Ice & Prejudice

Chapter 39

Ria's POV:

I had been avoiding Nikolai like the plague for an entire week now, ever since that night at The Lagoon. Every detail was seared into my memory—the way I'd practically begged him to kiss me, the intensity in his eyes as he resisted. He probably thought I was still drunk, that I didn't know what I was saying. But the truth was, I'd wanted that kiss long before I had any alcohol in my system. And now, I couldn't face him out of sheer embarrassment.

I canceled all our tutoring sessions, claiming I was overwhelmed with mid-terms coming up. When he called, I ignored it. When he texted, I told him how busy and stressed I was. I even started taking different routes to my classes, just to avoid the possibility of running into him or any of his friends. It was pathetic, but I didn't care. I needed space, time to figure out what the hell was wrong with me.

So on Friday morning, I found myself sitting outside my lecture hall, way too early, just like I had been all week. It was my new routine—get to class before anyone else, hide away with a book, and pray that Nikolai wouldn't find me. I curled up on the bench by the door, trying to lose myself in the pages of my novel, but it was no use. My mind kept wandering back to him, to that stupid night, to how his presence seemed to linger in my thoughts even when he wasn't around.

I was so focused on the book in front of me that I didn't notice the footsteps approaching until they were right in front of me. I looked up, and my heart sank. Of course, it had to be him.

Nikolai stood there, tall and handsome as ever, his usual cocky smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. He looked effortlessly cool in a leather jacket, a beanie pushed back on his head, and that stupidly confident expression on his face. Even worse, he smelled amazing, that familiar mix of cologne and something uniquely him that made my heart do stupid little flips in my chest.

I hated that I liked the older brother of the guy who had hurt me the most in the world, but Nikolai was different. He was charming, playful, and way too good at getting under my skin. And I seemed to like that.

"Morning, Victoria," he greeted, his voice smooth and teasing. "You've been quite the ghost this week. Thought I'd have to send out a search party."

I forced a smile, hoping it looked more natural than it felt. "Just busy with deadlines and mid-terms, you know how it is."

His eyes narrowed slightly, like he wasn't buying my excuse for a second. "Sure, sure. But you canceled every single one of our tutoring sessions. Something tells me it's not just mid-terms keeping you busy."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off, that smirk growing wider. "Lucky for you, I'm not here to give you a hard time about skipping out on our sessions. I'm here to invite you to my hockey game tonight."

I blinked, caught off guard. "Your hockey game?"

"Yeah," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You know, the sport with the ice and the sticks? Figured it might be a good way for you to unwind after a stressful week."

My heart pounded in my chest, and I quickly shook my head. "No, thank you. I've got a lot of studying to do."

His smirk didn't falter. If anything, it grew even more smug, like he knew exactly how to play this game. "Come on, Victoria. You've been avoiding me all week, so consider this your chance to make up for it. One hockey game, and I promise I won't bug you about all those missed sessions."

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to put up some sort of defense against his relentless charm. "I'm really not interested, Nikolai. I have too much on my plate right now."