She's Like a Piece of Home

"So tell me again why it's so terrible that you are going to this charity dinner?" Brooke Porter asked as she sprawled herself across Raleigh's bed. Her head popped up suddenly. "Oh! Do you think Carter Jonet will be there?"

"Who?" Raleigh Shannon asked as she turned and looked at her best friend. Brooke's jaw dropped slightly.

"Seriously, Raleigh. He plays for the Penguins. I talk about him all the time."

"I must tune you out," she mused. Brooke stuck her tongue out. "But I don't know... maybe. This dinner is a big deal in this town. My dad never missed it if he was home."

"Okay, so again, if you use to do these things as a teenager all the time, what's the big deal now?"

Raleigh was changing quietly in the corner. Brooke was there to help her style her hair and get ready for the Care to Dance charity function she agreed to go to. "I told you before. I gave up all this stuff almost a decade ago."

Brooke sighed. "It's not like he's going to be there, Lee-lee. I don't see the big deal now. It's been a long time and he plays on a team across the country. I think you're safe. Besides, normal people go to these things, too."

Down to her tank top and a pair of sweatpants, she sat down in her chair and held her brush out for Brooke. She reluctantly rolled off her bed and took the brush.

“Who knows,” she began as she started to brush Raleigh’s hair, “maybe you’ll meet your Prince Charming there.”

Raleigh resisted rolling her eyes. “Seriously? Aren’t you getting your doctorate in psychology? Shouldn’t you be discouraging women from that sort of idea?”

Brooke picked up the hot curling iron and pulled a section of hair out to curl. “I’m not talking about he’s-so-perfect-Prince-Charming. We see our Prince Charmings in different ways. One woman might see her Prince as someone that has a gift with words. For another, it might be someone who’s always there when she needs him. I’m not saying there’s a perfect guy out there, just that there’s a guy who’s likely pretty perfect for you out there.”

“What does that even mean?” She wrinkled her nose and stared at the gold dress hanging on her closet door. Why had she agreed to go to this thing with Cami and Quinn?

“It means that someday you will find someone who you’ll want to have more than a two date relationship with.” She released the second curl she was working on.

“I’ve gone out with a few guys more than twice.”

Brooke snorted. “Whoa. Don’t go crazy on me now.”

“I have standards.”

“Impossible standards…. Just try to have fun tonight. Beautiful dress. Beautiful hair once I’m done with it. Don’t be afraid to flirt!”

Raleigh swatted an arm over her shoulder at Brooke. “Okay, Mom.”

Brooke poked her back with her fingers on her free hand. “Love you.”

“Love you too… weirdo,” she muttered, her eyes catching the dress again. Her mind floated back to the last conversation she had about it with Cami, her older sister. “Come on… come have a couple glasses of wine and step out on the town with us. Besides,” Cami added when she had invited her, “you get to play dress up for the night. And when’s the last time you did that?” And that was how she managed to talk her into coming along. That, and Raleigh hoped that if she agreed to go to the one, Cami would stop bugging her about going to them. Raleigh had decided eight years ago that she was done with the charity events and parties and that she was going to be normal. Well, as normal as a kid of top professional athlete could be. Now, nine years later, she felt like she had managed that.

“Hello?” Brooke voice broke her thoughts.

“Huh?” She turned her head slightly to look at the freckled blonde behind her. Brooke’s hands immediately grasped both sides of Raleigh’s head as she straightened her back out.

“Just thought I lost you for a minute.” They were both mostly quiet while Brooke finished curling and styling her back loosely.

“I’m kind of nervous,” Raleigh admitted hesitantly. Brooke smiled at her through the mirror.

“You’ll be fine. I wish I could go with you.”

“Me, too.”

“Raleigh! Are you almost ready?” They nearly jumped as her sister’s voice carried down the hall. The brunette glanced at her phone.

“Oh, man. We better get moving,” Raleigh said as she finished. She pointed to the silky golden gown. “You have to help figure out how to get into this thing again.”

