biggest smirk on her face. This woman is hitting my last nerve, the only one keeping me from losing control.

I glance around, looking for somewhere out of view from the giant windows my teammates are all gawking at us through. There. I see a brick archway leading around the side of the gym that looks somewhat private.

“Come,” I demand, grabbing her hand and dragging her with me into the arched alley.

I stop abruptly, turning her the direction I want her.

I take one step, then another, toward her.

She takes a step back with every movement of mine.

Finally, her back touches the brick. Her eyes flare.

I place my hands flush against the wall on either side of her head, boxing her in as I loom over her.

My eyes are locked on hers, catching every ounce of surprise flashing through their depths.

The heat and tension radiating off her body is the only type of heat I can tolerate.

I crave it, leaning closer so we’re nearly flush against each other.

She’s playing a game with me, and she’s about to find out I play to win.

“You want to know if I am enjoying the view? When Maggie fucking James is in my sight, there is nothing else. There is no one else. There is only you. There is no ocean here. There is no sun. There is only a goddess standing before me. My lisichka . Mine. I see everything. I see everything on the ice. Every player. Every stick. Every movement of the puck.” I lean closer, my lips inches from hers.

Her breath makes me dizzy, drunk on her .

She needs to know what she does to me. I straddle her leg, pressing my rock-hard cock against her.

“But when you are anywhere near me, I see nothing but you.”

She stands still. Her wide eyes staring deep into mine, her mouth slightly open as if trying to find words.

It’s a needy, hungry expression, making my chest so damn tight I can hardly breathe.

She normally looks so strong, so angry, so determined.

In all the times I’ve seen her, dreamed of her, this is the first I’ve ever seen her look… vulnerable . Fuck, I need this woman .

Before I can stop myself, I slam my lips furiously against hers, her hands instantly gripping the back of my neck and pulling me toward her to deepen the kiss.

I’m suddenly transported back to that night in her apartment.

The best night of my life. The night that unlocked a world of heartache but cracked my soul in a way I’ll never recover from.

The moans she’s making right now have me desperate to take her back to the room and fuck her with a passion I’ve have never had with any woman before.

But…she’s not there yet. I’m not sure I’m there yet either.

And as her moans grow, I remember how loud she can get.

Reluctantly, I pull back, ending this moment before it can truly begin .

She stands before me, her lips swollen, her eyes desperate, her cheeks flushed.

Her chest, her very exposed chest, rises up and down hypnotically as she tries to calm her breathing.

I straighten her sunglasses, still flipped back on her head, tucking one stray piece of hair behind her ear.

I lean in, my lips a whisper away from hers.

“I fucking dare you to wink at my teammates like that again.”

Her eyes narrow and her nostrils flare, knowing I’ve won this round.

“Enjoy your time on the beach, Maggie fucking James.” I walk out of the alley and head directly back to our room.

I skip the gym, my teammates got enough of a show.

They don’t need to witness the hard-on I have.

My cock has already been talked about enough today.

And after feeling her plump lips on mine, after longing for them for months, I need to take care of this erection and hop into a cold shower to get through the rest of this day.