Page 14 of Bad Teammate
Oh fuck.I sank my teeth into my lip.I think I just got you in trouble, Niko.
“And I’m his older sister, not his girlfriend,” she said.
Her English was perfect.
Oh fuck.I bit my lip even harder.I think that’s even worse.
6
Katerina
“I can’t take this anymore, Katya! You’re making my migraine worse!”
Sasha slammed his bedroom door in my face, interrupting our argument.
I couldn’t believe him. He’d tried blamingmefor his migraine, because it couldn’tpossiblybe the result of his drinking. He didn’t get a wink of sleep last night, he said, because the girl he screwed last night never left his hotel room.Clearly,that meant I hadn’t translated his directions like he’d asked me to, which meant this was all my fault.
Oh, Sasha.
Slowly, I backed away from his door, suddenly aware that I was in a new environment—and a new country. What could I say? After fifteen and a half total hours in an airplane, my head felt like it was still soaring 35,000 feet in the air. My body was drained, yet I was still wired from all the coffee I’d drank to stay awake during two layovers—one in Paris and one in Atlanta.
Carefully, I tiptoed down the hall, my tired eyes sluggishly sweeping left and right, soaking in my surroundings. One wall of the condo was made entirely of floor-to-ceiling windows, like a jewel-box floating in the Dallas skyline.
Wow.
This place was majestic.
I began to notice all the things I’d missed when we first walked in, too—the ridiculously spacious rooms; the beautiful hardwood floors; the tallest ceilings I’d ever seen in my life; the over-sized and expensive-looking furniture; the lustrous kitchen countertops and state-of-the-art appliances.
There was even a gorgeous Steinway concert grand piano in the living room …
But I quickly turned away from it.
Speaking of things I’d barely noticed? Sasha’s roommate followed me into the living room. I wish I could say thathehadn’t noticed me, either, but that wasn’t the case. I’d caught him staring at me earlier, in the hall. I hated feeling watched or leered at by men … but at least he didn’t look like a creep. Creeps didn’t wear sharply tailored suits.
Sasha’s roommate was a little older, probably in his thirties. But with a dash of salt and pepper encroaching on his temples, and a few sexy battle scars on his face, I wouldn’t say he lookedold,ratherdistinguished.
He continued to ramble.“Living with two Russians? Are you kidding me?”
I wantedto interrupt him and introduce myself, but he never seemed to allow me an opening. He shed his suit jacket and grabbed a guitar. Curious, I followed him to the couch, sitting as far away from him as I possibly could. He rolled up his sleeves, exposing his thickly muscled and hairy forearms—and a left arm that was completely covered in ink.
He didn’t stop talking, even as he began to strum a few chords.“Your girlfriend seems a little psycho, Niko. For your sake, I sure hope you didn’t cheat on her last night.”
Ew! He thought I was Sasha’sgirlfriend?I wasn’t sure if I should laugh out loud or retch.
“But hey, I gotta give it to you, Niko. She is really fuckin’ cute.”
My cheeks swirled with hot embarrassment. I couldn’t even feel flattered that he thought I was attractive because I was so mortified that I’d let the situation get to this point.
“Um!” was all I managed to utter—thankfully, it was enough to get him to stop talking.
He looked suddenly alarmed. “Do you speak English?”
“I do,” I said.
I could tell the answer I gave him wasn’t the one he wanted.
“And I’m his older sister, not his girlfriend.”
