Page 54

ALINA

"I can't believe you're leaving me Kat." i groan as I lay in Kat's bed. She smiles and drops the shirt she was folding, walks towards her bed, laying down with me.

"I'm sorry Ali. Aiden's new team starts their training camp next week. I'm trying to spend as much time as I can, before our intense Olympic training starts. " I groan wrapping my arms around her. Who am I going to annoy at two am. Whose bed am I going to crawl when my heart hearts?

"Won't you miss Michigan though? And your dad?" Maddie nods but manages to give me a tight lipped smile.

"I will, but it's not like I'll be gone forever. Plus, my dad can visit me all the time. I'll miss Will and Roman though. Since Maddie passed away both of them have given up and seem to have this don't give a fuck mentality." She says, worry written all over her face, my heart drops at the mention of Roman.

God knows how much i miss him, but he really hurt me by pushing me away. I deserve someone that will give me all of themselves not just small parts.

"He is okay. As okay ass he can be, given the circumstances. I noticed your Aura changed as soon as I mentioned him." I nod pressing my lips in a thin line. At least he is not here this semester.

"Just a warning you'll probably see him around campus." My head snapped toward Kat so fast i almost broke my neck.

"Why? Wasn't he supposed to graduate last semester?" Kat nods as she looks away from me.

"Why didn't he?" I ask, having a bad feeling.

Why the hell would he drop out of the semester and want to spend more time in college, instead of playing hockey with his best friend on NHL.

"Oh my god! Did he lose his spot of the NHL team?" I bring my hands to my mouth, flabbergasted at all the information thrown at me. I know he is really going through it after losing Maddie, did he throw away everything he worked for?

"I can't tell you why he dropped out, it's his secret to say, but no, he did not lose his spot. He will just start after he graduates." I take a deep breath in relief nodding my head.

At least there's that.

The door creaks open and our heads snap towards it.

"Ali, Kat, it's almost ten pm. We all want to leave together." I nod at Stass, standing up from Kat’s bed and walking towards the door.

"Ali" Kat calls, making me halt in my steps.

"For what it's worth, he still cares about you. Very much so." My heart skips a couple beats as it hammers out of my chest, but all I do is nod and walk out of the room following Stassie to her room.

"What are you wearing?" I ask as Stass opens her closet. She shrugs as she looks through her closet.

Stassie, is short for Anastasia, my cousin. During my break semester, I was in Russia for about a month and then flew to Spain where I spent the rest of the summer with my mom's grandparents and Stassie's family.

Somehow I convinced my uncle to let Stassie come to the US and train as a figure skater and dancer here, at one of the best universities.

I love my cousin, but she has no filter and most of the time, she gets herself in trouble non stop.

"I'm all ready, are you guys almost done?" I glance at our roommate Talai and smile.

"Lai-lai, you look so pretty." I say pointing at her up and down.

Talai, is part of our figure skating team and she also dances with me. She is the sweetest human you will ever find.

Her outfit definitely slays. She has on a pair of high waisted shorts with a pair of black cowboy boots and a black corset top. Her hair is pinned straight and she has minimal makeup on but a bright red lipstick on.

"God damn girl." Stassie says clapping.

"Enough about me, it's your guys turn. Stass, find what you're wearing and Alina, go to your room and finish getting ready." I chuckle but get up nodding.

"Yes mom, I'll be out in fifteen." I walk out of their rooms and into mine across the hall.

Excitement floats through me at the thought of seeing Roman again, but I'm also scared and anxious.

God I'm going to throw up.

I walk inside my walk-in closet and skim through my clothes until I find the perfect outfit.

I put on this white tube bra top, with my beige jean mini skirt. A pair of knee-high maroon boots and an over sight maroon leather jacket. I add some cream to my hair, to refresh my curly hair, some blush on my cheeks and a layer of my fav maroon lipstick.

I smack my lips as I look at myself in the mirror and nod spraying my signature perfume, KAYALI vanilla.

Everyone always asks me what perfume I'm wearing wherever I go.

Grabbing my phone and making sure my ID is on the back of my case,I walk out of my room and make my way downstairs.

"God damn cousin. Who will be the lucky man tonight?" Stassie asks as she grabs my right hand and spins me around.

