Page 47
“Fuck!” Aleksandr stomped his foot angrily before picking up his dropped Hula-Hoop and hurling it down the field.
Nikolai laughed next to him, his hips slowly moving. “Told ya I was an expert.” He winked, taunting his older brother.
Aleksandr glared and took a step in his direction.
“Uh!” Mikhail warned, finger in the air. “This is a no-contact game. Park it, mister.”
Aleksandr growled, not moving a muscle.
“Park. It.” Dimitri grunted, staring straight ahead while his hips moved to keep the Hula-Hoop up. He was so focused, so in the moment, trying to sound harsh and fierce while his hips swiveled and swayed.
I couldn’t help it. I snickered.
With a hmph, Aleksandr sat, legs crossed and arms folded over his chest.
“Bloody sook.” Nikolai cackled.
Aleksandr didn’t give a shit about the no-contact rule after that. He punched out in Nikolai’s direction without evening looking, his knuckles ramming into his brother’s leg, causing him to fall and taking him out of the running.
“Hey!” Mikhail chastised. “I said no contact! Minus three points for breaking the rules.”
“WHAT?!” Aleksandr jumped to his feet. “You can’t do that!”
“You want to make it six?” Mikhail warned.
Aleksandr’s mouth snapped shut, an infuriated scowl on his face before he slowly, calmly took his seat once again.
With Nikolai out, Tatiana was the only one still in it for their team.
Down the line, everyone was locked the fuck in, focused on themselves and themselves alone, determined to win it for their team.
Mikhail was in front of Dimitri, recording him, his phone up like a professional videographer, bending this way and that, trying to get a shot of him from every single angle. The vein in Dimitri’s forehead was throbbing like mad.
“That’s it, DeDe, just act natural. Give me a little chin and push your face forward. Uh-huh. Oh, yeah. Now give me tiger. Give me kitty cat. Give me—”
Dimitri snapped. He hurled forward, Hula-Hoop still around his body, tackled Mikhail to the ground, and started laying into him.
“Ow! Ow! Fuck! Not the face, DeDe! Not the face! It’s my moneymaker!”
I rolled my eyes, chuckling softly. After about five minutes of trading blows, Dimitri called it quits, giving Mikhail a swift kick to his side before coming back over and taking a seat next to me.
Arturo was next to go out, followed closely by Lyla, and then Drea. Illayana was in the zone, hyperfocused and hypervigilant on every move her body made. Same as Lukyan and Tatiana. I unconsciously fell into the easy motion of Hula-Hooping as my mind began to wander. With Aleksandr and Drea out and the loss of three points, it meant that if Illayana could place first or second, she would win.
In order to do that, I would have to throw the game.
I looked down at Dimitri sitting by my side. He didn’t need me to utter any words. He could see with just one look what was flying through my mind. What I was thinking about doing. His gaze flicked to Illayana and back to me, and he gave me a barely noticeable shrug.
I wasn’t in the competition to win. I wasn’t interested in taking home some silly trophy. For me, being a part of this tradition, being accepted and treated like family…It already made me a winner in everything that mattered to me.
I stopped moving.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Aleksandr Volkov
“Around of applause for this year’s winners of the Volkov Games, Illayana and Arturo!” Mikhail declared, holding up a glass of whiskey.
Spread out around the living room, Father, Autumn, Nik, Tatiana, Lukyan, and Lyla raised their glasses in a toast, cheering and offering their congratulations. When I didn’t, Tatiana rammed her elbow into my side.
