The next couple of days passed so quickly for Zoey. She was with Alex constantly. She even worked out with him once, though, she had a hard time keeping up with him. He finally stopped his regular workout and invited her into a kick boxing ring. He took his time finding her boxing gloves small enough to fit snuggly. She gazed up at him, uncertain that she wanted to get into the ring against him. He approached the whole thing with a big grin that she felt was cause for concern. He was going to have much too much fun with this.
“I be easy with you, Kroshka,” he leaned over and whispered in her ear. But he was snickering. She slipped off her shoes and climbed into the ring with him. She watched him bounce around slightly and punch the air. His biceps would give anyone reason to think twice. Why did she agree to get into this ring? He was standing across the ring now, with a big grin on his face. He held his gloves palms up and waved his wrists enticing her to come at him. Her lips widened into a smile. Well, he asked for it. She moved closer to him, boucing herself up on her toes. They danced around the ring for a few seconds.
“Come on,” he waved his gloves at her again. “You a chicken?”
“CHICKEN?” she exclaimed. She moved closer and threw a punch. He blocked her easily.
“Oh, come on. You not even trying.”
Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. She threw a quick right and followed up with a left. He still managed to block both shots. He kept laughing. She was beginning to get annoyed. He dodged or blocked every attempt and did it all with a grin or a giggle. She found herself getting incredibly frustrated and lunged at him with both gloves at his chest. He laughed, grabbing her around the waist and picked her up in his arms.
“Put me down. You aren’t even trying!”
“I not hit you, Kroshka.”
“What?” she exclaimed.
“I not hit girls,” he said laughing.
“Then why are we in here? Why did you want to box with me?”
“It fun. You get mad. You have fire, Kroshka. I like it,” he said laughing. He set her back on her feet, but she did not removed her hand from around his neck.
“What now?” she asked.
“We could wrestle.”
Mishka had invited them over that same afternoon. A group of Alex’s childhood friends were getting together for a game of street hockey where they used to play as children. Zoey met Mishka’s girlfriend, Olga, outside their apartment. She was a tall, blonde Russian, with a sly smile. Four more friends of Alex’s were already playing and Alex went directly out to join them. Zoey sat on the top step in front of the apartment building. She laughed as Mishka and Alex wrestled in the street. Mishka was defending against Alex. It seemed he was the only one willing to take on this job. Zoey quickly understood why. Alex used his impressive size against his friend. Though Mishka tried, he could not gain any ground on the Superstar. Olga sat on the step next to Zoey.
“Sasha is a show off,” she laughed.
Zoey just smiled at her and went on watching the guys. She would have agreed, but as he seemed to be showing off for her, she just smiled.
“You really have never seen him play before?” Olga asked skeptically.
“No,” Zoey replied. “I was never really into sports. I spend so much of my time travelling. I guess now I’ll have to find the time to watch.”
She was actually looking forward to seeing him play. He approached everything with such passion. His true love was hockey. She could imagine how explosive he would be on the ice.
“You think so?” Olga asked. There was a tone in her voice that held a foreboding that Zoey didn’t quite understand.
Zoey looked at her questioningly, “Why wouldn’t I? He loves hockey so much. It must be incredible to see him play.”
“Ah, well, naturally you would feel this way now, but when you go your separate ways, you may not care to.”
Zoey felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. Go their separate ways? She hadn’t really thought about that. She had been enjoying his company so much that she had forgotten that she only had three more days in Moscow. Zoey looked back at the friends laughing in the street. She swallowed hard.
“You are very pretty and nice girl, Zoey, I am sure. But Sasha, he is Russian. American girl cannot ever know how to care for a Russian man. You have to know this.”
“What makes you think that?” Zoey asked, doing her best to keep her voice level so as not to betray her feelings.
“You must be realistic, Zoey. This is just a fling for Sasha. He needs a Russian girl,” Olga scoffed. “Tell me, are you really willing to give up your life, your career with pictures, to wait on a man, even one such as Sasha, hand and foot? Make his meals, wash his clothes, care for his children alone, while he is travelling around the country playing hockey. This is what it means to love a Russian man.”
Zoey was quiet. Give up her career? Sit and wait for him while he was gone? She wasn’t sure that was something she’d ever consider. Would he really expect her to give up her life’s passion while he lived his? She looked down at her hands. Was she really just some summer fling to him, just someone to pass the time with?
He shook her from her thoughts as he bounded over and sat down next to her. He was breathing heavily through his smile and he reached for her cheek trying to kiss her.
“Ugh. You’re all sweaty!” she said, pushing against his chest, hiding her feelings behind a laugh.
“Of course, you play hard, you sweat. Surely, you know this by now,” he grinned at her devilishly. He tried to kiss her again and she allowed it this time. Whether it was a fling or not, he was irresistible to her. There was a tremble in her lips she hoped he would take for passion.
“You okay?” he asked. “You look funny?”
She took his face in her hands and kissed him again.
“I am absolutely fine,” she said, looking at him with dreamy eyes and, subconsciously, she began to count his kisses until the last.
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