Page 84 of Bad Teammate
He took a moment to gather his thoughts. “Well, that’s why I came here to talk to you. I’m not supposed to tell you this—and all hell might break loose if I do.” He shook his head gravely. “But it’s not right to lie to you. You need to know.”
“I’m listening,” I said.
He took a deep breath.
“Last night, after I left your bedroom, your brother was waiting for me in the living room.”
I gasped. “What?!”
“He caught us, Katerina.”
“Did he know? For sure?”
“Oh yeah,” Derek said with a wince. “He heard us. Julia, too. There was no point even trying to deny it.”
Well, that sort of changes everything, doesn’t it?
“Why didn’t youtellme?!” I yelled and punched his shoulder. It felt like punching a brick wall, and he didn’t even seem to notice. “I would’ve talked to him if I’d known!”
“Because he didn’t want me to. He wanted me to break it off with you and make it seem like it was all my idea.”
“That sneaky little bastard,” I hissed. “But whywould he do that? It doesn’t make any sense.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, Katerina. But he threatened to go back to Russia to play in the KHL if I told you the truth.”
I tutted. “He won’t do that. Growing up, his dream was to go to America to play in the NHL. There’s no way he’d give it up that easily.”
“I don’t know what he will or won’t do. All I know is he seemed dead serious to me. Hell, he smashed my guitar to prove the point.”
“He broke your guitar?”
“Yep. Oh well, I’ll buy another.” Derek shrugged it off. “Then, during our game tonight, he tried to get me killed with a suicide pass because I hadn’t dumped you fast enough.”
“Ugh.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m sorry.”
“I’msorry, too.” Derek set his heavy hand on my thigh. “Because Iknewthis would happen. And yet I still made a move on you again and again. I can’t resist you. Even now—”
I recognized the familiar spark of desire building in his eyes. I knew to snuff it out before he tried to do something dumb, like grab me and kiss me. I raised a stern finger at him. “No, Derek. Don’t make an even bigger mess for yourself.”
His shoulders dropped. “You’re right.”
“Anyway, if you’re so worried about how Sasha will react, why would you tell me all this?”
He sighed. “I felt so empty after I lied to you. I hated myself for that. I hated Niko even more for making me do it. I had to get out of the house, so I went to Hathaway’s house to hang out. There, I talked to Emma and Austen about the situation. And I’m glad I did, because they convinced me that I couldn’t let you go through life believing this lie.”
“What lie?”
“That I didn’t care about you at all.” He paused and stared into my eyes. “Because I do. I care about you a lot. More than I’ve ever cared about any other woman.”
“Derek …” I resisted the urge to fall head-over-heels for him again. “We both know the one and only thing you like about me is the fact that I’m theonegirl you can’t have.”
His brow sagged with disappointment. “That’s not true at all.”
“No?”
“No,” he said, his eyes locked on mine. “I admire you.”
“What?” I laughed. “Get real.”
