Seth's Cravings: An Endless Series: Book 2 (30 page)

     I frowned in confusion…that was an off the wall
comment. “Excuse me?”

     She laughed again. “You’re from America and you don’t know that line from the movie
Dirty Dancing
?”

     Seriously! What is it with chicks and that movie? “That
is a total chick flick movie and I would be a complete douche’ if I recognized
it.”

     An amused glint lit up her eyes. “You have seen it
though, right?”

     I sighed in regret. “Unfortunately, yes. I do have two
sisters. They seem to think it’s some kind of classic.”

     Nadia nodded gravely heading toward the card table. “Damn
right it’s a classic.” She mumbled walking toward her seat.

     With an eye roll and a grin at her attitude I grabbed
the beer that Mike so thoughtfully offered and sat down in one of the leather
chairs off to the side of the table that afforded me a side view of Nadia’s
profile. I tried to observe her clinically as she sat and drank from her
watered down vodka smiling and conversing with the other guys at the table. Clinical
was miles away though because I really didn’t like the looks of interest on the
males’ faces as they stared at her, or the inflections in their voices as they
talked to her. They didn’t conceal the fact that if given the green light they
would have been all over her like itch on a rash. I had to remind myself continually
that Nadia would never let me tag along again if I made a scene by bashing
several heads together. The only thing going my way was that the guys at the
table tonight refrained from any overt sexual remarks. If they hadn’t I’m not
sure what I would have done.

     So taking a number of deep breaths I made an effort to
detach my emotions and watch the game like any casual bystander.

     It didn’t work. I still wanted to bash all their heads
in. Especially the two guys sitting right next to her, one of them Mike, as
they both repeatedly leaned in way too close. The only reason they weren’t laid
out on the floor was because they in no way touched her.

     That brought up the memory of when ‘Dale the Asshole’
had touched her and she’d called him out on it by informing him he could be
kicked from the game for touching another player. She’d smiled as she related
the rules and at the time I’d only seen teasing in her expression because of my
biased attitude, but now I realized that she had been trying to rebuff the
fucker without causing a scene.

     After getting to know her I now knew that Nadia would
have ripped a guy a new asshole for touching her without permission, but
because it might cause her to lose money for her cause she’d sucked it up. It
pissed me off that she felt like she needed to do that, and I was also pissed
at myself for having been such a dumbass back then. If my head hadn’t been up
my ass I would have been able to discern what I saw now with clearer eyes.   

     I still distinguished the calculation in her eyes as
she watched everyone, but I didn’t fault her for it as I had previously. She
was a shrewd player that took the game, and her money, seriously. Yes, she
smiled, conversed, and joked, but I was able to recognize now that it wasn’t
done in a flirting manner. Nadia was a naturally sociable individual, but I
could see she kept a wall up not completely opening herself up to those she was
playing with.

     It finally hit me that this was basically another job
for her. She came. She conquered. She left.

     Forty minutes into the game I was attempting to
distract myself by responding to emails on my phone, but most of my attention
remained on Nadia, and I wrestled with both admiration and dark jealousy as she
slowly increased her winnings and interacted with those at the table.

     Suddenly someone sat down on the arm of my chair and I
looked up to see an attractive blonde smiling at me in blatant interest.

     “Hi, I’m Lauren. I haven’t seen you here before.”

     If I hadn’t been here with Nadia, and if she also
didn’t consume every iota of my thoughts, I might have taken the girl up on the
very obvious unspoken offer that would be coming my way.

     “Never been before.” I stated shortly.

     Looking back at the table I saw that Nadia’s attention
had shifted from the game to me, or rather to the chick at my side, and the
frown on her face said she wasn’t at all pleased with what she was seeing. I
barely kept the smile from my face at her palpable displeasure.

     The girl trailed her finger down my bicep. It did
nothing for me. “What’s your name?”

     I debated on what to do. Normally I wasn’t one to play
games, jealousy from a girl had always seemed tedious to me, but it wouldn’t
hurt for Nadia to experience a little of what I was feeling. As I switched my
gaze back to the chick at my side I heard one of the guys at the table remind
Nadia that it was her bet. In all the times I’d played with her I’d never heard
her redirected before, she was always so focused. I gave an inward smile of satisfaction.

