He couldn’t care less that his shirt will be wrinkled by the time Yana gets here. Honestly, I kind of admire his nonchalance.
Me? I’m full of pent-up excitement. Energy bubbles inside me, pushing me to pace back and forth while we wait. Not only am I still keyed up after the game, but I’m anxious about having Yana here for the first time.
It’ll probably be the last too, at least for a while, since she’s leaving for Australia in a couple of days. Dammit. For someone who’s never really been in a steady relationship, I sure got attached to this girl fast.
“You’re gonna wear a hole in the carpet,” Logan mutters without looking up.
“Shut up,” I shoot back. “I just can’t wait for her to be here. She’s been secretive the past few days, don’t you think? What if she doesn’t show?”
He smirks and finally meets my eye. “She’ll be here. This is Yana we’re talking about. She’s full of motivation and determination. If she said she’d be here, then she will be.”
I grunt, but my chest tightens anyway. He’s right, and it annoys the hell out of me. We’re supposed to be equals in this relationship, but he’s her official boyfriend, while I’m just her boyfriend’s best friend, a teammate.
Fuck, I’m falling down the rabbit hole again.
Yana is ours. Not his, not mine.Ours. I need to focus on that.
The doorbell rings, startling me, and with a glance at Logan, I hurry to the hallway. Already, my heart thrashes against my ribs. A month ago, if someone had told me I’d be this nervous about a girl, I would’ve thought they’d lost their mind. Yet here I am. The emotions she brings out in me are nothing like anything I’ve experienced before. Every sensation—happiness, passion, and the desire to possess her—is strong.
When I open the door, my jaw hits the floor. Yana is wearing a leather jacket and a shimmering dark green dress that looks like it was made from pure sin. The skirt is short, causing my pulse to spike and making her legs look impossibly long.
Logan joins me in the doorway, his shoulder brushing mine, and whistles low. “Wow, you look like a real queen.”
“Holy shit,” I mutter. “You’re fucking divine.”
Beaming, she steps inside. “Happy Almost-New Year.”
The night blurs,full of laughter, conversations about our game, about the Thunders’ season, and her training. Champagne flows, and music echoes off the walls.
The dinner Logan and I made was a success. Yana moaned more than once while we ate, tempting me to lay her out on thetable and have my way with her right then. But by some miracle, I resisted.
After dinner, we turn onLove Actually, though we don’t really watch it. Yana rests against my chest, and I splay a hand over her collarbone. Her feet are in Logan’s lap, and he’s lightly dragging his fingertips over her ankle.
“Were your parents okay with you not flying to DC for New Year’s?” Yana asks Logan.
“Yeah.” He dips his chin. “And I warned them that I won’t have time to visit until February.”
I put my mouth to her ear. “What about you, huh? Why didn’t you fly home?”
“I thought about it, but before Christmas, my mood was all over the place. I didn’t think it was a good idea to actually go home.” She sighs. “I’ve been in a funk since my ex cheated on me. Then, the end of my season was a disaster. Facing them after all that…it was just too much. My family can read me like an open book. I didn’t want them to see what a mess I was.”
I blink, my heart skipping a beat. There’s no way she said what I think she said.
“Excuse me.” Frowning, Logan tilts forward. “Did you just say that your ex cheated on you?”
She chuckles, the sound humorless. “I guess I did. He cheated on me in my apartment. I caught them in my bed.”
Blood boiling, I clench my jaw. “I’d love to have a chat with him.”
Logan locks eyes with me. “Me too.”
Her silvery laughter breaks the tension that’s suddenly shrouded us. “I’m flattered that you’d stand up for me like that, but he’s not worth it. I was ashamed at first. Embarrassed that it happened to me. That I didn’t notice the signs, ignored some real red flags. At the end of the day, he showed his true colors, and I had the strength to walk away. But the breakup took a tollon me mentally, and I missed the WTA Finals. I’m grateful for it all now. If not for the state I was in, I would’ve gone home for the holidays, and then I wouldn’t have met you two.”
“When you put it like that…I guess I’m glad he cheated on you,” I say gruffly.
Logan barks out a laugh, shaking his head. “What I think Cam meant to say is that we’re sorry you had to go through that. You are fucking magic, and you didn’t deserve it, but it’s that asshole’s loss. He didn’t cherish you or appreciate what he had, and now you’re with us. And we’ll never treat you like that.”
My cheeks burn. Dammit. I truly should’ve watched my mouth. “Yeah, sorry. We would never hurt you, Yana. That’s a promise.”
