Chapter 18

Cheyenne

Other than to go tomy place for more clothes and run a few errands, I didn't leave Ivan's place the rest of the week. It was nice to hang out with nowhere to be, other than attending his games, and nothing that had to be done on a time schedule. On Saturday I went home to finish packing for Australia once he left for the game, since he had to be at the arena early. My driver was going to drop me off and then I'd go home with Ivan again, and tomorrow he would take me to the airport.

I wanted to see my grandmother and extended family in Australia, but the timing sucked. We were just finding our footing, spending time together and getting to know each other on a deeper level. My brain kept screaming that this was perfect, and some time apart would help keep things from progressing too quickly, but my heart was spectacularly pissed off about it.

If absence made the heart grow fonder, I was in deep trouble.

My phone rang and Stevie's name flashed on the screen of my phone.

This might be the perfect time for her and me to have a chat.

"Hey, Stevie."

"Hi! Where are you? I didn't have a chance to say goodbye in New York."

"You and Damien were too busy ambushing me," I said pointedly, throwing some jeans into my suitcase.

She sighed. "It's not like that. He really thought you and Jim would hit it off."

"I'm dating Ivan," I said in frustration. "I told you that."

"But you've also told me a thousand times you're not interested in getting serious with anyone, so why not play the field and have fun?"

"It's hard enough to see a guy who lives in the same city I do because of my work obligations, so how could I possibly find time for someone who lives in New York?"

"You're here at least once a month."

"Sometimes. I won't be back in New York until December, though, and even if I was, Jim's not my type. He's way too buttoned up and clean-cut. You know I like bad boys."

"Is Ivan a bad boy?"

At his core, Ivan was anything but a bad boy, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

"There's lots of bad boy in him. He's a professional athlete. I mean, come on. The divorce rate with athletes is like seventy percent or something. So, yeah, he checks that box in spades. Plus, he's a thousand times hotter than Jim."

"So, you won't even go out with him once?"

"Stevie, seriously, what's going on? Why is this so important to you?"

She didn't say anything, and it was beginning to rub me the wrong way.

"I thought we were better friends than this," I said finally. "I know something is going on with you, probably to do with Damien, but I can't help if you don't talk to me. Why won't you tell me what this is really about?"

"There's nothing going on!" she snapped. "Why can't you just be happy for me? Just because you don't want to get married until you're thirty doesn't mean the rest of us have to become old maids!"

I was startled at the bitterness in her voice and wasn't sure how to respond.

"I'm not happy for you because I don't think he treats you very well," I said quietly. "But obviously, I'm not in a relationship with him, so I guess it's not my place to say so."

"Yet you did anyway."

"Because I care about you and am worried about you."

"If you cared about me, you'd be trying to get to know him better, spend time with us so you can see how wonderful he is, and get to know his friends too, since they're going to be part of our special day."

"I have spent time with them," I pointed out. "And Jim seems perfectly lovely. I'm happy to do any wedding-related activities with him. I just don't want to date him. I'm kind of into Ivan, to be honest. I don't know if it's serious or not, but?—"

"Well, if it's not serious, why can't you go out with Jim once or twice? It would mean a lot to Damien, and by extension, me! Can you do that for me? Please?"

"No. No, I can't." I hated saying no, but she was being ridiculous.

"Why not? What will it hurt to go out on a few double dates with us? Please?"

"What it will hurt is my relationship with Ivan," I said as patiently as I could. "He makes me happy, and I don't want to be with anyone else right now. Why should I date someone I don't particularly like just because my friend is dating his friend? That makes no sense."

"God, you really are a snob," she said. "And I guess our friendship was one-sided. Thanks a lot, Chey."

With that, she disconnected.

What on earth had just happened?

I stared at the phone for a few minutes in frustration.

Hopefully, she was just in a bad mood and would realize how ridiculous she was being. In the meantime, I was going to give her some space. I'd check in with her once I got back from Australia.

Whatever this was had nothing to do with me and it didn't seem fair she was dragging me into something.

