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CHAPTER 10

RPOV

The first thing I did when I arrived at school on Monday was trying to find Lissa. I'd been calling her all weekend, but she'd ignored my calls every time. Honestly, I couldn't blame her. She had every right to be angry with me after the way I left at our sleepover.

I found her at her locker. She was talking to Adrian. As soon as she caught sight of me, her face clouded with anger and she slammed her locker shut, turning away from me. Adrian looked up and his smile faltered. I think he realized that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

"Hey Liss," I said carefully as I approached her. "Can we talk? Please?"

She huffed. "I don't see why we have to talk."

Adrian cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. "I should go." He walked past me, whispering in my ear, "Good luck, Rose."

I offered him a smile and then looked at Lissa. She was still not looking at me and clearly wanted to be someplace else.

"I called you a few times this weekend," I started hesitantly.

"I know," she snapped. "I didn't feel like talking, though."

I sighed and looked down, ashamed. "I'm really sorry, Lissa. I didn't mean to leave like that, but-"

"But you did it anyway!" she cut me off, looking at me angry and hurt. "Why? We were supposed to have a sleepover and then you just decide to leave in the middle of the night! If you'd told me why, I might've been able to understand, but now…" She shook her head. "It's like you just didn't want to stay over! You bailed on me."

"I swear, that's not true," I said, looking at her pleadingly. "I just… I-"

She looked annoyed. "Please don't make any excuses."

"I was feeling uncomfortable with Nathan there," I explained. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. "He…he makes me feel uncomfortable and I… I just thought it would be better if I left."

Lissa frowned. "That's bullshit, Rose. Why would Nathan make you feel uncomfortable? He didn't do anything."

"He was bothering me," I said. "I asked him to leave me alone, but he didn't."

"Andre said he was just flirting with you or whatever," Lissa said. "The guy likes you and you just run off. And even if he was really bothering you, you could've just come back to my room and stayed there. No way Andre would have let him go to my room."

"I guess not, but still…"

Lissa let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, I'm not in the mood for this. I tried to restore our friendship – or what's left of it – but it's clear you don't want this as much as I do. Otherwise you wouldn't make up these lame excuses."

I looked at her, shocked. "But Lissa-"

"I'm late for class," she cut me off before turning around and leaving in a hurry.

I stood there frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do. Before I could do something – like stop her – someone tapped my shoulder.

"You okay?" Viktoria asked, looking concerned.

"Um, yeah," I muttered, glancing over my shoulder at Lissa. She'd just disappeared around the corner. "So…how are you?" I asked, changing the subject.

She grinned. "I'm good. I got to hang out with Ivan this weekend."

I arched an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

If possible, her grin grew wider. "Yeah, he came over to help me with my homework. I suck at math and he happens to be good in it."

"Oh, wow, good for you. Maybe next time he can help you with biology," I teased. I wiggled my eyebrows, causing Viktoria to giggle. She nudged me with her elbow and I nudged her back. "What?" I said. "As if you wouldn't like that."

A blush crept onto her face. "Shut up," she muttered, smiling reluctantly.

"See you later, Viktoria," I said before we parted ways, to each of our classes.

DPOV

I smiled when I saw Rose sitting at the bar, chatting with Ivan. She was early today. I bet she was eager to get started since we hadn't done much practice during the weekend.

"You're early," I noted as I stopped beside her. She jumped a little, surprised, but then looked up at me and smiled. "I'm starting to wonder if you're coming here for lessons or just for me," I teased.

What the hell did I just say? I knew I looked calm and sure on the outside, but on the inside I was mortified. Why the hell did I say that? What was wrong with me? Who knows what she must be thinking of me right now…

I felt Ivan's gaze on me, a funny look on his face. He was probably thinking the same right now.

"Ha!" she said with a grin. "The only thing I want from you is your fighting skills." She grabbed me by the arm – I couldn't help but feel a strange fluttering in my stomach as she did so – and started pulling me away from the bar. "Come on, comrade. No time to lose."

