Page 116 of Deceitful Vows

It takes me a beat, but clarity slowly seeps through the cracks of my exhaustion. “He was looking at Nikita, not me.”

“No…” Who knew one word could sound like an entire sentence? “Though we will return to how she knows Maksim Ivanov later.” She waits for me to nod in agreement before continuing. “I was talking about the man across from him. The one who got so riled up about your stare of another man, he almost blew a gasket.” I’m completely lost, so she strives to lessen my confusion. “Dark hair, cropped beard, dreamy eyes.”

Her description could describe a million men, but the increase in my pulse during her last feature announces exactly who my thoughts stray to.

I can’t deny this, and neither can Aleena.

“Who is he to you?”

“No one,” I lie before almost immediately backtracking on it. “If it is who I am thinking, what we had could barely be classified as a fling.”

“Had?” she double-checks, as if drinking makes you deaf.

I nod, not willing to lie with words again so soon after my last slip-up.

When she remains quiet, looking perplexed, I pull up the bedding until it sits under her chin like I did when she was little. Once she is as snug as a bug in a rug, I say, “Isn’t this weekend meant to be about you?” Her faint smile tugs on my heartstrings before she nods. “Then my idea of fucked-up relationships can wait. Your happiness is far more important.”

I tuck her in tight before tiptoeing out of the room like a herd of thunderous elephants could wake her from her drunken drift into sleep.

My world feels complete when my best friend eyeballs the closure of my bedroom door. It finally feels like the pieces of my demented puzzle are coming together as they should have years ago.

“That came many years later than expected, but followed a similar path to what I had envisioned.” After filling a glass with a double shot of vodka to settle a handful of nerves the last part of my exchange with Aleena instigated, I spin to face Nikita. “Are you sure you’re okay with them staying here with us?”

Her brows furrow as she slowly nods. “I’m sure.” She strays her eyes around a living room larger than my apartment. “Are you sure you didn’t mix up our key cards with Aleena’s? A destination bachelorette party screams old money, and only someone spending their daddy’s money could afford this room.”

“I’m reasonably sure Aleena’s room is on the floor she entered the elevator, but it’s hard to get anything out of her when she’s a blubbering idiot.”

Nikita sees straight through my ruse that Aleena was the only sentimental schmuck during our multiple conversations since our run-in in the elevator.

She smiles at me like it’s okay to be happy at Aleena’s delighted reaction to my arrival, before saying, “I told you, you had nothing to worry about.” After removing my security blanket as of late, she hugs me. “I’m sure she understands why you left.” Her words are muffled in my neck, but I get the gist of her reply by the amount of emotion she uses to deliver it. “And if she doesn’t, I’m not opposed to convincing her otherwise.”

“I love you, Kita.”

She inches back and makes anawwface. “I love you too.” Her hip bump forces me back half a step. “Enough I’m willing to share a bed with you.”

I worm my way out of her grip when she drags me toward the bedroom not occupied by my baby sister and her bridesmaids. I’m exhausted, but I am also too wired up to discover if my intuition is right to rest just yet.

Fortunately for me, I have the perfect way out.

“The last time we shared a bed, you humped my leg.”

Nikita’s mouth gapes open as disgust hardens her features. “That was you!”

Ipffther. “Whoever it was, girl-on-girl action isn’t on the agenda this weekend.”

With a plan devised in under a second, I head for my luggage and remove one of the many gifts I’ve purchased since I commenced working at Le Rogue. Mars is a vault of information when it comes to sex toys for novices. She helped me find the perfect gifts for Aleena and Nikita.

“And to make sure it stays off, I bought this for you.”

A box sails through the air that Nikita catches with the skills of a pro wide receiver.

She shakes it before asking, “What is it?”

“Sleeping pills.”

Her confused expression grows as she rattles the box again. “It doesn’t sound like sleeping pills.”

I roll my eyes before gesturing for her to open her gift.

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