     “Seth.” I offered the girl my name without any
indication of interest. I was only going to go so far in my attention. I could
be sociable while not flirting, the same as Nadia.

     “Are you a friend of Mike’s?” She asked.

     “Not really. I came with someone else.”

     “Oh.” Her gaze roved over my frame with clear desire. “You’re
really muscular. Are you a football player?”

     I unconsciously scowled; football was for pansies. Those
guys couldn’t come close to doing what we did on the field. “No. I’m a lacrosse
player.” I grumbled.

     She looked a little discomfited for second, probably because
of my scowl, but then she smiled keenly. “Really, lacrosse? I’ve been to a few
of the games. You must be really good.”

     I looked at her in mystification. She clearly didn’t
know me. How would she know if I was good? “Why?”

     Giving me another lust-filled inspection she leaned
closer. “Because you’re so big.”

     I sighed and rolled my eyes inwardly. Seriously!? That
was her basis for why I must be good. “I’m okay.” I grunted trying to hold in
my irritation at the inane chit-chat.

     Looking back to the table I saw Nadia watching us again
still wearing her frown, and for a second time she had to be informed that it
was her turn to bet. She gave me a glare before returning her attention back to
the game. Again, I had to hold back my smile. The girl was continually tying me
up in knots. It was gratifying to know that I might do the same to her.

     Fifteen minutes later I was sorry I gave Lauren any
indication that I was interested in anything she had to say because the girl
was driving me bat-shit crazy with her mind-numbing conversation. Nadia’s
reaction was the only reason I was able to put up with it for so long. It wasn’t
often she let her mask slip and I was stupidly enjoying observing her
displeasure at another female showing interest in me, but at the same time I felt
guilty at goading her. I was making the decision to get up and walk away when
Nadia suddenly announced she was quitting the game.

     I sat up straighter in my seat surprised she was
leaving only an hour into the game. Had she reached her desired goal already? A
look around the table revealed that many of the guys still had many of their
chips remaining so it didn’t look like she’d hauled in that much money.

     Everyone at the table protested her leaving and Nadia
smiled wanly. “I’m sorry, but my head is just pounding. I can barely zink.”

     Mike leaned forward with an expression of concern and
actually looked like he was going to place a hand on her back in comfort. This,
as well as
my
concern for her, had me shooting out of the chair striding
over to her. I heard a squeak of alarm from Lauren at my abrupt departure but
ignored her. Mike took note of my swift advancement and seemed to rethink his
act of comfort…which was a smart move on his part.

     “We will just cash you out then. Hopefully next time
you’ll feel better.” Mike extended instead.

     She smiled at him warmly which had me gritting my
teeth, but it had Mike returning the smile ardently. “Zank you, Mike.”

     As Mike cashed Nadia out my gaze roamed her face
looking for signs of sickness. The only thing I noticed was that her pink lips
were slightly tight, and she seemed to be holding herself rigidly. These
symptoms could be signs of a headache.

     “You must not have been feeling well, Nadia. You actually
lost money.” He ended his count at eight hundred and fifty dollars. 

     Oh Shit! Is that why she was cashing out early?

     Nadia smiled giving the appearance she didn’t care when
I knew she did. “Can’t win zem all.” She said with a shrug standing up while
pocketing her money. “See you guys next time.” With a small wave she stepped
away from the table and without one glance in my direction walked from the
room. 

     I frowned after her and was about to follow when I
noticed she’d forgotten her bottle of vodka. Knowing she wouldn’t want it left
behind I grabbed it and headed for the door.

     “Seth, where are you going?” Lauren called tripping
after me in her high heels.  

     I didn’t bother to look back at her as I answered in
irritation. “With my date.”

     I caught up with Nadia in the hallway but didn’t say
anything to her. I knew she had to be upset and pissed at losing money and
understood she wouldn’t want to talk about it around other people. It was
probably going to be difficult to get her to talk about it alone. When we
reached my truck I unlocked it opening the door for her and she climbed in not
looking at me, lips and jaw tight.

