“He almost won and got to stay home today. We had to go best 3 out of 5 so I could beat him.”
I raised my eyebrow and cut my eyes at him as I unwrapped the sandwich.
“We played paper, rock, scissor to decide who got to stay home with you,” he said grinning.
“He gave you the rock thinking it was going to win every time, didn’t he?”
Andrei laughed. “Almost every time. He’s too predictable.”
“Poor Misha. He’s so young. So inexperienced,” I said in between bites. “Besides, I wanna know about you and Tori. Did you get some time with her this morning while I was still asleep and everyone was gone?”
He blushed and nodded his head. “We had a little time this morning to speak in the kitchen after everyone was gone. She’s the one that told me about Misha getting you Vinny’s yesterday. We had lunch together, since you were still sleeping.”
“I owe her a high-five later.”
He smiled. “You like her?” cocking his head to the side as he waited for my assessment.
“I don’t know her very well, but she seems nice, Bubba. Girls are sometimes weird with me, but she’s been nice. I think it’s because she works for my boyfriend.”
“How are girls weird with you? Doesn’t everyone love you?” he asked.
“Ha! Oh, no. No, they do not. Not everyone. I have a long list of people that would gladly clap for my demise. Most of those are girls. You can ask my friend Max. He’s never had a girlfriend that liked me.” Andrei looked very serious as he threw away the wrapper from my sandwich. “I don’t understand. You’re so…you. How could anyone ha te you?”
His innocence made me smile. I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know, Bubba. It’s a mystery because we both know I’m perfect in every way.” I grinned at him.
He was still looking at me seriously. “Da. You are. I read that on the internet so it must be true.”
I laughed. He couldn’t hold a straight face any longer and started laughing as well. He leaned closer to me so he could whisper, “she’s not as funny as you. She doesn’t think my jokes are funny.”
I covered my mouth and faked being shocked. “Your jokes are supposed to be funny?”
He clutched his heart. “It hurts. It hurts right here.” He bent over and clutched the counter just as Tori walked into the kitchen. She saw him bent over the counter looking like he was maybe having a heart attack, possibly dying, all while I sat on the counter and laughed at him.
Going out on a limb here and marking this one down as one of the reasons girls didn’t like me.
Tori rushed to him. “Andrei!” she said as she grabbed him. It only made him laugh, which embarrassed Tori. Her face turned red as she looked at both of us.
“We were joking. He faked being hurt by my sarcasm. No harm done,” I said.
She looked to Andrei, who was still laughing, and walked off in a huff. His face got serious. He looked to me, but I just shrugged my shoulders. “Don’t look at me, Bubba. I would’ve thought that was funny. I’m offended she didn’t laugh, if we’re being honest, but you should still go talk to her. I’ll stay right here until you get back.”
“You promise you’ll stay? I’ll be right back. Like two minutes, tops.”
“Go,” I said, shooing him toward the direction Tori had left.
It was more like ten minutes before Andrei came back. He had his head down, looking slightly defeated.
“That bad, huh?” I asked, still sitting in the same spot he had left me in.
He just exhaled loudly, running his hand through his hair.
“Come on, let’s go for a walk. You can tell me about it,” I said hopping off the counter.
“You want to walk? You don’t want a ride?”
“Bubba. You’re already in trouble. I don’t think we should add to it. Come on, let’s go,” I said, hooking my arm through his and pulling him toward the back door.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.