Okay, jeez, who was she kidding?Definitelymore.
“Looks like you’re thinking about playing with his jingle bells,” Naomi said suggestively.
“Don’t be gross.” Still, Jess grabbed a mint and her cherry lip balm from her purse. She wasn’t going to seek Nik out, but if he found her, what would it hurt to be ready? Just in case.
* * *
Nik had arrivedat Rhianne’s party with his brother and his brother’s girlfriend Natasha, decked out in homemade ugly sweater chic.
Most of Nik’s stuff was still in storage, so any weirdo Christmas attire he might have once owned was unavailable. He’d officially moved out of Dimitri’s house over the summer, despite the fact that he was currently staying in his old room during this visit.
Dimitri and Natasha didn’t own Christmas sweaters, either, so they’d all hit up the craft store that morning and spent the afternoon making their own outfits. Tash wore a green tank top with fake poinsettias and holly hot-glued to it. Mitya had rigged a battery pack to some colorful Christmas lights and wrapped them around his black velvet blazer. It was oddly fitting for a guy who always wanted to be center of attention.
Mitya and Tash had seemed to be having fun together while crafting, so Nik had just grabbed some accessories and left them to it. As a result, his costume was pretty simple.
“Don’t hit on Rhianne,” Dimitri warned Nik. “She’s the hostess.”
Nik called him a rude name in Russian. “I don’thit onwomen. I’m nice to them. It’s different.”
Anyway, Nik had no intention of hitting on Rhianne. His whole reason for being at this party was to hopefully see Jess again. He hadn’t reached out to her over the summer, when he was last in LA, although he’d thought about it. But then again, a few months ago he’d been content to travel the world, indulging the wanderlust Jess had accused him of and giving no thought to settling down. He’d always felt like he was searching for something, and if he could just travel enough, meet enough people, have enough experiences, he’d find it. But now, the search just didn’t interest him the same way it once had.
Dimitri rolled his eyes, but Natasha nodded.
“It’s true,” she said. “He just treats women like people. But he’s so handsome, it seems like flirting.”
“Spasibo, sestra,” Nik said, making her smile. Tash had been studying Russian for a few months, so she understood simple phrases like “thanks, sis.”
Nik suspected Dimitri was probably going to marry Natasha sooner rather than later. She and Dimitri had worked together onThe Dance Offfor years, dating on and off before Natasha finally moved in with him a few months ago. Since then, Dimitri had mellowed out, and it was nice to see him happier and not as brooding. It made Nik wonder if all that traveling, all that searching, was just keeping him stuck in “search” mode. If he was fixated on the search, he wasn’t going to find whatever he was looking for. Maybe he had to settle first, so he’d be ready when it showed up for him.
It didn’t help that when he thought of settling down, his brain automatically replayed the kiss he’d shared with Jess on New Year’s, and the conversation after.
There was something there, something between them, and he didn’t think it was one-sided. He hadn’t imagined the way she’d responded to his kiss, and he was still kicking himself for turning down her invitation to go back to the party with her. They could have spent the rest of the night dancing, getting to know each other, maybe cuddling and kissing more.
He’d never know.
In the last few months, ever since Nik had found out that theSeize the Nightnational tour was ending in mid-December, he’d been trying to give Jess hints. He’d liked all her Instagram posts—mostly promo and behind the scenes shots fromThe Dance Off, along with dance classes she taught, yoga poses, and the group home where she volunteered—and left brief comments with lots of emojis, but she wasn’t biting. He hadn’t wanted to push it, since he’d been away and didn’t want to come off like a creep. But now that he was back in LA, he wanted to see her in person, to find out if they really did have the spark he’d felt all those months ago. When Mitya had told him about this party, he’d figured there was a good chance Jess would be here, too.
Nik accepted a beer from Dimitri, raised the bottle to his lips, and then…there she was. Right there, standing at the other end of the house, chatting with two other women. A rush of emotion overwhelmed him, comprised of every good thing—joy and light and sparkles, and the sugary-sweet scent of cherries.
That kind of feeling didn’t come along often. Hell, he’d been chasing it for years, to no avail. He needed to follow it. Becausethis, this feeling, was what he’d been searching for all along. His brother might tease him for being a romantic, but Mitya could probably confirm that this was how you felt when you saw someone and justknewyou were meant for each other.
He shoved the beer back into his brother’s hand.
Mitya glanced at him, startled. “What, you don’t want it?”
Nik didn’t answer. Instead, he launched himself through the crowd, dodging dancers and actors in all sorts of ridiculous getups, his eyes focused solely on Jess. The closer he got, the more his heart sang in his chest.
Yes. Yes. Her.
Yeah, he was a fucking romantic. Who cared? When it was right, it was right.
He stopped behind her, grinning like a fool. “Jess.”
“Nik!” She turned, surprise and pleasure on her face, and gave him a small smile. “Hi.”
God, she was pretty. The last time he’d seen her ran on a loop through his mind. He said the words he’d spoken to her then, with a slight variation, hoping she remembered.
“Hey. You still single? Wanna kiss?”
