Chapter 25

Hannah

Still recovering from Nikolai’s touch and the feel of his hard mouth on mine, Jack’s words initially barely registered. But they definitely registered with Nikolai—his expression going from hot irritation at being interrupted to satisfaction. “Good, I want to stomp that motherfucker.”
Nikolai let me go and turned to presumably go find Jeff and beat him up.
“Wait, Nikolai, you can’t. You’ll get kicked out of school. He’s not worth it,” I said, reaching for him.
Nikolai took a deep breath. “I know I had my reasons for not fighting him, but after talking to you, seeing how he has disrupted your life, terrified you, I don’t know that kicking his ass isn’t the best fucking idea I’ve ever had.”
I felt myself becoming choked up at what Nikolai was saying. To have someone want to help me, protect me, and, honestly, avenge me this way was overwhelming. I’d felt so alone for so long.
I put a hand on his chest, feeling his heart pounding under my fingers. “He’s not worth it.”
“But what better way to make him afraid of me than by beating the shit out of him?” I almost laughed at how matter of fact he sounded about his desire to draw somebody’s blood. Nikolai handed his beer back to Jack, then moved his hands so they were stationed against the wall on either side of my head. “It’s not like he doesn’t fucking deserve it, Hannah.”
“Believe me, Nikolai, I know he deserves it. Nobody knows that better than me.” I paused so that could sink in, because it was fucking true. His eyes softened a bit as I’m sure he was remembering things I’d told him about my experiences with Jeff. However, that led to his expression getting angry all over again, so I quickly continued. “But even with all that, I don’t want to see you fight anyone. You deserve to finish high school and keep your promise. You can’t let your anger make your choices, especially when the consequences might be so severe. Please.” I ended my pitch by literally folding my hands together in front of him in a pleading gesture.
Nikolai sighed and looked at the wall over my head. “Jesus Christ, Hannah.” He looked resigned. I knew he wanted to fight Jeff, which was kind of sweet in a weird way, but he also knew it was important to finish school.
He dropped his light blue gaze to mine, one of his hands coming off the wall to hold my jaw lightly and rub his thumb on my cheek. “Okay, Hannah, this is the deal. I won’t go jump Connors. However, if he starts anything with either you or me, especially you, I’m not sure I can continue to be so conscientious.”
I held his gaze and moved my hands up to hold his face, rubbing my own thumbs against his whisker-roughened skin. “Deal,” I whispered, and then leaned in and kissed him.
It was the first time I had ever initiated any sexual contact between us, and I felt the slightest twinge of worry he wouldn’t respond. My fears vanished quickly as Nikolai immediately responded by wrapping his arms around me, and even though I had started the kiss, he quickly took control of it. I felt his tongue surge into my mouth, wrapping around mine as I struggled to control my urge to rub against him. I hadn’t meant it as a distraction, but it definitely worked as one. I heard Jack chuckle as he walked away, and I think Nikolai took his hand off me for a second to flip him off.
“Jesus, Hannah, we have to get control of this,” Nikolai said after several minutes of kissing against the wall, his hand lightly caressing the skin of my lower back, under my shirt. Giving me a look of concentrated frustration, he gave me one last hard kiss on the mouth, grabbed my hand and pulled us over to where Jack was talking to a new girl.
As I followed behind him, my mind was scattershot. Was this all just an act? It hadn’t felt like one. Sadly, I knew I wasn’t acting at all, but I also didn’t have enough experience to tell if Nikolai was or not. I came to the mental decision to just act as though all of this was real and postpone my heartbreak for tomorrow.
As we walked up to where Jack was stationed by the keg, I realized I recognized the girl he was talking to. Her name was Ava Fisher, and she was a new student this year. I had actually had a brief, friendly interaction with her in one of my classes when she had needed to borrow a pen from me. I think we were both too awkward and self-conscious to actually initiate a friendship, so I was happy to see her here.
Jack had a disgruntled look on his face as he was talking to her, so she must not be falling for his bullshit. I don’t blame him for trying though, because Ava was beautiful. She had white blond hair cut bluntly and stylishly above her shoulders and light green eyes the color of peridots. She looked like she was a transfer student from Sweden or something, but in actuality, I think she was from Michigan. I also loved her style, envying her outfit of jeans, ankle boots and a light poncho in various shades of green that brought out the color of her eyes. She was now frowning with her arms crossed as she looked up at Jack.
“Hi, Ava,” I said as we approached with Nikolai’s arm firmly wrapped around my shoulders. I didn’t think we had once lost physical contact since we got out of the car. Not that I minded.
“Hannah!” Ava responded, a smile of surprised joy lighting up her features.
I gave Jack a quick glance and noticed his intent stare focused on Ava as she smiled at me, and bit back my grin. It looks like Ava had picked up an admirer. I wasn’t sure which one I felt sorry for.
Ava reached out for my arm. “I’m so glad you’re here. You look amazing! I love that top.” She did look genuinely happy to see me, which made my cheeks flush with pleasure.
“Thanks! I’m glad you’re here, too. My previous interactions with the girls at this party haven’t been quite as pleasant.” I laughed self-deprecatingly.
Ava quickly nodded her head in understanding. “God, some of these girls suck, Hannah. They’re all so territorial.” Ava was validating my experience, and I could have kissed her for it. I felt myself relax against Nikolai while he started a side conversation with Jack.
Ava once again reached out to touch my arm and said in a slightly lower voice, “Hey, I have to go to the bathroom. I hate to be a cliché, but do you want to come with me? Safety in numbers, right?” I laughed at her reference to the other girls.
“Sure,” I responded, then turned to Nikolai to tell him where I was going. “We’re going to the bathroom, so we’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”
Nikolai looked down at me with a frown and his arm tightened fractionally. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Referencing the fact that Jeff was now present somewhere in this house. Shit, I forgot about Jeff. Well, fuck him. Nikolai made me feel safer than I’d ever felt in my life.
“Well, unless I am able to biologically eliminate the need to use the bathroom, I don’t have much choice. I’ll be fine,” I reassured him.
Nikolai was still frowning, and now so was Ava. She obviously couldn’t figure out why Nikolai would have a problem with me using the bathroom. I’d have to fill her in, so she didn’t think Nikolai was psycho.
He slowly let me go. “I’m giving you ten minutes, then I’m going to come looking for you. I don’t trust that asshole.” Justifiably so.
I smiled at his protectiveness. “Okay, that’s fair.” Then we stood there and looked at each other for a second. Should I kiss him goodbye? Was that weird when I was only going to the bathroom? He thankfully took the decision out of my hands by grabbing me by the side of my neck and dropping a kiss on my mouth, lightly slapping my ass as we headed off to the bathroom. I jumped and quickly turned around to say something, but he just smirked and started talking to Jack again.