Page 109 of Facing Off
The very corner of Mikael’s mouth lifts. It’s not even close to being a smile. “I’ll see you there.”
As he walks out of the room, heads turn. Men and women drop their conversations, distracted by the sight of him. The attractive beast of a Finnish hockey player with the perfect cheekbones seems used to it.
On an unrelated note, Hughes’ expression has gone unreadable. Completely blank in a way I’ve never seen before. Usually he’s always emoting in some way or another. He’s also no longer arguing with Dmitri or Quinn.
42
SONYA
The guys goto the party early to look for Jung while Kavi kidnaps me and drags me to my hotel room, so I can grab my luggage, and then to her hotel room so we can get ready together.
“We’re going to look hot,” she declares, dumping a whole bunch of outfit options on the bed and then helping me do the same.
Before getting started, we sit down and devour some nachos. Then we wrap ourselves in blankets and talk as much as we can for the next hour.
Kavi shows me pictures from the tropical vacation that she and Lokhov snuck in before this tournament started. My shoulders are shaking, and I’m covering my face and stifling snickers. “How did you convince him to wear those clothes?”
Her husband, Dmitri, is a very serious and intense man. Kavi is showing me pictures of him in floral shorts and a floral bucket hat, holding a drink with an umbrella in it. His mouth is half-curved up, which is tantamount to him uproariously laughing.
Kavi tilts her head, a sly smile creeping across her face. “I have my ways.”
“You both look so good in the photos. Healthy. Happy.”
My best friend scoots over, so we can clink our drink glasses together. “I’m happier now that you’re here.”
Joy shoots in all directions inside me. For some reason, when she tells me that she wants me around, I believe her. Kavi’s sincerity is so clear and powerful that it sneaks under my normal defenses. Our friendship is different from any other relationship I have in my life.
“I can’t believe it’s only been a few weeks since we last saw each other.” I curl my fingers around my gin and tonic. “Feels longer.”
“I’ve missed you.”
Warmth moves up my throat. Reaching out, I squeeze her hand. “Same.”
She leans forward. “Now, tell me everything going on with you. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re skimping out on the details,” she says with a raised eyebrow.
My heart rate jumps.
Even if my life’s been strictly routine for the last few years, Kavi has always wanted to hear about it. She listens so intently when I’m talking about ballet, about what I’m performing, how I’m training for it, things like how I’m doing yoga to stay flexible, and that I hate dunking my feet in ice water, so I can be ready for…you guessed it, ballet the next day. Kavi knows my dating life has been a barren wasteland for a while. And that the only time I take off is when we hang out or when I see Quinn. Times when they cajole me to watch movies, go out for dinner, and sometimes play card games.
All of those things are what I’m used to talking about.
I nibble on a leftover tortilla chip, and then rub my palms on my knees.
It strikes me that this is the first time I have something to discuss with her that’s knocked me over and tied me into knots of stress that I’m struggling to detangle.
My palms go damp.
Kavi scans me up and down, then gets off the couch and walks around it. Her hands form into circles and press against her eyes.
“What are you doing?” I ask. The tone of my voice is pitchy.
“It’s best friend x-ray vision.”
“And?”
“Something’s wrong.”
I down half of my gin and tonic in one gulp.
