Page 66 of Play Your Part

“No, I’m not back in touch with him. Not that it should matter to you bec—”

My words halted as I let out a blood-curdling scream, slamming my brakes to avoid the deer running into the road. The quick action caused my truck to hydroplane. I quickly turned the steering wheel, trying to keep us on the road, but I only managed to send water into the air. I slammed on the brakes again to prevent us from smacking straight into a tree after the car went into the downward-sloping grass.

My breath came in labored gasps. Alexei removed his seat belt and leaned over me, one hand on my arm, the other on my face, turning it toward him.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his big, wild eyes scanning me. “Kennedy—”

“I’m fine, just shaken,” I said. “You’re okay?”

He nodded. “I’m an asshole. I shouldn’t have distracted you like that.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I was paying attention. It just happened so fast.”

His hand remained on my face, his fingers tracing back and forth on my chin. When his gaze dropped to my lips, my breath caught. Was he going to kiss me again? Did I want him to kiss me again?

I told him only once, and we already broke that rule. But still, my eyes started to flutter shut…

Wait—no.No. I did not want him to kiss me again.

Neither of us wanted a relationship, and soon, we would part ways, as if nothing happened between us.

But I didn’t know if I could do that. When it came to Alexei, the valve I’d placed on my emotions failed.

“Kennedy,” he said, his fingers moving up to caress my cheek. His chest moved quickly, intent clear in his eyes.

No, this could not happen again.

Alexei would move on from me. Maybe I would want that, but maybe I wouldn’t. I couldn’t risk being tossed aside, especially not when I would have to continue to see him because of his connection to Matt and Gemma. It would hurt too damn much. We needed to make the smart choice and stop whatever we’d started the other night in its tracks.

I said the only words guaranteed to kill the growing tension between us. “Why do you hate him?”

Alexei blinked, as if emerging from a trance, pulling his hands back from me, the loss of contact so stark I almost regretted ruining the moment. He flopped back against his seat.

“We should get to the party.”

“Fine,” I said, not disguising my annoyance. I turned the key in the ignition and put the car in reverse as soon as it came to life. But when I pressed the gas pedal, we didn’t move. The tires spun and spun, stuck in the mud left by the storm.

“I’ll get out and push the car while you back up.”

“No way. You can’t show up to the party covered in mud. All of this will be for nothing. I’ll call Triple-A.”

“That’ll take an hour.”

“Then it takes an hour,” I said.

The dial tone blared through the car speakers effectively ending our conversation. Alexei answered with an exasperated sigh, louder than the phone, something that satisfied me after he blew off my question.

It did nothing to quell my inconvenient desire to kiss him though. Two months ago, I didn’t think I could convince people of our relationship; as hot as Alexei was, I had no interest in a self-important ass who prioritized himself over his team and demanded attention at every turn.

But that wasn’t Alexei, despite what Justin and the media described. The Alexei I knew—the one who would inconvenience himself to make his rookie roommate comfortable, who made me feel like a priority even when he was on the road, who looked to satisfymewhile expecting nothing for himself—was someone I liked. Andthatcomplicated everything.

“Are we really going to sit in silence?” I finally asked.

Alexei’s head rested against the seat, his eyes shut. “You’re the one who established we wouldn’t talk about Ward. I’ve been following your lead.”

“You brought him up first tonight,” I pointed out.

“It surprised me, okay?” The words tore out of him, loud and frustrated, as if wrenched from a place he tried, and failed, to keep a lid on. “I can’t believe you’re talking to the asshole who called you his leftovers.”

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