“I told you he was nice.”
“So you did, indeed.” She nods to my phone. “Well, are you going to answer him? Tell him to call you. I wish to meet this young man of yours.”
“He’s not mine,” I grumble under my breath. Moving my phone away from my body so that I can see the screen, I flick my gaze from it to my aunt. “I’ll tell him to call as long as you promise not to embarrass me.”
“Solnyshka, I would never,” she tells me in a vow, her voice going serious.
“Okay,” I breathe out, convinced of her genuine promise.
Anya
You can call now, if you’re not busy.
My aunt doesn’t even have time to sneak a look at my reply text before my phone starts ringing with a video call. She makes a girlish sound of surprise and claps her hands together excitedly.
“He’s eager to speak to you,” she says happily, patting my hand. “I believe I like this young man already.”
“He’s just quick with replying,” I mumble. “No need to read into it.”
Placing my phone against the flower vase in the center of the small table, I move closer to Irina and hit accept before she can say anything else. Our faces light up the screen as quickly as his does.
A look of surprise flashes over his face, his blue eyes widening as he sees that I’m not alone. Even so obviously shocked, he doesn’t take long to recover.
“Anya, you didn’t tell me that you have an older sister.”
My face feels like it’s on fire already, and the compliment is meant to be directed at my aunt. Though he’s calling her young, it feels like he’s calling me beautiful. There aren’t many peoplewho are as pretty as Irina Morozov, so for it to be implied that we look like sisters? It seems impossible, but warms my heart all the same.
“Oh, I can see why my husband doesn’t like you,” Aunt Irina says, amused as she looks at the phone screen then flicks her gaze to me. “He’s a charmer, isn’t he?”
Matteo’s face falls, his playful grin vanishing in an instant. “You’re Lev’s wife? I’m so sorry.”
I have to physically cover my mouth to catch the laugh that threatens to spill out of my mouth. He’s being sarcastic, but the genuine anguish in his apology to my aunt is so perfectly crafted that I can’t deny the humor it elicits from me.
“A jokester as well, it seems,” Irina muses, tilting her head. “A dangerous combination.”
“Well, I do like to live dangerously.” He chuckles. “I didn’t know I would be meeting anyone on this call. I would have brushed my hair. This is hardly a great impression I’m making.”
Arching a brow, my aunt teases, “Oh, so my niece is not reason enough to brush your hair?”
Before he can answer, I finally jump in. “Matteo, this is my Aunt Irina. She’s kidding.”
She flashes a pearly grin. “I am her Aunt Irina, but I’m hardly kidding. It’s nice to meet you though. My lovely niece speaks very highly of you, though my husband does not.”
Matteo laughs. “Yeah, he, uh, he didn’t seem to like me very much. I try not to take it personally. It’s pretty rare that someone dislikes me at first sight.”
“It is not rare at all for my Lev to dislike someone at first sight, so you’re right to not take it to heart. He’s a tough nut to crack. But if you’re relentless, you may wear him down someday.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Matteo tells her, grinning. “I have some experience with being relentless. I think I’m up to the task. What do you think, Anya?”
“I wouldn’t put it past you,” I tell him, feeling more shy than normal.
Introducing Matteo to my aunt feels like some kind of monumental step now that it’s happening. We’ve only been friends for almost a week, and he’s already got me comfortable enough to video-chat on what seems like it could be a daily basis. And now he’s charming my aunt like he’s known me for years.
“I hear that you often video call with the little Moretti-Morozov babies,” Aunt Irina says, sounding hopeful. “Is there any chance I could see them as well? I have yet to meet them, you know? I’ve only seen pictures.”
“Shoot, yeah, of course.” Matteo gets up and rustles around, and then a door opens. “Let me go steal a minute with them. They’ll be going down for a nap here soon, but I can catch them first.”
“It’s okay if they’re busy?—”