Hopefully, she'd calm down after she had time to think.

* * *

Ivanand I went to dinner at a little Mexican restaurant in the Valley on Saturday night. The food was great, no one seemed to give me a second glance, and it was relaxing to be able to be out on a date without any fanfare. It was one of many things I adored about him. He was a fairly well-known professional hockey player, but he was totally laid back. Spending two full days hanging out at his place had been perfectly okay with him, and the best part for me was that he didn't seem interested in showing me off.

Most guys I went out with wanted the whole world to see us together, but Ivan didn't seem interested in that.

He just wanted to be with me.

The sex was out of this world, of course, and we'd done a lot of that the last few days, but we'd also talked and laughed and spent quality time together. The last time I'd come even close to this was when I'd dated the lead singer for Onyx Knight. Kingston had been smart, articulate, wealthy, and excellent in bed. The trouble, for both of us, was our lack of commitment. So, we'd been together until the time felt right to end it. No broken heart, no hard feelings, just a lot of fun memories.

Something told me it wouldn't be that simple with Ivan.

"You've been quiet tonight," he said when we left the restaurant. "Are you okay?

"It's dumb," I admitted as we settled in his SUV.

"Tell me anyway." He reached across the center console for my hand.

"I hate the fact that I'm not going to see you for weeks."

"I'm not loving it either," he said, "but it'll be okay. We can text and video chat. And hopefully, we'll figure out when we can be together again."

"We should sit down with our calendars," I said. "See what the rest of the year looks like."

"You have a lot going on?"

I nodded. "I've got a role in a movie shooting in Vancouver starting mid-November. My part is small so it should only be a few days, but Alexa wants me to shoot another perfume commercial after that, and I'm trying to line up a handful of things in New York all at once so I can do it all within a week or ten days. Instead of flying back and forth several times."

"One option for us to spend a chunk of time together is during the Allstar break. It'll be the first weekend of February, from Thursday to Sunday. We could go somewhere."

"Oh." I pulled up the calendar on my phone. "I have something with Alexa penciled in for that week, but if I know now, I can move it around. She's flexible."

"We could go to the Caribbean. Or Hawaii. Somewhere warm. What do you think?"

"Yes." I looked over at him. "That sounds wonderful. I'll put it in my calendar."

"The only thing…" He hesitated. "If I get invited to the Allstar Game, I have to go. If I don't, I'm suspended a game without pay when we come back."

"That seems like bullshit," I replied, wrinkling my nose. "I'm sure there are tons of guys who want to go. Why make guys who don't want to?"

"They do it for the fans, and if the fans want me…"

"Well, be less popular!" I said playfully, poking his thigh.

"I'll do my best."

We were quiet the rest of the way to his place, listening to music on satellite radio, our hands linked between us. We even liked many of the same songs, singing along to them.

How had his ex let him get away?

Was there something I was missing?

From where I was sitting, Ivan was an incredible man and an equally wonderful boyfriend.

"Practice is optional tomorrow," he said on the way up to his condo. "I'm not going to go, so we can spend more time together."

"My flight leaves late," I protested. "Not until evening. You don't have to skip an hour or two of practice."

"I want to," he said, pulling me against him. "We don't have a lot of time together as it is, so if practice is optional, I'd rather spend that time with you. We could take a drive up the coast, go to brunch somewhere, and then come back and spend the afternoon in bed."

"It's like you can see right into my brain," I whispered, pressing against him.

He dipped his head and kissed me, our mouths moving together hungrily despite how much sex we'd been having. I never got tired of his touch, having him inside me, on me, with me.

"We're going to need more condoms," he said as I pulled off my top.

"Tonight?"

"No, but soon."

"That's a tomorrow problem. Today's problem is how many times we can get off before we pass out."

He slowly began unbuttoning his shirt.

"Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea."

Except I had more than an idea.

I knew exactly what was coming because Ivan Rochenko was intoxicating.

That was all there was to it.