Nadia
“Holy shit,” Kat says in an awed tone as Adrian pulls up in front of Rue’s Lounge the next night. There’s a line of people wrapped around the building.
Two weeks ago if I’d seen that line, I would have told Adrian to turn the car around and take us back home. Crowds are definitely not my thing. But tonight the spike of adrenaline I get is not from fear. It’s a total thrill.
I did this. I bounce in my seat, as carefree and childlike as a cat.
“This is from the TikTok lives I did with Flynn’s phone.”
Kat twists in the front seat to look at me with exaggerated astonishment and approval. “Yeah, it is!” She holds up her hand for a high five.
“Drop us off in back,” I tell Adrian.
“What? You still want to go?” He sounds shocked. Who can blame him? He doesn’t know I’m a new person.
“We’ll go in the back door,” I tell him. One week of dating the heartthrob of the Storytellers, and apparently, I think I own the place. Adrian lets us out in the parking lot, and I knock on the locked back door.
When no one answers, I pull out my phone and text Flynn to tell him we are waiting out back.
“Is that door open?” A girl calls from the line of people.
“Oh shit,” Kat mutters. “No!” she calls back.
“Then why are you waiting there? Is someone going to let you in?” Two girls jog toward us in platform heels, leaving their place in line.
Blyad’.
Just what we need is to get bombed with Flynn’s fangirls. I groan inwardly as they draw closer, and I realize I recognize them. Of course, it’s Cadence, Flynn’s recent fling and current stalker.
“Nadia?” Her tone’s and mixture of surprise and dismay.
“Privet.” I greet her in Russian, which is rude, but I’m not that excited to see her.
They join us, clearly inviting themselves along for whatever plan we have of getting in.
“Is Flynn coming to open the door?” she asks.
“Da. Yes. He should be here in a minute.”
If only I could get rid of them first.
She wags a finger between me and the back door. “So, are you and Flynn still hanging out?”
I nod. If I had any integrity, I would tell her that Flynn and I were friends with benefits. Nothing more. But my integrity went out the window the moment she came running over here. Now I just wanted to stake my claim on Flynn, to claim him as my boyfriend and to be claimed by him as a girlfriend.
“I think that’s great,” Cadence says. “Flynn is a such a kind soul.” She’s gushing. I wonder if she was pre-partying. “He’s a real caretaker. The first time we hung out”I take this as American code for had sex”I was on a bad trip.”
I glance at Kat because I don’t understand her words. She murmurs the Russian word for drugs, and I nod.
“He saw me freaking out and stayed with me until I could chill. It was so sweet.” She nods her head for emphasis.
I hate her.
Something about her story makes my stomach knot up. It’s too sickeningly familiar. Flynn is just a caretaker?
Blyad’.
He had told me about his momher depression. It made sense he might feel a heightened sense of responsibility for women in distress.
Gospodi, I did not want to be that for him. Not in a million years.
Yes, he saved me, but I thought…it was special. That we had a connection. Was I just another girl he thought he had to save? Is he drawn to damsels in distress?
The back door bursts open, and Flynn and his gigantic presence tumble out. “Nadia.” His gaze is on me alone. He reaches out and snags my wrist. “Come in, quick. We’re over capacity, and the bouncers won’t let anyone else in.”
“The door is open!” a girl yells from the line and suddenly hordes of them run for the door.
“Fuck.” He tugs me through the door and narrows the opening. Kat slips in right behind me. “Just you two.”
“Flynn, it’s me!” Cadence whines urgently as he tries to shut the door in her face.
“Oh. Hey, Candice.” His voice holds no enthusiasm.
“Cadence.”
“Ugh. Okay, I guess you guys can come in too. But that’s it. Rue will kill me. If the fire marshall shows up, you have to duck out the back.” He slams the door behind them, just as the droves of girls calling his name reach the door.
I’m reminded of zombie hordes. I picture them on the other side banging on the door, smashing their faces against the metal and moaning.
I’m not just a girl he had to rescue. He genuinely seemed happy to see me.
Right?
Then I’m fully gratified because he ignores everyone else and takes my face in both hands to kiss me hard on the lips. “You did this,” he says. “You little Russian genius.”
“Yeah, she did,” Kat celebrates.
I beam up at Flynn, desperate for another kiss. In fact…screw it. I stand on tiptoe and claim one of my own.
The boyish pirate grin he gives me afterward makes my heart flip-flop.
I don’t even feel like gloating over Cadence’s sour expression.
He continues to ignore everyone else. “You look hot.”
Warmth rushes through me. I’m in the latest fashionan olive babydoll dress that ends mid-thigh and has puffed, 80’s sleeves, with a pair of punk black boots underneath. I made the dress myself as soon as I saw the latest runway looks, so it fits me perfectly. I’m making one for Kat in red and white gingham to go with her schoolgirl fetish.
“You want your seat by the stage?”
I nod happily.
He points to where he’s already set it up, and I melt. I suddenly understand the meaning of the word swoon. Flynn definitely makes me swoon. I steal another kiss. “Spasibo.”
Flynn’s arms circle behind my back, and he pulls me up against his body, one hand sliding lower to grip my ass. “What does that mean?”
I hardly notice when I hear Cadence sniff and flounce off with her friend.
“Thank you.”