Brooke turned away while Raleigh stripped down to her underwear and slipped into the floor-length formal dress. “This thing is more low-cut than I remember it and I don’t remember the back being this low either,” she muttered adjusting the shoulders. “Okay, I need you to clasp this back thing.”

She felt Brooke’s soft fingers glide against her shoulder clasping the sheer fabric intricately beaded with crystals. She felt the strings of crystals swaying lightly against her back. She turned to face Brooke for the final thoughts. “Wow,” Brooke breathed as she took her in. “You look… amazing.”

Raleigh blushed at her friend’s appreciation as she smoothed out the silk. “Thanks. Are you sure it’s not too much?”

“Sweetheart, you are going to turn heads tonight. You must text me anything important that happens.” She handed her the strappy gold high heels that would add four inches to her average 5’ 4”. “I’m serious, though,” she added, her eyes held a bit of mischief as she spoke. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you go home with someone tonight.”

**
Raleigh sighed as she leaned against the rail overlooking the ballroom and stared out at the sea of people. She felt out of her element, surrounded by the very things she was trying to avoid in her life. She had already spotted a few well-known people from around the city, local celebrities and such, a few athletes whose names she didn’t know but recognized their faces from flipping through the newspaper.

“What are you doing?” Cami Belinsky asked her with more concern in her voice than probably necessary.

“Just thinking of everything else I could be doing with my time tonight?” she teased her sister. The blonde frowned. “Kidding,” she added apologetically. Her blue eyes softened.

“I think you can handle one night for charity, Raleigh,” she sighed. “Besides, it gives you a break from Mackenzie and work and it’s a night out.” Raleigh’s shoulders slumped slightly. Her dark auburn locks cascaded loosely over her shoulders. She sighed as she pushed her hair back. Cami continued, ignoring her feigned dramatics. “Just try to have some fun. I know you gave up all this stuff a while ago, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it one time.”

Cami had a point, but unwilling to relent, and perhaps to tease her sister a bit more, she fought a little harder. “And who, pray tell, do you think I would possibly talk to here?”

Cami smoothed a wrinkle that didn’t exist out of her deep purple, satin dress. “Raleigh…” she said in a calm tone. The blonde curls that had managed to untuck themselves from her delicate upswept hair, gently swayed along her face.

“Cami…” Raleigh returned in a deadpan tone. This caused Cami to smile and at least regain some of her humor.

“It’s a good chance to network,” she said with a small shrug and gestured to the sea of people. Raleigh let out a frustrated sigh. Cami was always the voice of reason, even when they were growing up. Levelheaded Cami always had the answers. “What else could you be doing right now other than giving to those who need help?” she asked as she motioned now toward the pictures of babies that surrounded them. The charity event they were at was a well-known one in their city.

She snorted. “You sound like a walking advertisement right now.”

“Besides,” the blonde continued, unfazed by her sister’s antics, “we come to support all they’ve done for Adele more than anything else. I certainly don’t miss the boring ones we use to go to with Dad.” She stood up straight and looked down her nose Raleigh and started speaking in a stuffy tone. “Excuse me, are you girls old enough to have that champagne?”

Raleigh giggled. “I forgot about that lady. What a nut.”

“And really,” Cami asked in her I’m-about-to-drive-the-point-home tone, “would you really rather be reading another stuffy history book tonight?”

“What’s so wrong with reading?” Raleigh remarked, ignoring her sister’s sarcasm. And she would have.

“Nothing,” Cami retorted causally. She held her hand out checking her manicure and looked up at Raleigh from the corner of her eye. She let out a ‘tsk’ and added in teasing tone, “But it’s kind of hard to have sex with a book.”

Raleigh’s jaw dropped and gave her sister a playful push. “Cami! I swear, you and Brooke act like I’m a nun or something!”

“If the shoe fits,” Cami jested with a wink.

At that moment, and much to Raleigh’s relief, Quinn walked up to them with a companion. A man about twenty years older than him had joined them. “And this,” he said gesturing towards her, “is my sister-in-law, Raleigh and my lovely wife, Cami.”

