“You had it fine, but we all act as a team,” he told me. “He’s not wrong though. We’ll help Sergey. You go have the class.”
“I appreciate the help, foxy,” Sergey said under his breath as I hurried past him back to my spot.
I was glad he did, but I hated feeling like I was in trouble. Even if I wasn’t really and Taylor wasn’t upset.
It took a few minutes, but I shook the feeling off. Mostly because the class was exactly what I needed. It was difficult to ignore the gazes of some of the humans, but once Emma and Taylor told them to behave, it helped.
But really, had they never seen a pretty woman before?
Yes, because they knewEmmaand she was gorgeous. She had a sophistication and maturity that I could never attain.
Which meant they wanted someone doe-eyed and naïve to lead around by the nose. Some men really were disgusting and it was distracting.
A few winks from Sergey helped. He wasn’t like that. He saw the real me and how I struggled—how hard I worked and pushed myself. Thinking of that, holding onto it helped my mindset and focus.
About halfway through I had an idea and chuckled, shaking my head when Sergey and a few others asked me if I was okay. I promised to tell him later.
“And?” Taylor checked when it was over, not in a mean way but almost like he was worried.
“You were right.” I smiled at him as I dabbed myself with the towel. “I didn’t doubt you, Taylor. I just need to trust myself and do what I feel best instead of always…”
“Yeah, smart.” He gave a firm nod. “Good. Glad you can be honest with me.” He hesitated and then turned away.
“That’s Taylor for ‘you hurt my feelings when you said you couldn’t tell me no or thought I was being pushy with you,’” Emma deciphered for me with a wink.
“Hopefully, he communicates better with Tracey,” I mumbled, setting off Sergey and Emma.
“You hungry, fo—Bev?” Sergey asked. He winked at me when I frowned. “I should learn to be more careful.” He quickly glanced away and even I understood what was going on there.
“Are you?” I asked as I hurried to finish grabbing my stuff.
“For something in particular,” he chuckled as he moved towards the door and held it open for me.
I opened my mouth to ask what he wanted, but a few of the people with us covered coughs or reacted weird, so I was distracted. I glanced over my shoulder and Emma waved for my attention.
She mouthed, “You.”
My eyes went wide and I felt my face flush lava hot as I glanced back at Sergey. He was smirking but facing ahead like he didn’t notice what was going on.
Yeah, right.
We did grab some healthy smoothies on the way back to campus. Once we left the others, I awkwardly asked Sergey if he could help me with something for school. I realized he thought I was making an excuse for his earlier comment when his lips twitched.
“Did class get you wound up too, Bev?” he asked when we were alone in my room.
“Foxy,” I whispered. “Or did I do something to not be your foxy anymore?” I hated the hesitation in my voice, but… It was there.
He did a double take and frowned. “No.”
“Talk to me, Sergey,” I practically begged.
He sighed and took the last sip of his drink before tossing it. “I’m struggling with Winter being your boyfriend to the world.”
“Thank you for being honest with me.” I nodded when he didn’t seem to buy that. “I can’t imagine how hard that is for you. I want to know these things.” I gestured between us. “We’re the team. Yes, I’ll have…” I swallowed loudly.
“That’s why it’s hard for me to bitch about, Bev—foxy,” he whispered. “You’re struggling with it so much already. I can’t add to it and—”
“Yeah, but do you think I won’t notice and us not being on the same page with this stuff is better?” I challenged, giving him a look that made it clear what his answer should be.
