Page 48 of Darling Dmitri

“You must have misunderstood me. I wasn’t giving you a choice.”

Steam materialized in my ears, but arguing with him at this point was about as fruitful as herding cats. Not to mention, I did have to be at practice soon. “Fine. Whatever. We need to go, or I’m going to be late.”

“Did you get the alarm installed?”

“Yes. Don’t you think this is a bit extreme?” We lived in a low crime area near a wealthy neighborhood.

“Nothing is too extreme for you,moy zaychik.”

I made it to practice with seconds to spare because when we went back to my apartment to get my gym bag, Dmitri took it upon himself to make certain I knew how to use the alarm. As if my roommates and I didn’t get a tutorial the day it was installed. As if the only perpetrator who had broken into my apartment wasn’t the one standing beside me and now knew the code. He also had a chance to study the locks.

He pulled his gunmetal gray Porsche 718 Cayman up to the curb by the back entrance of the stadium. Usually, our last practice before game time included us walking the field where we would perform, practicing our entrance, and doing a run-through of our cheers. I saw some of my teammates heading through the tunnel, and Julie happened to be one of them who glanced our way, not bothering to hide her contempt as she saw me step out of the car before she flipped her hair and kept walking with the others. “Looks like one of your admirers is pissed off,” I said, gripping the strap of my bag tight against my shoulder.

“Looks like someone is jealous again.”

The humor laced in his voice grated on my nerves, and I glanced around in an overblown way. “Who? Because the only one standing here is me.” Something in me made me say the next words, and I could only blame it on being the devil. The philosophical one, not the real life one sitting behind the wheel. I dropped to a knee back in the passenger seat and leaned in as I smiled. “And you know, I’m only showing concern for my darling brother because any other thought would be sinful.”

I started to back out, questioning my choice of words, aware we were out in public. Not that everyone knew who we were, but Julian and Carly knew we were essentially stepsiblings, and Dmitri’s friends obviously knew. It was risky to play these games when we were sitting outside for anyone to see. Too risky. However, he caught my arm, holding me close. “Call me darling again, and I’ll take it as an invitation to send us both to hell.”

I exhaled unsteadily. His devious lips rose in triumph, but he eventually released his hold, and I clumsily backpedaled out of the car.

He gazed at me unfazed as his hand curled around the gearshift. “I’ll see you on the field. Wait for me after practice, and I’ll take you home.”

I shut the door and strode off toward the entrance, wondering how he could act as though nothing bothered him while I was a bundle of nerves, hoping I could regain my focus because I knew he’d be on the field, front and center, doing team walkthroughs, and going over plays for the game.

As I entered the changing room, I went straight to my locker and plopped down on the bench to change, trying to calm my pulse that felt like it was bouncing in my throat.

“Do I need to remind you that fraternizing with a Falcon football player goes against our cheer team policy?” Julie was beside me, tapping her foot on the floor. Oh, this was funny. It didn’t take a degree in foreshadowing to know where she was headed with her accusation. Her false concern was ironic, and I couldn’t hold my laughter inside.

What was more hilarious was it was true. Among many of the stipulations that were listed when we signed our oath of commitment—which many of them were broken on a daily basis—was how it was frowned upon for cheer members to have sexual relations with any of the Hillside football players. But in her eyes, I guess what the cheer captain did was okay. Dmitri and I weren’t having sexual relations. Could I say the same for her? Wasn’t certain.

“No. You don’t, but maybe you need to remind yourself.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean.” I smoothed down my mini tank and crossed my arms.

“The other night, you had on Dmitri’s jersey, and I saw you exiting his car earlier.”

“And?” I raised my eyebrow. “Guess what happens when you assume?” I never thought I’d say the words that were about to come out of my mouth, but it brought the point home and was a good reminder to myself. “You think I’m having ‘relations’ with Dmitri?” I threw my fingers up in an air quote. “He’s like a brother to me.” I shoved my bag in my locker and slammed the door, drawing my brows together as if what she’d implied was preposterous. “Ewww, as if.” I stomped off, inwardly cringing, because sometimes the lie hurt worse than the truth.

Dmitri

“You gonna keep acting like your thoughts and actions toward your ward are anythingbutbrother-like?” Roman asked as we walked over to the sideline. That asshole never pressed you for information, that was more Nick’s forte, but I guess everyone had a soft side. Even the campus borderline psychopath.

“Don’t know what you mean, Roman. Sometimes words get lost in translation.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, man. I didn’t just fall off a turnip truck.”

“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I wasn’t going to entertain him with this nonsense.

“Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean.” Roman scanned around the field as we waited for our coach to call us back out and review our next play.

I ignored him and caught a glimpse of Sorina walking over to the sideline, getting in her stance. I couldn’t help but watch her. At this point, I didn’t give a fuck what Roman said. “Are we having a conversation?” I asked nonchalantly. “Because it’s lost on me.”

“Keep it up, dumbass.” Roman clasped me on the shoulder. “But let me make my observation as clear as possible. You don’t watch her like you want to protect her. You watch her like you want to ruin her.”

“Game time, bro. You ready?” Axel passed by and slapped me on my pads.

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