Both women politely shook hands with him and Raleigh took it as her opportunity to sneak away. She slowly backed out of the small circle and began to wander leisurely around the room. She stood at the rail overlooking the dance floor and surveyed the room. She amused herself by categorizing the groups of people she saw. She stepped to the side when she noticed a woman in a deep red gown inching closer to her. Moving backwards she only made it a few steps when she felt another body bump against her back.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she began to say as she turned around. She felt as though her voice was stuck when she noticed how tall the man was that she bumped. She took a half step backwards and drew her eyes upward as he stood several inches taller than her.

“It’s okay,” a deep voice coated in an accent returned. The boyish face grinned back at her.

“I-what?” Her manners seemed to fail her at the moment as she continued to look at him, mouth agape. You look like an idiot. Close your mouth. Do something! she began commanding herself. She closed her mouth and blinked a few times, trying to snap herself out of the daze.

“It’s okay,” he repeated himself. She caught herself staring at his deep-set dark brown eyes, that she was sure, were the same color as his hair. He had to be over six feet, easily, if not taller. Even with those heels on, he still seemed to tower over her.

“God, you’re tall…” the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them and her right hand flew to her mouth, her fingers covering it slightly. She could already feel her face heating up as she heard the snickers from the group standing behind him. An amused crooked smile remained on the man’s face. “Oh my God. That was out loud, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” he replied with a nod. He appeared to be unfazed by the group behind him. “Thank you, I think.”

*

“I’m Luka… Shvernik,” he said extending his long arm. She didn’t immediately respond. She seemed unsure of him or maybe still stunned. Auburn curls framed her face softly. Her hazel eyes were locked onto his dark brown eyes. When she still hadn’t answered, he added, “And your name?”

She blinked and her lips parted. “Oh! Raleigh.” She paused, not the breaking eye contact with him. Finally, she slid her hand into his and allowed a brief handshake. “Raleigh Shannon.”

He tried to study her without being obvious. She was stunning in a dress of gold silk that clung against her tightly toned body. The front dipped dangerously low and he tried to keep his eyes up. By this time, she had pulled her small hand out of his, her soft skin rubbing against his.

“Are you here with someone, Raleigh?” Carter Jonet, on of his friends called out from behind him. She peered around Luka to see them. He heard a couple ‘heys’ from them and Raleigh lifted her hand a bit and waved.

“I’m here with my sister and brother-in-law.” She tucked one of the locks behind her ear. Carter and Alex, doing their usual terrible job of being discreet, were muttering something about him. Raleigh was rubbing her hands together in front her looking down at them. “Well,” she started quietly. “It was nice meet – ”

“Dance!” he heard Carter sputter out under a cough.

“Ask her to dance…” Alex Conner growled in a low voice. By this time, he noticed Raleigh peering behind him again.

“Maybe I should ask if you are here with someone… Boyfriends?” she asked raising an eyebrow with a grin. She was cute, quick to joke, much like himself. Reluctantly, he turned to begin the, hopefully, brief introductions.

“My friends,” he said pointing to both, “Carter and Alex. Alex and Carter, Raleigh.”

They managed slight waves and polite smiles. Then shot looks at Luka and tilted their heads towards the dance floor. Several older couples had already populated it and were swaying slowly to the music.

“Do you want to dance?” This girl was cute. There was something familiar about her though. Something he couldn’t place.

She nodded slowly and smiled shyly. “I’d like that.”

He took her hand, leading her to the dance floor. By the time they made it a new song had begun. Her body glided against his as he placed his hand on the small of her nearly bare back, pushing small strings out of the way and cupped her other hand. Her body definitely felt firm. She took care of herself, he noted.

“So where are you from?” It was a natural question… and an obvious one, given his accent.

“Russia.” Vague answers. He use to say the name of city where he spent the first half of his life and now just the summers, but since people tended to not know it, he just began answering with the country. It was easier. If they knew his homeland, they would usually ask him for more detail. “Can you understand me okay?”

