Cut to fourteen years later, and you're terrified of a baker with big blue eyes.
Because Katya would break him. If he let her in, he'd have to be honest with her. Let her inside his heart and his brain and his secrets. She'd have to know everything about him. And then she'd leave, it couldn't end any other way. He couldn't let that happen. He didn't want to be broken.
So he broke her, instead.
18
After Wulf had left, Katya had managed to drag herself into the shower. Scrubbed his scent and his fluids and his touch off her body. When she was scraped raw and shiny pink all over, she'd finally gotten out.
Her mother didn't say anything, much to Katya's shock. The older woman did send her some knowing looks, though, and she smiled to herself, a lot.
They spent the day together, taking the barbecue leftovers to a homeless shelter. Walked around a park for a while, talking about Katya's job and her mother's charities. Laughed about her silly father, who was a well respected former professor, and now did historical consultations for books and movies. He was in New York, helping with a play, and was sad to have missed his only child's visit home.
The next day, Katya kept herself busy with cleaning her room from top to bottom. Her mother had an amazing housekeeper, a woman who felt more like family than an employee, so Katya hated leaving behind any sort of mess.
She also had to keep busy because if she didn't, she would go insane. She kept checking her phone, desperate for a message from Wulf. She'd sent him one, saying she'd hoped the trip home hadn't been too bad. He never responded. Never called. Nothing.
He said he'd be in touch. He had to go home. Stop freaking out. It doesn't mean anything.
When she finally went to bed, though, she wasn't quite as strong. In her head, she whispered that it meant everything. They'd shared a very powerful, important moment, and then he'd ran away. She'd pushed him too far, asked for too much.
You didn't ask for anything.
You asked for everything.
The next morning, she woke up even more of a wreck. Still no texts from him. It had been almost forty-eight hours. She was counting them – since reconnecting, they hadn't gone more than a couple days without speaking, at least via text. If he didn't text the next day, she was going to lose it.
She'd gotten so worked up, she'd convinced herself that he'd already completely forgotten her, which meant she needed a way to get home. Blinking away tears, she sat on the sofa in the living room, her laptop open in front of her and a car rental site already pulled up. Then someone knocked on the door and her mom called out for her.
“Katya, dear! Your ride is here!”
A man in a simple black suit stood on the porch, smiling politely. At the curb was a huge, black Lincoln Navigator, with super tinted windows and shiny rims. Wulf hadn't been joking around – she would be riding home in style.
The driver loaded her one bag into the back of the car, then opened a door for her while she hugged her mother goodbye. It was silly, but she actually got a little teary eyed. Katya visited home fairly regularly and had never gotten choked up before, but it had been a different kind of trip. Special in its own way. She'd grown even closer to her mom, learned more about her.
Oh, those boundaries. Ever expanding.
During the ride she chatted with the driver for a while, but then fell silent and stared out the window. Tried not to think about a very cold, serious man that had left her naked and all alone.
As soon as she walked in her front door, she got attacked by Tori. Her roommate outweighed her by quite a bit – Tori was all tits and ass, while Katya was all knees and elbows. The flying hug sent Katya crashing into the wall, then they both fell to the ground.
“Good lord, I was only gone for five days,” Katya gasped for air, shoving the other girl off her.
“I know, I know, but what a five days!” Tori exclaimed, finally backing away and helping her friend up.
“Why? What happened?”
Katya chucked her bag into her bedroom, then followed Tori to the kitchen. They had a decent sized living room – well, by San Francisco standards – but always wound up in the kitchen. She never knew whether it was because she just felt most comfortable in a kitchen, or it was because that's where the alcohol was located. She sat down while her roommate poured them some pre-mixed margaritas.
“I started at The Garden,” Tori all but squealed as she dropped into her seat.
“Liam's club? And it's going good?”
“Oh mah gurd, it's amazing! I can't believe I never went to a sex club before!”
“He told me you'd be working upstairs.”
“Pffft, for like five whole seconds. My superior waitressing abilities and fantastic cleavage streamlined the process. Once I proved that I could carry a tray without dropping it, and that I could count down a till, I was pretty much in. I mean, it helps that my roommate is banging my boss,” Tori snickered.
“Don't say that,” Katya almost snapped. The mood in the room instantly sobered.
“Whoa. Sorry. Didn't realize it was a … sensitive subject ...” Tori mumbled. Katya groaned and rubbed her hands across her face.
“It's not, I'm sorry. Just had kind of a weird weekend with Wulf, and I haven't slept with Liam in a while. I think I need to be done with boys for a bit,” she sighed.
“No way. Working around that man every day has me wondering how you ever keep your hands off him. Goddamn, that body? That smile? So sweet. So funny. You should see the way women fall all over him.”
“Do they?”
“Yeah. But don't worry, he doesn't pay any attention to them.”
Katya frowned and slurped at her margarita. She'd prefer it if he did – she wanted some of the attention off herself.
They talked about Tori's job for a while, until it was time for her to actually put in an appearance at the place. She changed into a sexy outfit, then blew a kiss as she breezed out of the apartment. She was gone for all of two minutes when there was a knock at the door.
“Did you forget your keys?” Katya groaned, stomping down the hallway. “I always tell you, check your pockets before -”
When she swung open the door, it was to find Liam standing there. Not Tori. They blinked at each other for a moment, then Katya finally smiled. She had missed him. Maybe not as a lover or as a romantic interest, but as a very good friend. His warmth and caring always surrounded her, making her feel comfortable in her skin. A feeling she wasn't entirely used to.
Especially after spending a few days with Wulf.
“I actually do have the keys to the building, but I thought it might be creepy if I used them to let myself in whenever,” Liam teased. She leaned through the doorway and wrapped her arms around his middle, surprising him a little. It was a moment before his own arms were settling over her shoulders, holding her head tight to his chest.
“It would be very creepy,” she sighed, breathing in his warm, familiar scent.
“You okay?”