Chapter 18 #2
“For when Jade moves out there,” I confirm, nodding once. “He wants an easy place for family to visit her without disrupting your dad’s household.”
She dips her head, her eyes shining with something akin to contemplation. “That’s…that’s very considerate of him. My father didn’t tell me this was happening.”
“I only just told my dad yes,” I admit. “I wanted to tell you right away. Sorry if this is catching you off guard. Anton gave him the go-ahead to buy something out there, but I don’t know if he confirmed which of his sons he was planning to send.
Though, I’d venture your dad is clever enough to guess it would be me.
Mine is probably calling yours right now to let him know it’s happening for sure. ”
“Oh.” She blinks but doesn’t look displeased.
“I’d like to see you, when I’m out there,” I confess, feeling like a middle schooler asking a girl to the school dance. “You don’t need to say yes if it’s too soon. But I’m going to be there for so many days, I was hoping one of them might work for you?”
Anya breathes, and her lips almost tremble as she does. “What do you think that would look like?”
A resounding feeling of relief settles in my gut, knowing that she hasn’t shut down the idea immediately. “I have a few ideas,” I say almost shyly. “I’ve only had a few minutes to consider it, but a couple things came to mind when Dad brought up the trip.”
I swear her cheeks tint pink. “You really called me right after he asked you to come here?”
“It was embarrassingly fast, Anya, I can’t lie. I haven’t even told anyone else I won’t be home this weekend, though the house is a surprise so they’ll think I’m going somewhere else when I do tell them. But I went straight from Dad’s office into my room to call you.”
She smiles and I swear my heart skips. “So, what ideas do you have? I’d have to ask my father, but I might be able to handle a visit or two.”
Or two.
Oh, fuck.
She’d see me more than one day?
Why do I feel like I just won the fucking lottery?
No, I have enough money.
Why do I feel like I just woke up with super powers?
“Well, my first idea might be a bit much. I know you don’t like to leave your house a lot, but a few of the places for sale on Dad’s list are very close, like within ten miles, and some are twenty.
” Yes, I already looked at the list while I waited for her to text back, sue me.
“I was thinking maybe you would want to come explore them with me? You could give me your thoughts on them and we could even make a game out of it.”
She doesn’t say a word, but I don’t give her time to reject me yet either.
“You could still leave at any time, or even back out before I show up. I promise, I’m still totally cool with everything we talked about,” I preface.
“But in this possible plan…I was thinking your aunt could come with us? She seemed like she didn’t hate my guts and I’m sure you would feel safer having someone you know tag along. There would be guards, too, obviously.”
“And your other ideas?” she asks, swallowing slowly.
“The others are less adventurous,” I assure her happily.
“I could come over for lunch, or dinner, or just to hang out. Your dad would be there, and he’d need to agree, of course.
Well, he’d need to agree to all my ideas, I assume.
You get the point. Anyway, a simple, no-pressure hang out could be easy for both of us. ”
I say both of us, so she doesn’t feel alone.
I may not be as careful or as anxious as she is when it comes to trying something new, but I’m sure as shit nervous about pushing her too hard.
I’d never want her to regret interacting with me.
Whether it be virtually or in person, I want to make sure that her comfort never outweighs my desire to be close to her.
“You’ve really thought this out for only having a few minutes,” she comments, the nervousness in her tone seemingly softening.
“I don’t know how fun visiting the house would be for you.
My father would probably be overbearing, and Uncle Lev would likely make an appearance just to be rude to you.
I would hate for you to feel so unwelcome just to see me. ”
She’s so fucking sweet.
“Gotta be honest, Anya. I would do a lot worse than put myself in a situation to feel uncomfortable to see you. I don’t want to sound like a sap, but you’ve become a really good friend.
And maybe I’m going a little too fast by saying this, but you’re important to me.
I would want to hang out with you even if it meant your uncle had to beat me up first.”
She startles with a laugh, covering her mouth.
“And he’s a big guy,” I add, hoping to make her replicate the pretty sound. “He could probably kick my ass. I mean, I wouldn’t fight back, of course. I would be a very unkind friend if I fought your uncle and showed him how old he is.”
Giggling with wide eyes, she smothers the sound with her hand. “How old he is? Are you determined to make him dislike you further?”
“What?” I tease, feigning innocence. “It’s not like he can hear me. What’s a little playful roasting between friends, eh? He probably says worse things about me when I can’t hear.”
Her laughter dies. “I wish he wouldn’t.”
The soft sincerity in her voice makes my heart ache.
“Don’t worry, I’ve heard it all before. He only has hatred for me because he has love for you. I think my dad tried very hard to hate Dmitri when he came home for Jade. It’s only natural for them to want to keep their loved ones safe.”
“Sometimes I think Uncle Lev is more protective of me than Father,” she admits, almost whispering the words as if they’re forbidden. “He’s so intense, but he always has been. Even before…”
She doesn’t need to finish her sentence for me to grasp her meaning.
“Was he?”
“Yeah,” she confirms, smiling wistfully.
“This one time, a boy in my ballet class gave me a valentine and he threatened the boy’s father in the parking lot the next day.
He pulled a gun on him and everything. The boy didn’t mean anything by it, we were only six, after all. Aunt Irina was so upset with him.”
She tells the story with such familiarity, such longing for the simple moment of her past life.
“I bet she scolded him and he didn’t even regret it.”
Anya grins, chuckling. “It’s like you know them.”
Shrugging, I mirror her smile. “Well, I did get pretty striking first impressions of both of them.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” she protests. “They’re both determined to embarrass me, albeit in different ways.”
“They didn’t embarrass you,” I tell her sternly. “Irina was really nice, and I would never think anything negative about you because of your uncle’s snappish nature.”
“If you say so,” Anya relents.
“Did you have any ideas?” I ask, trying to keep the question light. “About how we could make my visit as comfortable as possible for you?”
“I—Could I talk to my dad about it?” she responds, sounding hesitant. “I want to say that both of your ideas sound fun. I think I could probably handle it, but I trust him to tell me if he thinks otherwise. He’s been honest with me, especially since we’ve talked about you.”
“Hey, you have a couple days,” I remind her with a light shrug. “There’s no rush. If you aren’t ready to see me, then you don’t have to be. If he doesn’t approve, we’ll simply have to do video tours of the houses so you can give me your opinions.”
“You’d want to do that?” she asks, sounding surprised but not unhappy. “You’d video-chat me through your search when I’m mere miles away, without taking offense?”
Anya, I’d lick a toaster just to see you smile.
“I would never take offense to your boundaries, Anya. If you’re not ready, you’re not ready. If you’re never ready, you’re never ready. We’ll simply be texting each other in the old folks’ home, putting our keyboard size all the way up so we can still see.”
She bursts out, laughing. “You’re not serious.”
Crossing a hand over my heart, I bow my head an inch. “I take my future elderly state very seriously.”
“What would your future wife think? Texting another woman for decades?”
The prospect is entirely unsettling. My stomach twists with pain and discomfort as I try to picture a wife who isn’t—
“Who said anything about getting married?”
Anya blinks at that. “You don’t want to get married some day?”
“Right now I’m taking things a day at a time,” I say evasively. “You know?”
“Yeah,” she agrees. “I know what you mean.”
“Besides, we’re still young,” I tack on. “I still know how to work emojis and upload to Instagram without somehow sending a fax.”
“A fax?” She chuckles. “Can you even do that from a phone?”
“I’d figure out how,” I vow seriously.