Chapter 24

Nikolai

“Hannah Prescott? I don't get it.”
Jordan was a pretty girl with long brown hair and large, brown eyes, and I thought she was a cheerleader. Ironically, Shelby was one of her good friends, so I wanted to be far away from them when Shelby got here. I couldn’t say I was a fan of the expression on Jordan’s face as she looked at Hannah. Her frown of confusion had evolved into a frown of disbelief and hostility.
“Hello, Jordan,” Hannah replied softly, not certain if Jordan was aggravated or simply shocked by her presence.
“What are you doing here?” Her expression turned sour as she looked Hannah up and down.
Hannah cleared her throat. “Um, attending a party?” I felt Hannah tense under my arm, obviously not looking forward to having this confrontation.
“Yeah, I got that, but why?” Jordan’s asked, snidely. She didn’t care why Hannah was here, she just wanted to make her uncomfortable and embarrassed. Again, I could tell Hannah was not used to dealing with this kind of shit, and while I was certain she could handle Jordan, I didn’t have the patience to let her.
I’d had about enough of this shit.
“She’s here with me. Do you have a fucking problem with that?” I asked, staring her down. Normally, a person immediately folded under the intensity of my direct stare, but I think Jordan was so surprised by the combined shocks of Hannah’s presence and me implying we were in some sort of relationship, that it didn’t have its normal effect. Instead of shutting up and running away, her jaw dropped.
“You’re here with Nikolai? You guys are together?” Jordan responded, aghast.
Before I could jump down her fucking throat, Hannah found her footing and made a big point of looking at me and the arm I had slung over her shoulder, then looking at herself. “Are you slow or blind?” she said while shaking her head and shooting Jordan a look of exaggerated pity, as though she felt sorry for her apparent stupidity.
Jack laughed out loud, and I smiled while feeling a surge of pride in my chest at seeing Hannah defend herself. This had to be an overwhelming environment for her. I couldn’t imagine she’d ever even been to a party. To have a bitch like Jordan attacking her the minute she walked in must have felt unsettling. I pulled her to me a little tighter, signaling my support to her.
“You fucking bitch,” Jordan hissed, stepping towards Hannah. Nope, that wasn’t going to happen.
I pulled Hannah back. “Jordan, you need to step back and rethink your choices. You really want to make that move?” I asked sharply. This time she responded in a way I was familiar with. She quickly stepped back and gulped, understanding the implied threat. “I think it’s time to go.”
However, whatever she had going with Jack, probably just sex, had emboldened her. “I can stay, right, Jack?” she said flirtatiously, putting her hand on his chest and gazing up at him in a way I suppose she thought was seductive. Jack huffed out a laugh at her blatant manipulation.
“We’re done here, Jordan,” Jack responded, staring at her without a hint of humor on his face. Jordan, of all people, being friends with Shelby, should know that with Jack a fuck was just a fuck.
Jordan scowled and stomped towards the living room.
“Good taste in girls, Jack,” I mocked.
“Fuck you, she served her purpose,” he shot back. I saw Hannah’s eyebrows shoot up at his casual dismissal of his sex partner. Jack reached for a couple red cups. “You guys want a beer?”
I nodded and looked at Hannah who smiled and nodded as well. I was sure she could use a beer right now.
After Jack left for the keg, I asked curiously, “Have you ever had beer, or any alcohol for that matter?”
Hannah chuckled. “Jesus, Nikolai, I may have no social life, but I’m not being raised in a convent. I’ve had wine and beer occasionally with my family.”
I liked hearing her laugh. I took the opportunity to once again catalog her features. She was so fucking pretty, her cheeks now flushed due to the heat of so many bodies in a small space. Her indigo eyes glowed with humor and looking at her full, red lips reminded me of how soft they had felt under mine. As though she was reading my mind, her tongue darted out to wet those lips. Suddenly my thoughts had gone from kissing those lips to seeing them wrapped around my cock. Fuck, what was I going to do about her?
Realizing I was just standing there staring at her like a fucking moron, I started talking again. “Point taken,” I said, grinning sheepishly. “Does that bug you? That you haven’t had much of a social life?”
Hannah looked at me thoughtfully and frowned a little. “Well, I used to not care because I was just so thankful to have my house as a Jeff-free zone, you know? But at the beginning of this year, I started thinking about how much I missed out on,” she said, her expression wistful. “I mean, I’m not a social butterfly by any means, and I don’t even know if I’d be at this party regardless of Jeff, but there are things I feel resentful about missing. Due to my situation, I never felt comfortable making friends with people because I felt like I had to stay guarded all the time. I had a job once, at a convenience store as a cashier. My family is far from wealthy, so we could have used that money.” Hannah’s brows came together in a frustrated frown. “Jeff would not leave me alone; he just camped out there. He acted like a maniac whenever a male customer would even talk to me. My boss just assumed he was my boyfriend and fired me because I wasn’t worth the hassle.” Hannah’s face was set in an unhappy expression.
Hearing about her helplessness made me want to choke the shit out of Connors. Why hadn’t anybody ever helped her?
“It’s hard to know how my high school years would have turned out if he hadn’t been harassing me throughout all of it,” she finished. I thought she would look depressed or downtrodden, but instead she looked more thoughtful and frustrated than anything else. Hannah didn’t let herself identify as a victim, even if that’s what she was, to some extent. Fucking Connors.
I found myself putting my hands on either side of her face, rubbing my thumbs against her warm, soft cheeks. “Look, Hannah, you still have most of senior year left, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure you get to make up for as much as possible this year. Your days of hiding out, being afraid, and depriving yourself are over. I’ll make sure of it.” I couldn’t believe I was saying all of this, but Hannah was provoking all kinds of unexpected emotions in me.
She looked at me with such an expression of wonder, gratitude, and adoration it was impossible to resist kissing her. I leaned in and softly kissed her sweet lips, moving my hand to the back of her head to tangle in her hair, holding her still for my demanding mouth. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and her hand moved to my nape and then up into my short hair, her fingernails scraping against my scalp. I walked her backward until she was pressed against the wall, giving me the chance to press my body fully against hers.
Someone tapped my shoulder, which I ignored until that person hit me. I pulled away from Hannah with a snarl. “What the fuck?”
“Chill the fuck out, Nik.” Jack stood there with three beers carefully arranged in his hands. I had no idea how he punched me while holding three beers. I was still scowling at him when he handed me and Hannah our drinks and said softly, “Connors is here.”