"Hopefully my other bestie," Kat says walking out of her room." my cheeks flush as I shake my head no.

"Are you coming with us?" Talai asks Kat, but she shakes her head no.

"No i have to get everything ready before I leave tomorrow." I nod as she walks into our kitchen and turn my attention to Stassie. Her outfit it cute. She has a white lace bralette on, a black mini skirt, black boots and cropped black leather jacket.

"No drama tonight." I say pointing at Stassie. She rolls her eyes and raises her hands up.

Stassie is such a trouble maker. I know there will be drama tonight and my cousin will be the center of it.

We walk out of the house and get into the Uber that was waiting for us. I need to make sure he gets a good tip. The guy confirms my name and starts driving towards the Hockey house.

After finding out Roman is here, my stomach keeps twisting and turning into backflips.

Nothing a drink can't fix Alina. He hurt you and you left. He hurt you by pushing you away.

It's his fault.

Fifteen minutes later the car stops in front of the familiar house.

I tip the driver and we all get out, walking towards the entrance hand in hand. The front door is open and you can hear the loud music outside.

The smell of alcohol surrounds u the moment we step inside the house and it's hot. Very hot.

Talai goes to grab a couple of drinks while Stassie and I hang out jackets into their closet.

Perks of having been at this house over and over before.

Talai returns with our drinks and we gulp them all day, going for a second round and third.

Carry on from timberland and Justin Timberlake starts playing and Stassie screams, dragging us into the makeshift dance floor.

"Me, you, all night." Stassie screams moving her body. I laugh moving my hips down to the floor and then up again.

I grind into Talai who grinds into Stassie, all three of us moving our bodies together.

I spin around to face Talai but my eyes move behind her and catch the attention of the one person I was trying to avoid.

My smile drops and I stop dancing as I see Roman across the room, staring at me with the same intensity as he always would.

Is it possible for a guy to get hotter? This guy just gets hotter and hotter. The white tee he has on is a little loose on is body, but his biceps look like they are about to break the shirt.

Someone starts dancing behind me and I feel someones crotch in my back. I notice it's a guy by their arms and Talai starts clapping as the guy dances with me. Tries to dance cause I'm not moving,

I look back at Roman and he tightens his hold on his cup so much, that he breaks it and there is glass everywhere. I notice blood starts dripping from his hand, but all he does is stare at me.

Grayson says something to him and Roman nods, walking away and upstairs.

My god, he is dripping blood everywhere. Is he okay?" Will he pass out? What if he passes out?

"I'll be right back." I say stepping away and making my way through the crowd and walk upstairs towards Romans room.

I knock but I get no reply. I turn the doorknob and open the door, making my way inside. I hear water running so he must be trying to clean his wound.

I stop by his bathroom door and take a deep breath, as I see him by the sink, trying to remove glass with tweezers not even noticing I'm here.

"That seems painful." I say crossing my arms and leaning into the bathroom door.

Roman turns to face me looking shocked that I'm in his room. God he is so handsome. How can I ever move on when he looks at me like I'm the only girl in the world.

"You're here." He mutters. I nod taking a couple steps towards him and grabbing his hand into mine, bringing it up so I can inspect the cut.

I grab the tweezers from his other hand and nod towards the counter. He sits on it opening his legs and my traitor body moves in between them. I remove glass piece, after glass piece until there is nothing left.

Roman says nothing, just stares at me.

I rinse his hand with water and damp a cloth in alcohol dabbing it in his cuts. For the last step, I grab a gauze and tape and wrap it around his hand. When I'm done I take a step back but Romans hands wrap around my waist, stopping me from moving any further.

"You are actually here." He whispers as he moves a piece of my hair behind my ear.

"You look beautiful Solnyshka. I love the pink hair." Blush creeps on my cheeks and all I can do is look down at the floor.

He loves calling me that, his own sunshine. When we first meet he would ask me what sunshine was in Russian. I would lie to him, but then the bastard googled it and kept calling me it.

I pretended to hate it, but it's now my favourite word.

"Why are you here?" I ask with a frown. "You were supposed to graduate last semester and be with your team." Roman laughs and for a second I think he has lost it.

