Preston
"It was so nice meeting you," I say to Vadim's parents as they walk us out to his car.
Worried about having cum-breath, I've downed three iced teas since blowing Vadim and swallowing his load. I'm pretty sure I'm fine.
"It was our pleasure," Iza says warmly.
Based on Vadim's description of her and how fun and bubbly she seems, I bet she's a real bombshell.
And she's so smart, too. When we spoke for a bit after she recovered from the joy of her team staging a spectacular, against-the-odds comeback and progressing through to some super important next round, she told me about working for the American Civil Liberties Union and how she's especially passionate about representing unaccompanied minors who are being held indefinitely in immigration detention without legal authority or any oversight.
She also casually mentioned she speaks eight languages. Eight! How is that possible for one person? I can't even name eight European countries.
"My father is coming in to shake your hand. Straight ahead."
I let go of Vadim's hand and extend my arm. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr.—Pavel."
"The pleasure was all mine," Pavel replies, sounding sincere. "We'll have to do this again sometime. Maybe dinner, just the four of us?"
Vadim doesn't say anything until I discreetly—I hope—nudge him with my elbow.
"Uh, yeah, of course," he stammers. "That sounds great."
With Vadim's assistance, I crouch down and hug Lukasz, Klara, and Mila in turn then rise back up and shake hands with Marek and Kamil.
Vadim holds the door open for me as I climb into his SUV, then he hits the horn twice, and we're off.
"I think that went well," I venture. "But I'm dying to know how you think it went."
"Good," he answers. "Surprisingly good. My father really blew me away."
I chuckle. "Interesting choice of words considering what we did in your old gym."
He chuckles.
"What I mean about my father was him dropping the formalities so quickly, inviting us to dinner, and even the way he was with Lukasz in a dress.
There was one point, when we were watching the game, that Lukasz climbed onto his lap.
I for sure thought he'd move him to sit beside him, but he didn't. He wrapped an arm around his grandson in a freaking pink tutu and watched the game with him like that. It was so cool."
"People change."
"I guess they do. Some people, anyway. I hope Kamil wasn't too much of a wet blanket."
"He was, but he was courteous whenever we interacted, and I kept reminding myself he's been through an unimaginable ordeal."
"That's very kind of you."
"Were the two of you ever close?"
"For a while, when we were really young, but from middle school, we grew apart. Once he became a teenager, well, let's just say angsty and moody doesn't even begin to cover it."
"That's too bad."
"It is what it is," Vadim sighs with a resigned clip to his tone.
Wanting to lighten the mood, I change the subject. "Ooh, I have some goss about Ellie and Marek."
"You mean Elvis and Marek?"
I can hear the smile in the way he says it. "You're not going to let that go anytime soon, are you?"
"Oh, no. I plan on milking it for a looong time."
I chuckle, loving these glimpses of Vadim's softness and playfulness.
I'm under no illusions this is a side of him reserved only for me. Whenever he's on a work call or we're out in public, he's as hard and focused as ever. But with me, he lets his guard down and can be whoever he wants to be, even as he's figuring out exactly who that is.
I love him opening up this way and being by his side as he discovers new sides of himself.
"I asked Ellie if there was anything going on between them."
Vadim chokes.
"Don't tell me they're together because I do have my suspicions. If it turns out that Marek is gay or bi or whatever, I think my head will explode."
I laugh. "No, no. They're really just friends."
"Hm." I hear the turn signal come on. "That's a close second in terms of strangeness. They're an odd duo, don't you think?"
I answer carefully. "Yeah. I mean, they don't strike me as an obvious friend match. They're from very different backgrounds, and even personality-wise, I don't fully get it. But, then again, people could say the same about us, so who am I to judge?"
"Amen to that."
I keep the tidbit Ellie told me about Marek being interested in someone else to myself. It's not information I should even be privy to, and I want to honor my commitment to Ellie to not say anything.
If the situation were the other way around, if Marek were to share something with Vadim and asked him not to tell me, I wouldn't mind. Being in a relationship shouldn't mean I can't keep my best friend's confidence. Same goes for Vadim when it comes to his brother.
"How much longer until we're back home?" I ask.
"About another twenty minutes or so," Vadim replies. "Why?"
"No reason. Just asking."
I feel along the door panel for the window button, roll it down, and move closer toward the opening so I can breathe in the fresh evening air.
"You like that?" Vadim asks as I poke my head out the window like a puppy.
"I do." I sink back into my seat and wind the window up. "Don't get me wrong, I love everything about your apartment. But apart from the terrace, we're indoors and in air conditioning all day. Sitting out on the back patio at your parents' place was really nice."
"You've got a point there."
"I don't know how you can spend all those hours in that lifeless control room. There aren't even any windows. Doesn't it get stuffy and claustrophobic in there?"
"It does. And sweaty with all that dry, recycled air."
His tone is light, like he's listing attributes he likes, and I scrunch up my nose.
"Eww. You're weird. Anyone ever tell you that?"
"The last name I got called was a sexual freak, and as I recall, that worked out very well for me."
I smile, my cheeks heating. "What we did was pretty hot."
"It was." His voice lowers, deepens. "Hopefully, it was only an appetizer."
Heat swarms down my neck, and my cock hardens in my briefs. "What do you have in mind for the main course?"
His hand lands heavily on my lap. "You, mój kochany. You."