Page 41 of Play Your Part

“Zach, I told you I’m not in the mood for video games!” Alexei shouted.

By the time he finished his answer, I had opened the door so he could see I wasn’t Zach. Before he could get a word out, I blurted out, “Oh my God, what happened to you?”

Alexei lay shirtless against the headboard, a fact which would have been distracting in and of itself, but the dark bruise forming over his ribs and the red slash across his cheek captured my attention. He jerked into a sitting position and muted the TV. “Kennedy, what are you doing here?”

“I heard you needed your girlfriend tonight,” I told him as I shut the door behind me.

“Briggsy needs to mind his own damn business.”

The annoyance in his voice made me hesitate. Maybe he didn’t want me here at all. “Should I go?”

He shook his head slightly, his dark brown hair swaying with the motion. “No.”

I shouldn’t have felt relieved he wanted me to stay, but it was there, right alongside anxiety. Staying with him felt like a risk I couldn’t afford, but I wouldn’t leave, not unless he asked.

“Well, if you need help or to talk or whatever, you could’ve called me,” I said, still standing in front of the closed door.

“The hockey is off-limits.”Thehockey. I loved when he tossed in thatthe.

“Maybe we can set that aside for tonight? You look sad and bruised. You deserve a win.”

He grinned at me, both dimples popping. “Already got one.”

“Right, the hat trick. Congratulations.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“My employers told me when they got home from the game tonight. So are you going to tell me what happened?”

I moved toward him, the compulsion to comfort him an instinct I didn’t anticipate.

“Hockey.”

“Ha ha,” I said, hovering at the end of his bed, not allowing myself to move any closer.

At this distance, I saw a pretty array of bruises blossoming along the ribs on the other side of his body as well. I quickly looked away, not wanting to give Alexei the satisfaction of knowing how closely I had looked. But I already saw more than enough; I wouldn’t be able to forget any time soon how much I wanted to run my hands down his lean chest and sculpted abdomen.

I swallowed, reminding myself that however good he looked, I did not need him or his arrogance in my life. Our proximity was temporary. I only needed to get through another two months, then I wouldn’t have to ever see him again. At least not like this.

“Seriously, what happened?” I pressed.

Alexei told me how he and one of the opposing players ended up dropping the gloves and punching each other senseless tonight. The fight broke out when the opposing player cross-checked Alexei after he went for a loose puck near the goal.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, but the grimace he tried to hide as he shifted told me he was in more pain than he would let on.

That was when I realized my gaze had drifted to his body again.Shit.I quickly looked up to meet his eyes, and the little gleam there told me he knew exactly what I’d been doing. Thankfully, he didn’t call me out on it. Maybe he didn’t have the energy.

“Just need to rest up before our game tomorrow.”

“Don’t you need more time than that?” I asked, walking as close to him as I could without getting into the bed. “What if you get more injured?”

Alexei grinned at me. “I didn’t know you cared.”

“I don’t… I’m only here to keep up appearances.”

“With Briggsy?”

“Yeah. And Matt. He knows I’m a very caring person.”

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