She shook her head slightly. “To be honest, I’m having a bit of trouble, but I’m piecing enough words together to get the idea…” He wasn’t sure how to respond until she finally let out a small chuckle. “I’m kidding! Your English is actually pretty decent. Accent’s a little rough, but I’ll manage. How long have you been stateside?”

“I come here when I was 18, about ten years. Take lots of classes to help English. Still mess up time to time,” he quipped. Her eyes glinted and a smile played on the corner of her lip, entertained by his admission.

“I see,” she declared in an amused tone. “So did you move to Pittsburgh when you were 18 or did you start off elsewhere?”

She either had absolutely no idea who he was or she was extremely talented at playing dumb. Over the last ten years, he had become accustomed to women using varying techniques to talk to him, some obvious and some not. He was guilty of using his profession from time to time to his advantage. This woman standing in front of him definitely seemed different than them.

“Here,” he said with a nod. “You? From Pittsburgh?”

She shook her head slightly. “I moved around a lot as kid. Wasn’t stable here until my early teens. When my dad was tra – parents moved away, I moved in with my sister and finished up my degrees here.” She was biting her lip and shifted her eyes downward, as though she felt she had something wrong. He brushed it off.

“Degrees? What did you study?” A smart girl. He liked that. This wouldn’t be easy. He had a type and so far she was about as opposite as it could get. Not blonde. Not blue eyes. Not Russian. Not tall. He couldn’t tell how tall the heels were that she was wearing, but still must had at least six inches on her.

“I have my masters in history,” she replied quietly. “I work at Heinz History Center. I’m an exhibit technician.”

He didn’t have a huge interest in history. Okay, he had zero interest in history, but he wanted her. He absolutely wanted her. “Sounds interesting,” the lie slid far too easily through his teeth.

“Eh, it gets my foot in the door until I can do what I want to do,” she admitted with a shrug. She brought her eyes back up to his. “What about you? What do you do?”

He swallowed. He had a gut feeling. This one didn’t need impressing to get. Don’t ruin this. “Bit of this. Bit of that,” he answered vaguely. Her face scrunched up.

“That’s not a real answer.”

“Would you like drink?” he offered, quickly changing the subject. She studied him briefly, her eyebrows furrowed as she made her decision. At last, she nodded.

*

Cami felt a gentle nudge against her arm. She smiled apologetically to the woman standing in front of her. “Sorry. Excuse me for a moment.” She looked up at her husband, expectantly.

He leaned down and spoke softly. “I thought your sister had that weird thing about athletes.”

She leaned back and raised her eyebrows as she locked eyes with him. “She does.”

He looked over her head and lifted his chin in the direction behind her. “Then why is she talking to Luka?”

“Luka? I didn’t realize he was coming tonight.” Intrigued, Cami turned quickly and scanned the tables until she spotted her baby sister sitting with Luka Shvernik, the extremely well known and talented professional hockey player. Because of Raleigh’s dismissive behavior of anything related to professional sports, which she blamed on their father, Cami hid Quinn’s friendship to Luka and a few of his teammates. “Oh my…” she began softly. She watched Raleigh’s hand reach of to brush something Luka’s sleeve and as she laughed. Raleigh pushed her dark brown locks over her shoulder. “Is she… flirting?”

“She has no idea who he is, does she?” Quinn asked still speaking quietly so that only Cami could hear him. She shook her head.

“None.” And how would she? She knew Raleigh didn’t follow hockey in the slightest and Cami had personally made sure that Raleigh would never run into any of them if they were at the house. For that matter, none of them knew she had a sister. Cami glanced at Quinn. “I thought he and Valeriya were back together.”

“I guess not…” he trailed off and passed a sideways glance at his wife. “Well, tonight just got a lot more interesting.”

“Quinn!” A deep booming voice pulled Quinn from her side and she continued to watch her sister curiously for a few more minutes. She was surprised when she saw her sister place her hand in his as he led her to the dance floor. She wondered how long it would take Raleigh to bail on him. Her sister had a streak for ending things the moment she was uncomfortable. She looked content though, smiling up at him as they swayed to the soft, jazzy music. Maybe this would be different.