Flynn and I have a moment. Our breath mingles. Our gazes are locked. Lips almost touching. There could be a fire in the building, and we’d never know. My heart thuds against my ribs in a happy staccato.
“Are you coming home with me tonight?” he asks in a low voice.
“Yes.” There’s zero hesitation for me in accepting his offer. If he asked me to go to a party, I would have said yes. If he asked me to go to Rome, I would have said yes. Or to the moon.
This is how much I changed in just one week. A door opened, and now the whole world seems available to me again. And I want to see it all with Flynn.
“Ready, boys?” Story calls out. “Nadia, Oleg will make room for you down in front if you want.”
“She’s staying backstage,” Flynn says then shoots a questioning glance at me. “Or do you want to go out there?”
I shake my head, and he smiles and brushes his lips across mine. “Thanks for coming,” he says, like it means something to him. Like he’s happy to see me. Or needs me.
I was foolish to let Cadence’s words get to me. I haven’t imagined all that’s between Flynn and me. He may be a player, and he does have a kind heart. But I’m not just like the other girls. I’m special to him. I feel sure of it.
“Give me your phone,” I say.
He grins. “You’re going to live stream again?”
“Yep.”
He kisses me as he presses his phone into my hand. “You’re the best.”
I smile as I take my seat behind the curtain wing and begin another live stream.
Look out world, The Storytellers are here and ready to take you by a storm.
Flynn
I get drunk on the energy of the crowd. On having Nadia here making me believe crazy things are possible.
She seems completely at ease tonightno signs of panic. She’s still here at closing time, sitting on the edge of the stage, kicking her bad-ass lace-up boots.
The staff had a helluva time getting everyone out of here tonight, and I can tell they’re all exhausted from the crowd. They want us out.
“Come here,” I say, backing up to her and holding my hands out for a piggyback ride.
She laughs. “I don’t need that tonight.”
I twist to catch sight of her lovely face over my shoulder. “I need it, Peaches.”
She giggles and climbs on.
I run with her on my back up to the bar where Danica is sitting in the corner waiting for Rue.
“You assholes,” Danica says when I get there. “You’re getting too famous. It’s a pain in the ass.” She gives me a grin to soften the criticism.
“Please don’t kick us out, Rue. This is our home.” I turn puppy eyes on Rue, who rolls hers and shakes her head.
“You need a drink?”
“Nah, I’m good. Do you want anything, Nadia?” I gently place my girl on the barstool next to Danica. I’m playing matchmaker here. Nadia wants to perform with Black Velvet. I want to help that happen.
“I’m okay, too.” She sends a nervous glance at Danica.
“You should see the designs Nadia made for Black Velvet,” I say. “They are sick.”
“Sick?” Nadia’s forehead wrinkles in confusion.
I touch my head to hers. “That means amazing.”
Rue’s curious gaze goes between Nadia and I, like she’s seeing something unexpected. Am I different with Nadia than I am with other girls?
I must be.
The way I feel is completely different.
I’m not the kind of guy who disrespects women. It’s not about finding some ass to “tap” or something lame like that. But my hookups in the past were very casual. Just hookups. Friendly. Never intense.
What I feel with Nadia is more intense.
It’s real.
Raw.
Incredible.
“Really? Can I see them?” Danica asks.
Nadia blushes. “Yes, I would like to show you. I could come and take measurements?”
“Definitely.”
“I loved your show,” Nadia blurts. “You are all so fierce and perfect. Do you…” she swallows and darts a glance at me.
I nod my encouragement.
“Do you take understudies? Or apprentices? How does it work?”
“You want to perform?” Danica asks. “Sure. We rehearse on Monday and Thursday afternoons at four.”
“Here?” Nadia looks brighter and more lovely than the moon on a clear night.
“Yes. If you’re serious, come on Monday, and we’ll see if we can work you into the show somewhere. Deal?”
“Oh my God.” Nadia claps a hand over her mouth. “Are you serious? I’m so excited.”
“Great. I might be able to put you in a group piece that we’re performing at the end of the month. Sound good?”
“Yes! Great!” Nadia looks up at me, face shining.
I drop a kiss on her forehead. “See? Everything’s easy around here.”
“Now get your ass out, Flynn.” Rue wipes down the counter with a rag. “My staff is exhausted from all your fangirls. Seriously.”
“Leaving right now.” I grab Nadia’s hand and tug her back to the stage where Oleg already has cleared and packed all our instruments and gear. Kat and Adrian already left, apparently trusting me enough now to take care of Nadia.
“Ready to go to my place?”
“You don’t want to go to a party tonight?”
Hell, no, I don’t want to go to a party. I want to get Nadia naked and screaming in my bed. I need to talk to her about redefining what we are, except I’m afraid of screwing up what we have. Because what we have is working really damn well.
I raise my brows. “Do you?”
She shakes her head.
I cup the side of her face and angle it up to mine to brush my lips over hers. “Good. Because I think we need to keep practicing.” I pull back a little to give her a wink. “You know, I think we’re pretty good together.”
She blinks at me. For some reason, I think she’s holding her breath.
Did I make it sound too serious? I tried to keep it just about sexabout our agreement.
She seems to shake herself. “Yes. Lots of practice.” Does she sound overly bright? Maybe I’m reading too much into it.
Anyway, she’s coming home with me, and that’s what really matters.