Page 99 of Keeper
“Yeah, you’ll see just how funny …” I said as I pulled up outside Reavo’s building.
34
Ainsley
A quick elevator ride shot us to the penthouse floor of Reavo’s building. The second the elevator doors opened, we could the ruckus of Reavo’s party from the other end of the hallway. We stepped inside and Tanner’s teammates broke into a cheer when they saw us holding hands.
“Heeeeeeeeeey!”
“There they are!”
“Vaughnsy found his good luck charm!”
I’d never had a reception like that in my life! I couldn’t stop smiling.
Tanner poked my ribs. “Get ready,” he said as he took me to meet his teammates.
He introduced me first to our host, Reavo. Tanner introduced me as his girlfriend, which made it seem so much more real. I had to try not to swoon.
“Girlfriend!” Surprised, Reavo clapped his hand against Tanner’s back. “Well hey, alright. Congrats, you two.”
Reavo—real name Derek Reaves—was a giant of a man. Big and brawny, he had a chest like a barrel. But you could just see it in his big brown eyes: he was a total softie at heart. He was such anice guy, and when we shook hands, he told me how happy he was that Vaughnsy had found me because I’d really left a long-lasting impression on him.
“Yeah, I heard,” I said, and we laughed.
“Don’t go anywhere, Ainsley,” Reavo said. “I gotta introduce you to my fiancée.”
Reavo cut through the crowd in the kitchen and over to a group of girls standing and talking in the living room. He pulled his fiancée away and whispered something in her ear, and she immediately broke from the pack and hurried back with Reavo.
“Ainsley, this is my my fiancée, Katerina.” Reavo did the introductions. “Katerina, this is Ainsley, Vaughnsy’s new girlfriend.”
Katerina wassobeautiful, with eyes as bright and inviting as her smile. She spoke with a hint of a Russian accent, and suddenly her exotic beauty made perfect sense.
“Girlfriend?!” Katerina squealed with delight as she wrapped her arms around me, giving me a big hug. “Welcome to the family! Come, I’ll to introduce you to the others!”
I laughed as Katerina steered me away from Tanner and into the living room to meet the girls known as the Dallas Devils WAGs: wives and girlfriends.
But before we could get to the girls, we were intercepted by a tall, long-limbed, and wild-eyed youngster with a mountainous plate of food in one hand and a can of Dr. Pepper in the other.
He spoke to Katerina in Russian, but she replied in English. “Ask her yourself, Sasha. It’s the only way you’ll learn.”
He groaned and began to speak in a very thick Russian accent. “Ehh. How you say?” He pointed at me, then Tanner, then back at me again. “You and him?”
I nodded. “Yes, we’re dating.”
“Da?!” He beamed. “Cinderella—you?!”
“Cinderella,” I repeated with an embarrassed laugh.
“Nice.” He set his soda down in a hurry so we could shake hands. “Me Aleksander—” he said before Katerina quickly corrected him. “I’mAleksander.”
“Nice to meet you, Aleksander. I’m Ainsley.”
“Okay.” His wide and toothy smile began to fade as we quickly reached the limits of our conversation. “Bye,” he said, and abruptly wandered off.
“Sasha is my brother, if you hadn’t already guessed,” Katerina said. “He said something about Cinderella. Does that mean something to you?”
“It’s a long story,” I said, chuckling and cringing at the same time. “But yeah, I know what he’s getting at.”
