There was silence for a heartbeat, then he said, “What?”
For the first time, I seemed to have his full attention. He had turned toward me and was actually making direct eye contact. He had pale eyes the color of a frozen lake. They were mesmerizing.
“Yep, that’s what my ex-boyfriend told me. That I’m terrible at it. I suck, apparently.”
“Maybe he’s an asshole,” Olek said. “And definitely the one who is terrible in bed, because who says something like that?”
That made me feel better. For all his sternness, Olek agreed that telling someone they’re bad in bed is just rude.
“See, I don’t really know, because I’ve never been with anyone but him. We were together for three years and now, well, I think I need a teacher to show me what I’ve been doing wrong.”
Again, with the silence. His expression was unreadable. He barely reacted to anything I said. “You want a sex tutor?”
I nodded.
“I guess it couldn’t hurt. Maybe you’ll find out it wasn’t you. Though I’m not sure where you find a sex tutor.”
“See, that’s the thing,” I said.
I gave him a smile over my martini glass, then sipped it. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“I was hoping you would do it, Oleksander Volkova.”
Chapter Two
Oleksander
I eyed Sydney in shock, though I kept my expression neutral. A sex tutor. She wanted me to teach her how to fuck. Was that even a thing?
I knew I should have skipped this damn party. Fucking Dak.
“Is this a joke?” I asked. “Did those assholes put you up to this?” Though honestly if my friends had, they’d chosen the wrong woman to come and tempt me into breaking my celibacy. Sydney was cute, but she looked like someone’s kid sister trying to be sexy. All fluttering eyelashes and high heels she kept shifting around in.
“It’s not a joke. I’m very serious. Will you have sex with me?”
“I’m flattered, but no.” I wasn’t even sure I was flattered. Why the hell would she pick me? I was being borderline rude to her because I was determined to stay away from women, period, until I got my head screwed back on straight after my failed relationship. I was on nine months of no sex, and I was wound fucking tight, but in a strangely satisfying way.
It was like a good workout. You pushed your body as far as it could go and it made you feel alive, electric, in control. That’s what staying away from women had done for me. I was on the edge of explosive anger half the time, but at the same time, I felt electrically charged and primed to go out on the field and play the best football of my life.
No way I was tossing that edge over for a woman who stared up at me with doe-like brown eyes and whose mouth moved almost nonstop.
“That’s it? Just no?”
“Yep. Just no.” I didn’t owe her any explanation.
“I can pay you.”
That made me raise my eyebrows. “Sweetheart, I don’t need a couple grand. I’m a millionaire.”
Her mouth dropped. “A couple grand? I was thinking five hundred bucks!”
That amused me. “I thought you wanted experience. That costs. But in all seriousness, don’t offer to pay men to fuck you. It’s creepy and you don’t need to do that. Plenty of men would be thrilled to jump into bed with you.”
“Thank you. Why not you, then?” There it was again, the eyelashes fluttering over the rim of her martini glass.
She was tenacious, I’d give her that. “I’m not getting involved with you, or anyone, right now.”
“It’s not involved. It’s sex.”
“That’s involved enough. No.”
“Please?” She gave me a sweet smile.
“No.” I crossed my arms across my chest so she would know I was serious.
“Please. Please. Please. Please.”
I was torn between horror and wanting to laugh. If she stomped her foot next, I wasn’t going to be able to handle it. “No! Stop asking, Sydney. I’m not going to give in. I’m not your father.”
Her head tilted. “Would you like me to call you daddy?”
For a split second, I had something like regret. Then I told her firmly, “No, I would not.”
“I don’t understand. I thought single men loved to get laid.”
Aside from the fact I was staying away from women right now, she’d just told me she sucked in bed. It wasn’t the most tempting offer ever. “This conversation is over.”
For a second she just stared at me. Then she said, “I’m very disappointed in you. You were my first choice. But I guess I have to move on down the list.”
There was a list? “How many guys at this party are you going to ask to fuck you?” I asked, astonished.
“As many as it takes.”
With that, she turned and walked away.
I felt a little less special, I’m not going to lie. A list. Damn. I stared after her, then shook my head and went to the bar, where Dak and Eloise were standing. “Eloise, no offense, but your cousin is a little nuts,” I said.
“How is that not offensive?” Dak asked.
Eloise sighed. “She asked you, didn’t she? It’s not as weird as it sounds. Or maybe it is, I don’t know. But you have to understand she’s just analytical. She puts everything into the form of a school assignment.”
“Asked him what?” Dak asked.
“If I would teach her how to be a better sex partner.” I asked the bartender for a vodka. I needed it.
Dak coughed. “Damn. Okay. What did you say?”
“No, of course. Are you insane? I don’t need a complication like that in my life.”
Eloise sighed again. “Are you sure? She’s just going to keep asking players until she finds one who says yes.”
“That’s not my problem.” I glanced behind me. She was talking to Cash. “She’s barking up the wrong tree with Cash. He can’t talk about sex out loud without blushing. I doubt he’d be willing to give instructions on where to put what.”
We all watched Cash choke on his drink at something she said, thumping on his chest, head shaking no vehemently.
That made me grin. “Shot her down. Poor Cash, he looks horrified.”
“Poor Cash? Poor Sydney,” Eloise said. “That’s two strikes. That can’t feel good.”
“She can’t take nos as actual rejections,” Dak said. “It’s a blitz approach she’s taking. You can’t even see it coming, so there’s no time to actually react.”
“Exactly,” I said. “It’s not like a woman flirting, then you hook up. This was just a hit from behind.”
I accepted my drink with thanks, then watched Sydney weave her way through the crowd until she found Miles. She seemed to have sped up her approach. Maybe she regretted wasting ten minutes talking to me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. She had actually been very entertaining, in a quirky, adorable, chatty, and slightly annoying kind of way. “What do you think? Hundred bucks says he says yes.”
“No, he won’t say yes. He’s got a little thing going on right now with one of the cheerleaders.”