Page 75 of Always Yours

“Oh, okay. I love you, my love.”

“Love you, Mom, Dad,” I say, and he stops me by grabbing my bicep.

“See what love does to a person?” he says, jerking his head to Quinn. “It can end up like us or like them. It’s a gamble. Remember that.” His words surprise the fuck out of me. “Don’t fuck up your career, son.”

Mom’s light-blue eyes meet mine, and I see worry in them that I don’t understand. I’m fine. I’m good and smart, and I won’t end up like Quinn, ’cause I know when to cut my losses. To walk away from something that isn’t productive… Yeah, I could do it if I had to. “I’ve got this, Dad.”

He looks over at me. “Do you?” he asks, concern on his face. “Because what I see is a love-sick fool, me when I finally let myself feel something for your mom. The difference between us is I was established in my career. You’re not.”

I don’t fucking understand his logic. Why can’t I have both? My career and…fuck, a relationship? No, I fucking want Austen. I’m not sure what that entails, but I refuse to have people derail us. I’ve been flirting and trying to get that girl for weeks; everyone can fucking relax. Oh, she would blush with how much I’ve thought the wordfuck.

“Thank you for the unneeded advice,” I say to him, pulling my arm from his hand.

“Do you know who she is?”

I just look at him. “What do you mean?”

“She’s Dan Davenport’s granddaughter, Dimitri.” Dad’s words are like ice, and I’m stunned by his tone. Confused by how infuriated and troubled he is. “You’re playing with fire.”

“Dad, I’m good. I promise.”

“It’s not smart, Dimitri.”

I am completely taken aback and more than a little annoyed. “I don’t care,” I say simply. “I’m good, she’s good, we’re good. Everything is great.”

“And that can change in an instant,” he says with a snap of his fingers. “Don’t throw it all away for some ass.”

I jerk back as if he hit me. I lean in, glaring at the man I look up to more than anyone in the world. “She is more than a piece of ass, Dad, and I know that. I don’t have to knock her up to figure it out.”

“Dimitri Blake!” my mom cries, her eyes full of surprise. My dad stares at me, pissed as fuck, and maybe I was wrong to put it that way, but he needs to stop. “That is absolutely uncalled for!”

“And it’s absolutely uncalled for for him to assume I am just with her for some ass.”

“Then what are you doing?” Dad demands, his eyes dark stones of obsidian. “What are you gaining?”

“Gaining? Are you insinuating I’m using her to get ahead?”

“That’s the rumor,” Elli says, and I meet her gaze. “I thought you were only getting into a bit of trouble, Dimitri Blake.”

Man, she middle-named me.

I turn on my heel, tucking my hands in my pockets. “I feel as if I’ve been on my best behavior,” I say. And I mean…that’s almost true. “And I think that rumor was started by Shelli.”

She shrugs. “Maybe so. But you need to remember, Mr. Davenport is a very powerful man.”

I think that over. “Austen is powerful in her own right, and I’m not worried about him.”

“You should be,” she stresses, eyeing me. “He didn’t have Austen with him for a long time, only got her back a couple years ago,” she says, turning to look at me. “He lost his daughter, and Austen is a dead ringer for her, from what I’ve been told. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to even toy with the idea of what you and she were doing on that dance floor.”

I eye her, and I remind myself to be respectful. I care deeply for her. “I am wanting to play for you, Elli, not him.”

“I am well aware of where you want to be and what you want, Dimitri,” she says, turning her body to face me fully. “But I can only protect you so much.”

Dad lets out a disgruntled scoff as Mom shakes her head. “He is a smart boy. He knows what’s important,” my mom says, and she is a damn saint. “His career is in no jeopardy whatsoever. Right, Dimitri?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” I agree, clearing my throat free of emotion. I don’t like the way they are making me feel. “I don’t know why everyone is coming at me funky right now, but I’m good. I have been working my ass off, and I’ve done everything everyone has asked of me at the rink. What I do off the ice is of no concern to anyone.”

“It’s not your play, son,” Dad says roughly. “It’s the fact that you aren’t known for relationships or even entertaining anyone for more than a night. You hurt her, you can kiss your career goodbye.”

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