"Long story, but i promise you there is no other place I’d rather be than here." Roman hand goes under my chin and he lift it up. I look at him and he takes a deep breath, his green eyes roaming my face, as if he is trying to memorize every tiny detail about me.

"God Alina, how do you go from beautiful to breathtaking in a couple of months?" his thumb, pulls my lower lip and he lets go, my lower lip bouncing back in it's place.

"Roman, I need some help with- "Aliiiii" Will runs towards me engulfing me into a big hug.

"I missed you so much. Thank god you are back, I have no one to talk to about my shit, this dumbass doesn't care and Kat and Aiden are leaving me." I chuckle as he wraps his arms around my shoulder and pulls me towards the door.

"Let's grab a drink. I'm so happy you're back." I nod at Will but glance at Roman one more time, who is looking at us amused.

We make our way downstairs, with Roman following behind us.

"There you are. We were looking everywhere for you." Stassie says lacing her hand with mine.

"Excuse me, can you take your hands of my cousin, before I cut them off of you?" Will scoffs pulling me more towards him.

"Try me hot stuff. I just got Ali back who are you to tell me to get my hands off her?" Will shouts at Stassie who looks like she will explode.

"I'm her cousin you dickhead, who the fuck are you?" Stass asks as she wraps her left arm around my shoulders pulling me towards her.

"I'm her best friend you crazy." I chuckle pulling away from both of them.

"Okay enough, I'm not a rag doll. Will, this is my cousin Anastasia and that's our friend Talai. Stass, this is William one of my best guy friends." Stass nods as she glares at Will and then looks behind him.

"Who the hell is that?" I press my lips into a thin line and point at Roman. "This is Roman."

I say Romans name fast but Stassie understands me and smirks. "That's Roman? God damn, good choice cuz." she whispers in my ear but I push her away.

"Either way, we were leaving. We've been here long enough," I add quickly, hoping to avoid any more awkward exchanges. My head is spinning from the alcohol and the sight of Roman, and I'm not sure how much more I can handle tonight.

"Leaving? We just got here!" Will groans, but Talai nods, picking up on the tension hanging in the air.

"Ali's right. We've had enough fun for one night," Talai says, her tone softer, as if she senses the turmoil brewing inside me.

Stassie raises an eyebrow but doesn't argue, for once. "Fine. Let's bounce before I cause a scene."

I breathe a sigh of relief and turn to grab my jacket. But just as I'm about to move, I feel a hand gently wrap around my wrist.

"Ali," Roman says softly, his touch sending shivers up my spine. I freeze, not turning around.

"Please, just... one minute," his voice is barely above a whisper, but I hear the ache in it.

I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry. I know if I look at him, I'm done for. But against my better judgment, I turn.

"Roman—"

"Just... let me explain. Not here. Not tonight. But soon," his green eyes search mine, filled with something I can't decipher. Hope? Regret? I don't know.

I shake my head, pulling my hand back gently. "Roman... I can't do this again. Not right now."

His jaw clenches, but he nods. "I get it. But I'm not giving up on you, Alina. I never did."

His words hit me harder than I expect, and for a second, I almost let my guard down. Almost.

"Let's go," I murmur, forcing my feet to move before I get trapped in his orbit again.

Stassie, Talai, and Will follow me out of the house, the cool night air hitting me like a wave of reality.

"Well, that was... intense," Stassie mutters as we make our way toward the street.

"Are you okay?" Talai asks, concern etched on her face.

"I will be," I lie, my stomach still twisted in knots.

"That's the famous Roman, huh?" Stassie pipes up, smirking. "No wonder you're messed up over him. That man is fine."

"Stass, not helping," I mumble, running a hand through my hair.

"Sorry, sorry," she says, but I catch the playful glint in her eye.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Talai asks gently, her voice more understanding.

"Not tonight," I whisper. "I just need to clear my head."

Will wraps an arm around me, giving me a comforting squeeze. "You know I'm always here, Ali. Whatever you need."

I lean into him for a moment, grateful for his steady presence.

As we wait for our Uber, my mind drifts back to Roman's words.

I'm not giving up on you.

God help me. Because I'm not sure I'm strong enough to keep pushing him away.