We walked past the main gym and went into one of the smaller rooms, where I usually held the self-defense classes. Grabbing the mats, I dragged them out to the middle of the room while Rose did some stretches. When I glanced over at her, she was bending down and touching her toes, giving me a good view of her perfect ass. I forced myself to look away and shut my eyes, groaning internally. What the hell am I thinking? I should not think like that about Rose. It's wrong. So, so wrong.

I couldn't help it, though. I'd always thought Rose was very attractive, but, lately, I'd been thinking more and more about her – and it had nothing to do with my concern for her. Sure, I was still worried about her and wanted her to be safe. But I'd started thinking about other things, too.

Like the way she'd smile at me and how warm it made me feel inside, the weird fluttering feeling she gave me whenever she touched me and how happy I was to see her every time she walked into the gym. It was practically the highlight of my day. I was even starting to like the stupid nickname she'd given me.

I realized I was crushing on her and the more time I spent with her, the stronger my feelings for her became. I knew it was wrong – I mean, she was seventeen, a minor – but I couldn't help the way I felt about her. I felt so stupid; I was twenty-four years old and I had a crush. Crushes were something for teenagers, not for grown men.

I'd told myself so many times now that the crush would go away, but after what happened last Friday night, I knew it wouldn't go away so easily. When she'd called me in the middle of the night this past Friday, nearly crying, I'd been so scared that Nathan had hurt her. Honestly, I don't think I'd ever been so scared in my life before.

When she'd told me she'd gotten away just in time, I'd felt so relieved. But also angry. Not at her, but at Nathan. I was so angry at him for what he'd done to her. She couldn't even sleep without having nightmares. I swear, if I'd ever see that guy again, I would strangle him. The urge to protect and take care of Rose was so strong, I feared that soon she would notice my feelings for her and that was the last thing I wanted.

"Hey comrade!" Rose exclaimed, punching my arm lightly. "Wake up!"

I snapped out of my reverie and looked down at Rose.

"You okay?" she asked. "You seem distracted."

"I'm fine," I said, giving her a reassuring smile.

Biting her lip, she looked at me and then, tentatively, she reached out with her hand and touched my cheek. I took a sharp intake of breath and stared at her, wide-eyed.

"It looks a lot better," she said. "Does it still hurt?"

"No," I answered, reveling in her touch. Wrong. So wrong. "It doesn't hurt at all. Never did."

She smirked. "Tough guy, huh?"

I flashed her a grin. At last, she pulled her hand away and I suppressed a sigh. Turning around, she walked over to the mats and motioned for me to come over.

"Let's start," she said excitedly.

I smiled reluctantly and joined her on the mats. I taught her some takedown moves today. She mastered them within the hour and I couldn't help but feel proud. She was doing a really good job. I knew she still felt unsure about herself, which explained why she froze when Nathan tried to hurt her again. She needed her confidence back, but that would take time. If I could make her see how good she was at this, she wouldn't doubt herself anymore next time Nathan came around. But, honestly, I hoped there would never be another confrontation between the two of them. And if that was not the case, if he did show up again, then I hoped I was there so I could teach him a lesson.

Next, I taught her how she could escape after being pinned down to the ground. This part was excruciating for me because of how close we were to each other right now, our bodies nearly touching. I tried not to think too much about it.

Rose struggled to get free as I pinned her down to the floor, making sure to keep the most of my weight off of her. She cursed a couple of times until she finally gave up.

"This is so unfair!" she complained. "You're freakishly strong and I'm just-"

"Rose, you're not thinking," I said, trying to hide a smile. She scowled at me and this time, the smile broke out on my face. I sat back on my heels and pulled her up with me. "We've been practicing for hours. We should probably stop now."

"What? You're not going to tell me how I was supposed to break free from you?" she said, almost outraged.