“You’re going to look like a stalker if you keep staring at them,” Quinn whispered in her ear causing her to jump. She batted at him playfully.

“She just looks so…” she trailed off thinking, “happy.”

“Well, good for her. Maybe she’s gotten over it.” He stood up a bit straighter and gestured in front of him. “Jim here was just asking how work was going.”

*

He was sure now that she was flirting with him as she danced a bit closer to him than she had the first time around. She had relaxed a bit more after she began sipping the glass of wine he had given her. She wasn’t a wine drinker, she had told him. Confessing that she never cared for the taste. Blush, he had suggested, sweeter taste. She relented and cautiously lifted the glass to her lips. She admitted with a smile that it was good and drank the rest of the glass while they sat at an empty table making small talk. She had briefly told him how she had lived in three different cities, Denver, St. Louis, and Boston, all before she was ten. His US geography wasn’t the best, but he immediately recognized the three cities since he had traveled to all three of them for games. She hadn’t settled here until she around eleven and when her father transferred, she chose to stay here and go to college. After school, she had moved into the spare wing of her sister and brother-in-law’s house. When he told her how he grew up in the same house until he had moved here, she gave him a tiny smile. “That actually sounds wonderful,” she had stated with a small sigh. He was almost surprised at himself for paying that close of attention to what she was saying.

“So, in all seriousness, what exactly do you do?” she inquired again a few minutes later. He had to hand it to her. She wasn’t going to give up. He was silent, trying to figure out if it was worth telling her.

“I play hockey,” he answered carefully. He studied her, waiting for her to react.

“Oh.” Her mouth formed a small ‘o’ in surprise. She appeared to think about it for moment. “Like as a hobby?”

“Professional,” he responded quietly. Her body tensed almost instantly.

“Shvernik…” she murmured softly, her demeanor changing rapidly. Her eyes shifted to the floor. “Shvernik…oh…. I’m such an idiot,” she finally managed. He held his gaze on her. “You play for…” her voice trailed off as she looked back up at him, eyes wide.

“Yes. You follow hockey?” He was worried that she appeared so shocked. She shook her head, biting her lip again as her brown locks swayed side to side.

“No, but Cami and Quinn do.” She paused and he felt her shift her weight. “I – um – thank you for the dance, but I have to go.” She pulled out of his grasp and glanced up again with an apologetically. “I’m sorry, I just, I have to go.”

“Hope to talk to you again soon,” he told her as he let his arms fall to his sides. He saw the corner of her mouth twitch and begin to curl up. Her cheeks turned a rosy shade of pink. There was a smile, faint, but a smile. He watched as she walked away. She nearly sparkled from the crystals that ran down the length of her back.

Cami and Quinn? he thought as he made his way back to his friends. What are the odds? Nah, Cami had never mentioned a sister. Alex and Carter were no longer alone. Alex’s girlfriend and one of Luka’s closest friends, Molly Deluca, and Carter’s fiancée, Paige Collins, had joined them. The two girls were practically beaming as he got closer.

“So I hear you were dancing…” Paige said, winking at him. The tall, redhead smiled, eagerly waiting for Luka to respond. “Does this mean we’re finally over her?”

He didn’t have a chance to respond before Molly interjected.

“Who’s the mystery girl?” Molly was a short, thin and stunning raven-haired beauty. Her green eyes shone with curiosity.

“Aw, leave the poor guy alone,” Carter joked. “Looks to me like he got burned.”

Luka ignored him and kept his attention on Molly. He couldn’t figure out what had happened back there. He had never had a woman basically run away from him when he said played hockey for a living. He was accustomed to the exact opposite happening. Those women would work a little harder to keep him focused on them. “Her name Raleigh.”

“Raleigh, huh?” Molly said before taking a sip of the white wine. “That’s different… Who is she here with? Or not here with?”

“Did she forget she has a boyfriend?” Alex asked nudging Luka. He brushed him off.

“She is here with sister,” he told Molly. He shot a quick glance to Alex. “No boyfriend.” He glanced at Molly again. “Cami and Quinn. Does Cami have sister?”