     Fan-fucking-tastic! She was really pissed.  

     Walking around to the driver’s side I slid in and
started the engine. She continued to ignore me, and I was actually at a loss on
what to say. Winning money to send her brother and sister to school was
important to her, but this was only the first time she’d lost money that I knew
of. She had to realize, statistically, that she was bound to lose sometime.

     As I drove I made the decision not to take her home
just yet and headed for Vista Park. Nadia didn’t seem to be aware of our
direction as she gazed out the window with a perma-frown. A little while later
I pulled into the park and headed for the lake at the center. Nadia’s frown
deepened as she finally became conscious of her surroundings. 

     “What are we doing here? I want to go home.” She stated
maintaining her surveillance out the window.

     That she didn’t want to look at me was troubling. Nadia
wasn’t someone who avoided confrontation. I parked in front of the lake and
turned off the engine.

     “I want to go home.” Nadia said crossly.

     “No.” I stated turning on the cab light wanting to see
her expression. 

     She turned on me angrily, but I was taken aback by the despondency
that also filled her eyes. “No?” She bit out furiously. “You do know I have a knife
in my purse and I’m not afraid to use it.”

     “Yes, I know, but I’m still not taking you home yet. I
want you to tell me what’s wrong.”  

     She gave me a disbelieving look. “What’s wrong is zat I
lost money.” She snapped angrily.

     “Nadia, it was bound to happen some time.” I stated
reasonably taking note of her heavy accent.

     “Zee only reason I lost was because of you.” She
yelled.

     Her words had me freezing in shock. She was blaming me
for losing? “How in the hell was it my fault?” I countered getting angry
myself.

     She shook her head looking away from me again. “
Figu
.
Pozhaluysta
, just take me home.”

     I held my temper. “English, Nadia. What does
figu
mean?” I already knew
pozhaluysta
meant ‘please’.

     “Never mind.” She gritted between her teeth.

     “I’m not going to never mind, Nadia. What does it
mean?”

     She sighed shaking her head. “
Fugi
means ‘never
mind’.”

     Oh…well no wonder I got confused there, but it still
applied. “Again, I’m not going to never mind. I want to know why you are this
upset and why you are blaming me? I’ve been to three other games with you and
you had no problem winning then.”

     Her head fell back against the head rest, and she
looked tired all of a sudden. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She gripped.

     That tone of hers cleared my anger and had me grinning.
“
Pazhalsta
, Nadia. Give me something.”

     Her hand clapped down over her eyes. “Your Russian
sucks.”

     “Yes, I know. Why do you think I never tried saying
your Christian name?” I responded.

     Turning her head she lifted her hand and looked at me
with narrowed eyes that were tremendously alluring causing my dick to swell.
“You haven’t have you?”

     “No, I knew I’d say it wrong and I didn’t want to do
that.”

     “But you seemed to know when everyone else was saying
it wrong.” She said watching me curiously.

     “I have a good ear, just not good language
articulation.”

     She grinned dimly before sighing again and as the
silence lengthened I recognized she was attempting to wait me out. “Nadia, I’m
not going anywhere.”

     “
O, radi Boga
.” She exclaimed slapping her hands
down on her thighs and looking at me in irritation. “You were distracting me,
okay. Zat girl was sitting almost in your lap and you just sat zere allowing
her to touch you…” Nadia held up three fingers. “Zree times. It didn’t take me
long to see zat you were getting annoyed by her but it was still
chert
distracting, and because of zat my concentration was difided causing me to
lose.” With one last incensed glare she turned away from me.

     My dick wasn’t the only thing that swelled as she
ranted at me. I felt bad that I’d distracted her causing her to lose a hundred
and fifty dollars, but at the same time I wanted to smile because she’d been
that possessive of me. “I’m glad you recognized I wasn’t interested in her, and
you’re right, she was annoying as shit. In fact, I was about to get up in the
middle of her conversation and walk away when you announced that you were
quitting. I’m sorry as shit that you lost money, Nadia, but I have to confess
that I’m pleased as shit that you’re finally admitting you care.”