Only You

Chapter 11

Elora

My heart is racing in anticipation as I stand outside the cute little Italian pizzeria, watching Alexey walk closer with an easy smile on his face. It's only been four days since we last saw each other. That should have been nothing, really.

And yet as he hugs me close and I take a deep breath of his cologne, it feels like I've been waiting years for this.

Of course, that's all utter bullshit so I brush it off. Instead, I pull away from his arms much sooner than I'd like and greet him with a polite smile. "Hey, it's nice to see you again."

He tips his head. "Right back at you. I see you chose another Italian restaurant," he remarks knowingly. Irrationally enough, I blush at his attention.

"Yeah, I've booked another room in the Palace Hotel and this is nearby. The ratings are good so let's see whether I've been deceived, shall we?" I say, changing the topic quite expertly if I do say so myself. Alexey opens the door for me like the perfect gentleman and as the receptionist sees me, she merely smiles and walks us to the table without asking for a name or reservation.

As soon as she's gone, Alexey lifts a knowing eyebrow and says, "You've been in here already, haven't you?" Seeing no point in denying it, I nod. "Bribing for wine?" he adds, full-on grinning when I nod again.

Like he did the last time, he takes his time inspecting our surroundings, and since I've taken brief notice of the layout and design of the place when I bribed the waitress, I stare at him. That might truly not be so smart because with each second I look at the shadows his chiseled bones throw on his face, my body grows a little hotter and my cheeks flush more.

The only silver lightning is that my skin, despite it being winter, is tan enough not to show off how red my cheeks are in this lowly lit room. Or so I hope.

"So, tell me about yourself. How was your day?" my date finally asks, his piercing eyes settling on me.

"Oh, come on. Talking about me is all we did the last time. I want to know more about you," I insist, mostly because I did little today apart from freaking out about this date and getting ready for it. Both simultaneously, for the most part.

Alexey looks amused. "I doubt there's much about me you don't already know."

"All I know is what a few words on my laptop told me. I want to hear you talk about something. What about your friends or family or job," I insist, hoping I'm not out of line by assuming he has a job other than being an escort.

"All right, boss, your wish is my command," he teases me, though the knowledge that he might truly feel obliged to tell me what I want to know sits wrong with me.

"Of course, you don't have to tell me anything," I clarify quickly, to which my date's expression softens fondly.

"I don't mind. All right, about me," he muses thoughtfully. "There really isn't much. I've told you about my siblings and my cousin, Cai, is my best friend. Also the biggest pain in my ass, most of the time- not literally though. We're not that kind of family." I burst out laughing, snorting in surprise, much to my dismay.

Other than flashing me a dazzling smile, Alexey has the decency not to react to it. "He and I, along with every other relative no matter how distant work at our family Restaurant. For security reasons, I'll keep the name to myself. I hope you understand. I live with my mom, her husband, and my siblings, and Cai and his parents live next door. We're really close. Now, your turn," he says before I can ask follow-up questions.

"So, I live with my parents and two sisters here in Presidio Heights. We're all homeschooled and pretty much hang with the same friends since we don't have many opportunities to meet new people our age. My middle sister, Iris, dances ballet, which is where she met one of our closest friends, who then introduced us to her friends from school and her sister. Then there's Rhea, the baby. She's practically up to no good at all times. In short, there's always something happening around the house," I explain, smiling at the mental image of Rhea randomly bursting into my room to sing along to one of her horrible songs.

"Where does that leave you?" Alexey asks me, ripping me from my daydream.

"Huh?" I ask, momentarily too surprised to remember my manners.

"If the youngest is the wildest and the middle one is the dancer, what are you?" he asks simply.

"Oh. I'm the oldest," I say as if that explained everything. To me, it does. I'm the oldest so I'm the responsible one, the one that has a few more burdens to shoulder so the others don't, if you want to sound dramatic. I would never speak it aloud though, too scared of sounding ungrateful. Truthfully, I wouldn't want to switch places with either one of my sisters. We fit the way we are.

My point doesn't seem so obvious to Alexey, judging by his rising eyebrow. I sigh and elaborate, getting frustrated when I can't find the right words. "I guess I'm the nice one? Not that the others aren't nice but when important guests are coming over, I'm the one my father often orders to entertain them while he finishes up some business or the one he invites into conversations. That make sense?" I ask, to which my date nods ever so slowly and only halfway convincing.

"Anyway, that can't be very interesting, let's move on to the next topic, why don't we."

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Family dynamics are a chore...
Have a great day and lmk your thoughts so far<3