Molly raised an eyebrow as she tapped her glass with index finger. “Cami? Our Cami?” He gave a short nod. A coy smile appeared on her face. “Yes, a younger sister. So your girl is Raleigh, huh?”

“How she not tell us she has little sister?” He was friends with Quinn. How did they avoid telling them anything about her for the last two years? How in the world had he avoided meeting her in the last two years? There was no way he wouldn’t have already made that happen.

“You’re not really her type,” she said with a smirk. They were all watching him. He could feel their eyes on him. What was wrong with him?

“Now, wait a minute. We’ve been to Cami’s house. She’s never mentioned a sister.” Alex sounded as perplexed as Luka felt. Just then Luka spotted Raleigh moving through a crowd. Sure enough, she met up with Quinn and Cami. Molly waved her hand in front of his face.

“Hello, Luka? What are you look-“ but she stopped mid-sentence when her eyes moved into the direction he was staring. “Oh, I see. You found her again. Hey Paige?”

“Yeah?” the redhead pulled away from Carter.

“Think we could handle a few more guests next Saturday?” she asked slyly.

Paige nodded mischievously. “I don’t think that will be a problem.”

“Well,” she declared setting her glass on the table near them. “Why don’t we just go and see if they’re free?”

Before he had a chance to respond, Molly was already walking away. Luka and Alex exchanged glances before following her. Alex grinned and prodded Luka with his elbow as they walked. “Molly. Your ever faithful wingman.”

Luka resisted rolling his eyes at his closest friend. She waited until they were close enough as to not to draw extra attention to them before calling out, “Cami!”

The shorter blonde turned and grinned broadly. She bore a striking resemblance to Raleigh, but looked a few years older. “Molly! I completely forgot you were coming tonight!”

“No worries,” she said coolly. “So, Luka was just telling us about how he bumped into your little sister.”
Cami smiled in response. “Yeah, I thought I saw them talking a bit ago.”

*

Raleigh wished it were possible to shrink away. Of all the people she could have possibly met tonight, why did it have to be from a group of men she loathed? Why couldn’t she have run into a banker? How did Cami not tell her that she knew these people?

Cami’s laughter brought Raleigh back into focus. “Earth to Raleigh?”

She felt her face heat up in embarrassment. God, I hope I wasn’t staring at him. “What?”

“Molly was talking to you.” The entire group was now looking at her. She had to be as red as Molly’s gown.

“It’s okay,” Molly said with a flip of her hair and a Cheshire cat smile, “I seem to get that reaction a lot.”
A loud burst of laughter came from the group. She silently thanked Molly for drawing the attention off of her.

“Anyway, I was saying, I hope Luka didn’t step all over your feet while you were dancing. He’s a great skater… just not such a good dancer.” Molly casually nudged him as she talked. Raleigh tried to regain her composure and slip back into a calm and collected mode.

“I actually didn’t think he was that bad.” She caught his reaction from the corner of her eye. A crooked grin appeared on his clean shaven, square face.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. So, Cami, how’s Mackenzie doing?” Molly asked as she focused her attention on Cami. By now, Alex had started talking to Quinn. Raleigh swallowed hard as she realized she was left with Luka. Of course. He took a step closer to her.

“So,” he started nearly inaudible. He pushed his hands into his pants pockets and rocked back on his heels. Was he nervous? she wondered. Not that it matters. He’s no different than them.

“So… When does your season start?” She wasn’t sure what else to ask him about.

“Next month,” he replied, not taking his eyes off of her. She let her hands hang down and twisted them in front of her.

“Oh.” She still couldn’t let her guard down. Be nice. This will be over soon.

Suddenly, Molly’s voice rose just enough so the others knew they were included in what she was about to say. “So Paige is having a small get together next Saturday to welcome back some of the players back into town. Just some of our friends, you know?” Raleigh studied her skeptically. Molly continue, her smile never faltering. “You guys should come. Of course, Raleigh, you’re welcome to come, too.”

“I think we’re free,” Quinn answered for himself and Cami, before looking over at her. She wished she could sink into the floor as the others followed his lead to look at her. “What about you, Raleigh? No big parties next weekend?”

