Page 98 of Gloves Off

“What are you stressed about?” he asks.

“Excuse me?”

“I read that people sleepwalk when they’re stressed.”

“You didreading?”

He hesitates. “We agreed not to mess around anymore. I don’t want you sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night.”

The humiliation in my chest burns hotter. “I wasn’tsneaking into your bed—”I shake my head. “You know what? Lock your door. That’ll solve everything.”

A car matching his description earlier pulls up beside mine.

“My ride’s here.”

“Stay on the phone with me.”

My instinct is to saynothe way it always is when he or any other man demands something, but I suspect he’ll call back—or worse, call the driver.

And very, very deep down, in a place I’d never admit out loud, I want to keep talking with him. I get out of my car, lock it, and open the passenger door of the other car.

“For Alexei?” the driver confirms.

“It’s under my account,” he says in my ear.

“Yes, for Alexei,” I tell the driver. I close the door and he drives away, leaving my car alone in the dark parking lot.

A memory from this afternoon hits me. “I forgot to say thank you for the flowers.”

They were delivered to my office, a bright pink bouquet in a vase, sitting on my desk for everyone to see.Gladiolas,my book said when I hurried home between work and soccer.Readily armed.I keep smiling when I think about them.

“It’ll make this look more real, me sending you flowers.”

“Right. Yes.” That’s why I thought he sent them. For show. Nothing’s changed between us. “Good idea.”

We sit in silence, and I think about his engagement again, but there’s no subtle way to bring it up. Finally, the driver pulls up to the house.

“I’m home now.”

“Inside?”

“Mhm.”

“Door locked?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Silence stretches between us. “Goodnight.” I clear my throat. “And thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

We hang up, and I play with the bunnies before getting ready for bed, thinking about that hit he took tonight on the ice.

This is why I don’t watch replays—I can’t stand watching people get hurt.

Not people, my brain whispers as I lie there in the dark.Just him.

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