"I will show you tomorrow," I answered. "We've done enough for today."

She grumbled something under her breath as she followed me out. When we reached the women's lockers, I turned around and looked at her.

"You did a good job today, Rose," I said.

Slowly, the frown was replaced by a reluctant smile. "Well, at least one of us thinks I did a good job."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," I said, giving her a little nudge. "You're doing great and you get better and better every day."

"Thanks, comrade," she said, looking pleased to hear that. She tugged at the tie in her hair and let her hair cascade down her shoulders, combing her fingers through the curls. My eyes widened slightly at the sight of it and I quickly looked away before she caught me staring at her. "I'm going to take a shower. See you in a bit."

I nodded and turned around, making my way to the bar, where Ivan stood behind it. When he saw me, he started grinning.

"So how was the training with Rose?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Did you have fun?"

I glared at him. "Shut up."

Ivan smirked. "I know you like her. Tasha told me about Saturday morning. That Rose came downstairs from your apartment and that you were like, 'oh yeah, it's completely normal she's up there'."

I thought back to that day, how I'd woken up next to her, my arm wrapped around her. I must've done it unconsciously. I was glad the whole situation hadn't been too awkward. Rose hadn't acted differently so I hadn't either.

"What was she doing up there anyway?" Ivan asked, curious.

"She has nightmares since she got assaulted and her parents are not at home most of the time. She didn't feel safe staying alone at night so I let her sleep in my apartment," I lied. I knew Rose wouldn't want me to tell Ivan what had happened and I understood that. And it wasn't like all of it were lies. Rose did have nightmares since that night and I knew she didn't like to stay home alone anymore.

"Oh." He sighed. "Poor girl. I can't imagine what she must be going through right now."

I nodded. "Yeah…"

"What's with the bruise?" Ivan suddenly asked. "I've been meaning to ask, but I forgot."

"Oh. Um, Rose had a nightmare and she might have hit me when I tried to wake her up," I admitted reluctantly.

Ivan started laughing. "Seriously?"

"Of course you'd think that's funny," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

He sobered up. "I still think you like her, you know."

I opened my mouth to say something, but just then a costumer came for a bottle of water so I shut up and waited until we were alone again.

"I do not like her!" I said vehemently, trying to convince both him and myself.

"Oh no, because you always flirt with women you don't like," he said sarcastically, giving me a knowing look.

I scowled. "I wasn't flirting with her."

Ivan arched an eyebrow. "No?" he challenged.

"No," I retorted. "Don't be ridiculous. She's seventeen – a minor. I wouldn't – I don't like her," I stammered, realizing I was only making this worse. I sighed and slumped against the bar. "I can't like her."

"Well, you can't help who you're falling for," Ivan said with a shrug.

"Didn't you just hear what I said?" I said. "She's a minor."

"She's seventeen, Dimka," Ivan said. "She'll be an adult soon."

"It doesn't matter," I said dismissively. "Even if I did like her – and I don't – I'm still seven years older than her. And after what she's just been through, with that Nathan guy…" I shook my head and sighed. "I don't want her to think I'm some kind of creep. Like Nathan."

Ivan looked outraged. "You're nothing like him! And after everything you've done for Rose, I'm pretty sure she knows that too. And honestly? If the looks she's giving you are anything to go by, she likes you too."

I wanted to be hopeful, I wanted to believe that was true, but I couldn't. "I'm just a friend to her," I told him. "And that's fine. Nothing can happen between us anyway."

"Why? Because she is seventeen?" Ivan questioned. I nodded and he let out an exasperated sigh. "What does age matter if you want to be with-"

Just then, I noticed Tasha coming our way. "Shut up!" I said quickly before she could hear anything. The last thing I wanted was for Tasha to know that I had a crush on Rose. "Talk about something else."

"About what?"

"I don't care. Tell a joke or something," I said quickly. "Before she starts to get suspicious."

"I can't come up with – oh, hey Tasha," Ivan said, faking a smile. "What's up?"