Raleigh shook her head in response causing Molly’s smile to grow.

“Great!” she said almost too enthusiastically. “Well, we should really be getting back to the rest of our group. I’ll give you the details at work on Monday, Cami.”

Molly disappeared shortly after, Alex and Luka following closely behind her. She watched Luka walk away, unable to take her eyes off him. This was bad. Why didn’t she just say no? She caught her breath when he suddenly turned and smiled at her, interrupting her thoughts and damn if it didn’t leave her knees just a little weak.

*

“They are coming,” Molly declared to the group, causing Paige to grin at Luka.

“So I get to see this Raleigh up close, huh?” she said coyly. “Please just tell me she isn’t like the other nitwit.”

“Carter, you want to go grab drinks with me?” Alex quickly asked him. Carter nodded.

“See ya, man,” he added patting Luka on the shoulder and taking off behind Alex. They left him to be tortured by these two. Typical.

Molly continued on, not giving Luka a chance to say anything. “Oh, no. Raleigh’s a pretty good girl. Smart, too. I’ve worked with her sister for a long time. You know, I’m just surprised he’s breaking his thing for blondes.”

“Really?” Paige asked intrigued. “Well, this is new.”

He crossed his arms and sighed heavily, his jaw clenching slightly. “You two done?”

They broke into a fit of giggles. “Yeah… yeah,” Molly said taking a deep breath. “Just glad to see you moving on from her.”

“Why you two not like Valeriya anyway?” he questioned. Paige rolled her eyes. Both she and Molly had never taken to his ex-girlfriend. His on again/off again relationship with the leggy Russian ballerina was often a source of much personal stress for him. She had become a bad habit that he couldn’t break.

“Because she was just awful,” she grumbled as she gave him a dirty look.

“Your mom sure likes her, though,” Molly complained as she looked down and straightened her floor length red gown. “Can’t figure that one out for the life of me.”

“So Raleigh,” he said bringing their focus back around. “You say I not her type? I say I play hockey and she leave.”

Paige tilted her head slightly and cocked an eyebrow. “She ditched you?” She sucked a breath in through her teeth. “Wow. This really is new for you. You are actually going to have to work for this one.”

“But no worries,” Molly said. “This is why you have us.”

“So what’s the deal?” Carter asked as he and Alex rejoined the group. Carter handed Paige another wine glass as Alex passed glasses to Molly and him. “Sounds like Luka finally met the one he can’t close the deal with.”

“Carter!” Paige hissed at him. She looked up at Luka apologetically. “Just remember, the easy ones are never worth it. Like the ones you usually go after.”

“Ouch,” Carter muttered.

“Thanks for reminder,” he quipped. Paige grinned sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.

He scanned the room, disinterested in the conversation being carried on around him. He caught sight of the back of her dress sparkling as she exited the ballroom, following Quinn and Cami. Alex asked him a question and he nodded absentmindedly. It was then that realized that he was ready to leave.

“I think I go now,” he blurted, interrupting whatever it was they were discussing.

“What?” Paige asked, stunned.

“You are never the first person to leave,” Alex said next.

“Unless you have a chick,” Carter added. Then his eyes brightened. “Hey, you going for her?”

“No,” Luka said tensely. He would see her next week. He could definitely try again. He’d figure this girl out. Get her out of his system and move on.

“Oh, he has that look!” Alex jested. “What do you say, Carter? How long do you think it will take him?”

“No,” stated Molly firmly looking between them. Alex’s words refocused him. That was what he needed to get back in the right frame of mind. A challenge. There was nothing he enjoyed more than a challenge. And it shouldn’t take that long. Until she knew what he did, she was just as into him as he was into her. “You three are not doing this. She’s a good girl. I’m friends with her sister. YOU are friends with her brother-in-law.”

Okay, so he wouldn’t just sleep with her and ditch her. They could probably be friends. She seemed interesting. He just didn’t date American girls. He grinned impishly at his teammates. “I need something to do for rest of summer anyway.”