Sasha says something in Russian that has both dogs trotting over to their dog beds so they can chew on their bones while we eat. I can’t help but grin at the size difference between the Beagle and Doberman—one screams danger and the other screams cuddle-bug. It’s freaking adorable, especially when they both plop down on the same bed instead of choosing to separate.
When everyone has a plate and I’ve taken my first bite, I say, “This is delicious,” before quickly filling my fork again.
“Sasha made it,” Cindy says while giving her husband a huge smile.
Niki laughs and grabs one of the rolls that’s dripping butter. “It’s like I don’t even recognize you anymore, cuz.”
Sasha shrugs one of his broad shoulders. His eyes soften when they meet Cindy’s, but then he goes back to the empty stare I’m used to seeing on him.
“Well, I recognize that look,” Niki mutters with another laugh.
“The scary one?” I whisper across the table, even though I know everyone can hear me.
Niki meets my eyes and grins. “Yeah, the scary one. I’d be terrified of him if we hadn’t grown up together.”
“I’m right here,” Sasha reminds us.
Niki grins at his cousin. “What? You’re intimidating. We all know that, especially you.”
“True enough,” Sasha admits. “At least I took the dummies down.”
Their place used to be a large warehouse that Sasha converted into a home. It’s an open-floor plan, and Cindy told me that one corner of the downstairs used to have dummies hanging from the ceiling. Apparently Sasha prefers to use a knife, and he’s obsessive about his training.
“Wow,” Niki says, darting his eyes to the now empty space. “Where are you going to pretend to kill people?”
“I’m going to build a garage in the back. A really big one,” Sasha says and then looks at Cindy. “With locks that our kids can’t pick. We’re also adding on a few rooms to the place. We need a nursery and a couple more bedrooms since we’re definitely having more than one kid.”
“We’ve got to space them out, though,” Cindy says. “I want to get my vet tech degree before we add another little one to the mix.”
Sasha gives her a wink. “Of course,krovinka. Whatever you want.”
I look over to see Niki raising an eyebrow at me. I grin while he mouths the wordperfectand rolls his eyes.
When I turn my head and see Cindy staring at the big smile on my face, I know I’m not doing a very good job of hiding how I’m feeling. Not that it would matter. We’ve been best friends since first grade, so we’re definitely at the point where she can read me like an open book. Instead of calling out my obvious attraction to the man sitting across from me, she asks about the paper I’m writing for my early education class.
“It’s fine when George behaves himself. I swear if that bastard deletes my paper, I’m throwing him out the window,” I say, remembering how moody my laptop can be.
“Please tell me you’re saving everything to the cloud,” Niki says, and it’s impossible to not laugh at the desperate tone he’s using.
“I am, yeah, but I still need my laptop to behave a little bit longer, or maybe a lot longer. I’m using my leftover financial aid to cover expenses for now, but I know that’s not the greatest long-term plan. I’m trying to find a job, but so far no luck. It’s going to take me a while to save up to buy a new one, so George needs to behave,” I say, and before Cindy can offer like she has many times before, I add, “Thank you, but no. I need to be able to do this on my own.”
My best friend nods, but I know she hates it. I love her to death, and I know she’d love to spend all kinds of money on me, but I don’t want her to do that. My parents are helping me as much as they can, and that makes me feel guilty enough. They’ve worked hard to get where they are, and I don’t want to be the one who empties their bank account. I want to be able to do this on my own.
Sasha finishes off his last bite before saying, “You need to let Niki take a look at it. If anyone can fix it, it’s him.”
“Yeah, I’d be happy to,” Niki says, and I can tell he means it and that he’s not just agreeing because his cousin basically volunteered him for it.
“Perfect,” Cindy says, another big smile lighting up her matchmaking face. “Are you free tonight?”
“Cindy,” I start to say, but Niki gives a good-natured laugh and nods.
“I am, yeah.” He looks back at me and says, “If you’re okay with it, I can drive you back to your sorority and take a look at it.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you have to,” I tell him.
“I don’t feel that way. I want to, and ever since you mentioned your temperamental laptop, I’ve been dying to get my hands on it. You’d be doing me a favor.” The corner of his mouth lifts up when he adds, “I’ve had nightmares about this thing. I’m guessing it’s riddled with viruses.”
“Do viruses make the screen turn colors and then randomly pop on and off?” I ask.
