Page 94 of Just Friends
I bit down on the inside of my cheek.
Darn. They haven’t forgotten.
Luckily, I didn’t have to give an answer.The door swung open and Derek brazenly barged into the room—understandable, since thiswashis room, too—before halting in his tracks. He’d just waltzed into a room full of girls in various states of undress. “Oops. Sorry, ladies.” He shielded his eyes with his hand. “Didn’t know y’all were in here. I’ll just be a second, then I’ll be out of your hair.” He rummaged through his suitcase for the things he’d needed.
Katerina watched her husband, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Honey?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Why are you so red?”
I hadn’t noticed it at first, but she was absolutely right. His face, neck and arms—heck, any exposed skin—were a deep shade of red. The other girls noticed, too; we did our best to stifle our quiet laughter.
Derek grumbled. “That brother of yours took me to the bon-yow. Ban-yo? Whatever.”
“Thebanya?” Katerina asked, tittering.
“Yeah,banya,that’s it,” Derek said.
Katerina quickly explained to us as an aside, “Banyais the Russian sauna.”
“I felt like I was gonna die in there! I’m telling you, it had to be five thousand degrees in there atleast.”
“Oh, no. My poor guy.” Katerina hopped off the couch and hurried to his side to comfort him with a hug. “You know you can just tell Sasha no, right?”
“I tried,” Derek said with a groan. “But it’s not easy to tell that kid no when he looks at you like you’re breaking his damn heart. Hell, he even said he’s all lonely because everyone else is drinking.”
Katerina laughed. “Sasha plays your heart like a fiddle. You’re so sweet. You’re too sweet for your own good, you know that?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Big Rig fell for the puppy dog act, too. Hell, he’s still down there in the sauna—if he’s still alive, that is.”
Whether I wanted to or not, I perked up at the mention of Jax. “Speaking of Big Rig.” Derek glanced at me before shielding his eyes again; I was wrapped in only a bath towel. “Does he seem normal to you, Piper?”
“I dunno, why?” I stammered nervously.
“I don’t know, either. He’s been acting weird lately, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“What do you mean?” Katerina asked. “How?”
“Well, we were at the pool earlier, and these two babes came up to introduce themselves. They were practically throwing themselves at Riggsy, but he wasn’t even remotely interested. I mean, he straight-up shut them down. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Derek paused. “That’s just not like him at all. I don’t know. So, Piper, I guess I was wondering if you’d noticed anything out of the ordinary, because I’m kinda starting to worry about him.”
“Thatisa little out of the ordinary …” I mused, but I wasn’t even tempted to get my hopes up again. Whatever happened with those girls, I doubted it had anything to do with me. Maybe they weren’t his type. Or maybe, since we’re sharing a hotel room, Jax didn’t feel like he had a place he could bring them back to, so why even bother? “Sorry, Derek, I don’t know what to tell you.”
He shrugged. “That’s okay. Just thought I’d ask.”
“You said they werebabes, huh?” Katerina folded her arms, her Slavic features hardening.
Derek smiled and pulled her against his side. “You gotnothin’ to worry about, sweetie.”
“I better not!” she sang.
He grinned and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Anyway. I got what I came for,” he said, slinging a garment bag over his shoulder. “If you need me, I’ll be getting ready in Dane’s room. Catch you ladies later.”
Derek started to pull away and move for the exit, but Katerina clung to his shirt and kept him near. “Wait.”
He chuckled. “What’s up, baby doll?”
“I just wanna tell you something before you go.”
