The Dancer

12

Being in a car with Katerina was by far the most annoying thing on the planet. Now that she didn't have to contain her personality, she bombarded me with questions from how I was going to give birth to naming the baby after someone in her family. Everyone else stayed quiet; my guess was they knew I was a ticking time bomb and they didn't want to contribute to my impending explosion.

Twelve fucking hours and we had only stopped three times for food and gas. Nicolae insisted I eat every time we stopped which was grating on my nerves. In all honesty, I probably would have thought it was sweet, but Katerina already had me on edge.

"When do you meet my parents?" Katerina asked.

"I don't know," I answered dismissively.

"I wonder if they will approve of you," she mused. "Papa might."

"Give it a rest," Nicolae said from the front seat. "She's tired, Kat."

"You like talking to me, Holland," she said.

I discreetly rolled my eyes. "Not particularly."

She scoffed. "Pregnancy has turned you into a bitch."

"You turned me into a bitch. I'm nice to everyone else."

"What have I done?" She demanded.

It was hard to see her features in the dark car, but she was close enough that I could see the outrage on her sharp features.

"I'm not going over this again. You know what you did."

"You're still mad about our game?"

"It wasn't a fucking game. It was a cruel trick to bring me closer. How am I supposed to trust you at all now?"

"You know the truth now."

"That doesn't change anything. You could be playing another stupid game."

She turned her attention from me to Nicolae and switched to Romanian. He never responded, but she kept going.

"We're stopping for the night," Nicolae finally cut her off.

"I'm sharing a room with Holland," Katerina informed the group.

"I think not," I retorted.

"We should have a girl's night."

"I would rather shove an ice pick through my temple."

"That was rude," she muttered as she crossed her arms.

We drove in silence for a few more minutes before Nicolae pulled off the freeway and into another small town. He found us another decent hotel and pulled in front of the lit lobby. I supposed many of the hotels close to freeway exits were used to people coming in the middle of the night.

I watched as Nicolae stepped out of the car and tugged his black leather jacket closer to his body. Just the simple act drew all of my attention for some reason. It had been a week since we had sex last and I was not okay with it. I mentally shamed myself for even thinking about sex at a time like this, but I couldn't help it. I had heard that pregnancy made women want sex more, but I figured it was an old wive's tale. I didn't think I would actually want him as bad as I did.

Then again, how could I not? It was Nicolae for Christ's sake. He was basically sex appeal on feet. He was completely perfect. Everything about him was perfect. It was a little shocking that I would be married to someone like him. I never thought of myself as ugly or unworthy, but Nicolae was way out of my league and I knew it. It was pure fucking luck that a man like him even glanced in my direction. I wasn't going to question it though. I was just glad that he wanted me and that he felt the same way about me.