“I think it is me who is the lucky one, but do you know what this really means, moya printsessa?” I asked as I turned her head towards mine so she could see how serious I was.

“No. What?” she said softly, those beautiful blue eyes of hers slowly drifting closed.

“I’m the lucky one because you really are mine now,” I growled, pulling her body closer. “And I’m not giving you up for anything.”

chapter 9

aubrey

Luka and I quickly fell into the habit of having me spend the night at his place. It had gotten to the point where I felt a little guilty that my parents were paying room and board for a single when I almost never stayed there anymore. That guilt was tempered by the knowledge that they would flip their shit if they knew that I spent so many nights with Luka. My mom had already met him, but my dad always seemed to be busy when we were able to meet her for lunch or dinner.

Luka’s schedule was still crazy. The team had won the last eight games straight, and their coach was pushing the team hard because he had visions of making it to the Frozen Four this year. As one of the assistant captains of the team, Luka had a lot of responsibilities that he took very seriously. Add to that my dad’s work schedule and it was a recipe for lots of missed opportunities for the two most important men in my life to meet each other. Either that or my dad was avoiding it because my mom told him that I’d finally met a guy I was absolutely crazy about. It was a toss-up between either scenario.

Luka had just gotten back into town last night after going home for Thanksgiving, and I felt guilty that he had come back early a day so we could spend a little time together. He didn’t get the chance to see his family as often as I did, but as much as I hated to take time away from them, I hadn't been able to say no when he’d asked me if I wanted him to come back Saturday. That had given us all of last night and most of today before he had hockey practice to be together. Luckily, my parents were distracted by having my two oldest brothers home for the holidays and hadn’t even blinked an eye when I told them I was heading out yesterday afternoon.

Lexi: Wanna go swimming?

Me: Yes!

Lexi: Ask Luka if he wants 2 come down 2.

Me: Will do. Need me 2 bring anything?

Lexi: Nah. Drake’s friends have it covered.

I wandered into the bathroom to find Luka, who was shaving. I stopped to stare at him first, almost forgetting why I’d come in the room in the first place. There was something incredibly hot about watching your man shave.

“Hey, Lexi wants to go swimming. Want to come with?” I asked, wrapping my arms around him and placing a kiss on his back.

“If you’re going, then hell yes I’m coming too,” he retorted.

“Awww, would you miss me if I went swimming without you?” I teased.

Luka took one last swipe of his chin before he ran the water and splashed it on his face. He turned in my arms as he wiped off with a hand towel. Then he tossed it over his shoulder and pulled me up for a kiss.

“You know I’d miss you.”

“Just like I’d miss you,” I reminded him.

“Do you have a suit over here or do we need to run over to your room first?”

“I’m sure Lexi has one I can borrow,” I answered.

Luka didn’t like that answer very much as he gazed down at my chest. “I don’t think so,” he said.

“Oh, c’mon. I’ve borrowed suits from her before. It’ll be fine,” I reassured him.

“Go get it and show me,” he commanded, kissing me on the forehead and setting me away.

“Bossy,” I grumbled, earning me a little swat on my ass. “Hey!” I yelped.

“I want to see you in that suit before we go down, Aubrey,” he said gruffly.

“Okay, okay. I heard ya,” I sassed back before running next door to grab one of Lexi’s spare bikinis. I was feeling pretty feisty, so I picked out one that I figured would drive Luka wild, too.

When I got back to Luka’s apartment, he was already dressed in swim trunks and ready to go. I went into his bedroom and slipped the bikini on before wandering into the bathroom to pull my hair up into a ponytail.

“Nyet,” I heard Luka hiss as he strode into the room behind me. “This suit is much too small for you to wear.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ve worn this one before. Besides, it fits me just as well as my other bikinis that I have in my room anyway. So we’d just be wasting a trip if you made me go change.”

I watched in the mirror as Luka’s head dropped down to his chest. He sighed deeply as his hands clenched against my almost bare hips. “You’ll wear one of my shirts over it on the way down,” he conceded.