"Hey," Tasha said, returning his smile. Then she turned to me. "My shift is over right now, but I was wondering… Since it's almost dinner time…" My eyes widened, realizing where she was going with this. "Would you like to have dinner with me? There's this new restaurant and I thought we could check it out."

"Um," I said, panicking. What was I going to say? I didn't want to have dinner with her. Don't get me wrong, Tasha was a nice woman when she wanted to be, but I just didn't like her that way. I'd been giving hints already that the feeling wasn't mutual, but she just wouldn't give up. "I… I-"

"I'm afraid Dimitri's not available tonight," Ivan interrupted. "He's already got plans."

Tasha scowled. "Oh?"

"Yeah. With me," Ivan replied. "Guy's night out, you know."

She nodded in understanding. "Oh, okay." She smiled again, though it seemed a little fake. "Maybe some other time, then. Good night, Dimka," she said, squeezing my arm gently before leaving.

I hated it when she called me Dimka. Only my family and Ivan called me by my nickname, but she picked up on it and now she kept saying it too. It was annoying.

"Yeah, good night to you too, Tasha," Ivan muttered, rolling his eyes.

I let out a sigh of relief when she was gone. "Thanks, Ivan."

"You got to tell her you don't like her, Dimka. Seriously, that woman is not going to leave you alone if you don't tell her," Ivan said fiercely.

"I already told her so many times!"

"No, you hinted at it. You never actually said the words," Ivan argued.

"Fine, that's true," I admitted, "but she must know by now that I don't like her that way. How many times have I rejected her? It's like she doesn't want to realize that I don't want her."

"Tell her you're not into older women. Tell her you like younger women," Ivan said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Like Rose."

Tasha was only a few years older than me, but that wasn't why I didn't like her. She was just so clingy and fake. I could be around her for half an hour before she'd start to annoy me.

I scowled at Ivan. "I don't want to hurt her feelings, Ivan."

"Then fire her!" Ivan suggested.

"I can't do that either. She's doing a good job here. I can't fire her because I don't like her back."

"Well, you could fire her for not being professional," he responded with a shrug.

"Then I should fire myself, too, because I'm not being professional either with Rose."

Ivan laughed. "You can't fire yourself. You're the boss. And hey, it's a whole different situation with Rose. She's more than just a random costumer. She's your friend."

I sighed. "I know."

Just then, I caught sight of Rose walking towards us, a smile on her face. I lit up as soon as I saw her and smiled. Her hair was damp and her cheeks flushed from showering. She'd changed back into her jeans and a red top, her leather jacket thrown over her arm. She looked absolutely gorgeous. I felt Ivan's gaze on me again so I forced my eyes away from Rose.

"Well, I'm going home," Rose announced. "Just wanted to come and say goodnight to you guys before I leave."

"You want me to drive you home?" I asked. "It's already getting dark."

"No, that's okay," Rose said. "Don't trouble yourself. I'll be fine."

I frowned a little. "Will you text me when you get home? So I'll know you're okay."

She smiled again. "Sure."

"Thanks, Roza," I said, smiling back.

"Good night, then," she said. "See you tomorrow."

"Good night, Roza," I called after her as I watched her walking to the exit. When she was gone, I turned back to Ivan.

He chuckled. "Oh, Dimka. You're a terrible liar."

"What do you mean?" I asked frowning.

"It's so painfully obvious you like Rose. You can deny it all you want, but I can see right through your little façade."

"Great," I muttered sarcastically.

The last thing I wanted was for it to be obvious that I was crushing on Rose. It seemed like I was going to have to do a better job at keeping my feelings in check.

Will Dimitri listen to Ivan this time and tell Rose about his feelings for her or is he going to keep hiding it from her? I know you guys want them to kiss already and I promise, it'll happen soon! ^^

I hope you liked the chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you think of it :)

Have a nice day/evening! ;)