Page 30 of The Bratva's Innocent Pregnant Bride
“Friendly, my ass,” she said, pushing out one of the chairs across from her with her woolen sock clad foot. “I choose poker, and I bet I can wipe the floor with you.”
Did she now? With a laugh, I sat down and began to shuffle.
Chapter 20 - Paisley
How could I stay mad when Dan was bustling around the small cabin, trying all possible ways of making it warmer and more comfortable. He even found coffee while I sat there stewing about my lost snowboard. I’d never see it again, and I should just get over it, but it was like losing a bit of my past that was still important to me.
I could at least beat him at a few rounds of poker to get some of my own back. He began to shuffle, grinning at me like I’d forgiven him already, solely because of some weak instant coffee, which in the circumstances, was actually pretty heavenly. I was already feeling less ornery but still forced a scowl at him. If he thought we’d get cozy together just because we were trapped, he was wrong. So wrong.
“I really am sorry about your board,” he said, offering to buy me a new one again. “Even if the old one is irreplaceable, you can’t go without one.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “Oh, I’m sure I’ll live. This trip is the first time I’ve been out in almost two years.”
He looked shocked. “I would have thought you lived on the slopes as soon as winter rolled around every year.”
“I used to,” I said. “When I was on the national team, we traveled to find the snow.”
“And your board went with you,” he said astutely. So, mister jokes had a bit of sensitivity in him.
“It’s not just that,” I said, feeling a crack forming in the dam I’d built against a whole host of unpleasant feelings. “My parents were so proud of me when I was competing. They weresuper invested in me going pro after the Olympics and I think they were more crushed than I was after I got injured.”
I arranged my cards, thinking back to how hard they pushed me while I was in physical therapy, how their encouragement began to feel more threatening than supportive. They were certain the pain I felt was all in my head. Maybe it was, maybe I knew I’d never perform as well as I could before. I got back out there and gave it my best, and I was still able to compete, but there was a difference between being good and staying at the top of a high level, elite team. After I chose to accept reality and went to school to get my accounting degree, their disappointment was loud and clear. We drifted apart and now rarely spoke, let alone had Christmases together.
“The board was a memory of happier times,” I said.
“You’re still great at what you do,” he said, just as he laid down three eights to beat my pair of jacks.
I took the cards to shuffle and deal them myself, frowning as new anxiety hit me. “Oh my God, Katie must be freaking out, wondering where I am. They were supposed to go into town this afternoon without the kids.”
He snorted, pointing at the windows, pure white behind the flannel curtains. “They’re not going anywhere, and it’s not like we can really help ourselves out of this situation at the moment.”
I didn’t bother reminding him we’d be at the resort at the bottom of the mountain with working phones if he followed my directions and went down the easy trail. I had to keep my wits about me to keep from getting my butt kicked at poker. I had been brash with my comment about kicking his ass, but I neatly lost another round even after dealing the cards myself.
“See, I’m not cheating,” he said. “I feel like my ass is safe.”
“Let’s switch to triple draw,” I said. “I’ll whip you at that.”
He nodded, reshuffling and dealing again. “It’s your money.”
“When did we agree to play for money?” I yelped.
“Come on, where’s your bravado now that you’ve lost a couple hands?” he teased. “I thought you were fearless.”
“I can be fearless about pride, but I’m fairly certain my bank account isn’t anywhere near yours.”
“Imaginary money then.”
“Okay, I can afford imaginary money.”
“So, your parents think being a professional nanny is a step down from professional snowboarding?” he asked, swerving the subject back to my sticky past.
I laughed. “Um, I kind of do, too,” I said, really referring to my decision to go into accounting. He couldn’t know about that since I wasn’t about to besmirch Marlowe’s agency and admit I was a last minute replacement. “It’s good work that pays well, but they believed I gave up without enough of a fight. They could never forgive me for ruining their dream of managing a big time sports star.”
He shook his head, looking disgusted. “Who could act that way to their own child? As if you weren’t suffering your own loss.”
Wow, he really did get it. I gave him a sincere smile, feeling a weight lifting off my shoulders I wasn’t even aware I’d been carrying. I never spoke about my estrangement from my parents, not even with my closest friend. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
Then he just about gave me a heart attack.
