Being the only living Rozanov son, if I have a son, he will be the nextpakhan.
Which means I have to bring them home.
Both of them.
7
AMARA
“Alright, ladies, hold ‘em high!”
Both Renee and I lift our glasses.
“Cheers to Friday!” Kira shouts.
“Hell yeah!” Renee pumps her fist. “Fuck me, I needed this. You know I had back-to-back root canals this morning? That’s like, four hours of suction and nastiness. And that wasaftera kid bit me during a cleaning.”
“And cheers to our black cat coworker finally coming out with us!” Kira adds with a seductive eyebrow wiggle, which makes me burst into laughter.
I raise my mocktail in the air. Tequila or no tequila, it’s fruity and has a cute little umbrella and is honestly pretty damn good. Though I am counting down the days until I can have a glass of wine or a strong margarita. On the rocks, salted rim, please and thank you.
“Well, I figured it’s time I did something fun,” I say. We are at one of the town’s only bars, a little dive down in the middleof everything with a generic drink menu but some of the best artichoke dip I’ve ever had.
“You only came out with us for the appetizers,” Kira teases. “Just admit it.”
“Never.” I smile. “But I have been craving buffalo wings.”
We burst into giggles again.
Okay, so maybe I don’t actually hate this. I still miss New York, mostly because I miss my friends, but this isn’t bad either.
I wish Electra was here, though. We hardly talk anymore. I told her I had some issues with a friend of Gianni’s (not a lie) and that we had to get out of the state to avoid conflict (also not a lie) and that I would be a little radio silent for a while. It sucks because I’m certain she feels betrayed, but considering the circumstances, there’s not much I can do about it.
Honestly, it’s also nice because I never really got to hang out with coworkers before. At Apex, everyone was terrified of me other than Annette, the secretary. But she was too dull even for small talk, so that obviously never went anywhere. And while Kira and Renee aren’t the kind of girls I’d normally hang out with, it’s nice to justgo out with the girls.
Like I’m a normal person living in a normal town living a normal life doing normal things.
“So what are your siblings doing tonight?” Renee asks, and immediately I feel a pang of guilt.
“They’re at home,” I tell them.
“I still think it’s wild that you take care of them the way you do,” Kira says. “Not having had good parents or a good childhood.God, I can’t imagine. I don’t know how you have time for yourself.”
“Well, she obviously hassometime for herself,” Renee says. “Or she wouldn’t be…” she waves her hand over my mid-section.
“Where is this guy, anyways?” Kira asks.
“Kira!” Renee says with mortification.
“What? Our friend is single and pregnant. I think it’s a valid enough question. She’s doing all the things on her own. We can’t support her if we don’t know the situation.”
Renee looks apologetic, but also very obviously curious.
I decide to go with the most recent and most plausible answer. “He’s in the military.”
“Oh! So you’re still together?” Kira asks.
“No. I mean… It’s complicated,” I say, suddenly realizing that now I have to come up with a real fake story.
