Page 26 of Deviant Need

He shoots me a look, shifting in his seat. “You mean so we can have another kitchen disaster?”

I roll my eyes. He still won’t let go of the blender incident when I forgot to put the lock on and got the entire kitchen soaked in a green smoothie that took days to clean up. “You’d be in charge of operating it. I’d just handle the eating part.”

“That’s probably the only way it wouldn’t end in disaster.” He’s smiling, but his voice sounds a little breathless, and he won’t quite meet my eyes. “We can look into it.”

“Yeah?” I squeeze the back of his neck gently, and he goes still, his breath catching. I lean closer. “What flavor do you think we should try first?”

“I—” He pauses and licks his lips. “Whatever you want.”

He’s about to say something else when the girl finally walks over and leans into the table, making him move away from me.

She looks at me and smiles. “I was wondering if maybe⁠—”

Before she can finish, his hand flies out and smacks straight into his milkshake. The cup tips and the entire thing launches across the table, landing dead center on her shirt. Strawberry pink spreads down her chest in a cold, sticky wave.

She gasps and stares down at herself, then snaps her gaze up to him with her mouth hanging open. “Are you kidding me right now?”

He clears his throat, and his eyes go wide and innocent, like he’s just as shocked as she is.

“What’s wrong with you?” She backs away from the table with milkshake dripping onto the floor and storms off toward the bathroom.

I turn and gape at him, trying not to laugh. He bites his lip and does this little shrug like he has no idea what just happened.

“I was grabbing my phone and accidentally spilled it,” he says, shooting me a look that dares me to call him out.

Bullshit. That was the most deliberate accident I’ve ever seen, and we both know it. The way his hand moved wasn’t a fumble, it was a calculated strike.

Rubbing the back of my head, I lose it completely and start laughing because there’s no way I can keep a straight face anymore. I slide my ice cream toward him. “Want to share? Since yours is currently soaking into that girl’s shirt.”

He nods and slides closer again until our thighs press together in the booth. Some poor worker appears with a rag and a bucket, mumbling curses under her breath as she crouches to clean up the mess spreading across the floor.

“It was an accident,” I say, fishing a fifty out of my pocket and handing it to her. “Sorry about the mess.” She takes it without a word, shaking her head as she mops up the pink puddle.

My arm comes up around his shoulders, and I settle him in against my side where he fits perfectly. I hand him my spoon and watch as he scoops ice cream into his mouth, his tongue catching a drip at the corner of his lips before he passes it back to me.

“That wasn’t an accident,” I say, taking my own bite and grinning at him.

He shoots me a look, all fake offense. “It was.”

It so wasn’t. But whatever. I didn’t want to talk to her anyway, and I’d rather be alone with him. Always would.

Chapter 6

Mikhail

The jump rope whips around me in fast rhythm, snapping against the mat with each rotation. Sweat drips off my face and rolls down my bare chest to the waistband of my shorts. Alexei stands in the corner doing deadlifts with his face blank and focused the way it always is when he’s working out.

“Untouchable” by MiyaGi & Endspiel blasts through the speakers so loud I can barely hear myself think. The only other sound is the occasional crash when Alexei drops the weights onto the floor.

We’re at my home gym in the apartment, the one I practically live in because working out is the only thing that keeps me from completely losing my mind. Kelly is in the kitchen making smoothies for us, and I hope he doesn’t forget the protein powder like he did last time he was here.

The rope catches on my foot, and I stumble, cursing under my breath. I toss it aside and grab my water bottle, downing half of it while trying to catch my breath from my workout.

Kelly walks in with two smoothies, handing one to me and one to Alexei, who turns off the music. Kelly’s green eyes lock onto mine. “What’s up with you? You look stressed.”

“Danya’s being weird.”

“Weird how?”