AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I finish sliding on my jeans and throw on my army green off-the-shoulder sweater. There’s a small blow dryer in here, so I take another five minutes to blow dry my hair, then put on some light makeup. Nothing too crazy, but just enough to give me a little bit of color. All I can think about as I’m applying my blush is that when I get back home, I need to speak to my parents—and to say I’m terrified would be a major understatement.
Even as I walk down the hallway, I can’t help but think that they’re going to lose their shit at me. I don’t want that to be my reality, but I know them. I know how much they truly don’t give a fuck about my side of the story. In their eyes, I’m the one who did the wrong. Everything they ever taught me tells me that, and I’m sure they’re going to condemn me for not only giving up my baby girl but also for having premarital sex. It blows my mind that they even cared about such a thing, especially during the time I was raised. I know my brother has had a lot of sex. He was the manwhore of our small town, but I know they would never snap at him the way I know they’re going to with me.
It literally gives me the worst anxiety in the world. I grab onto my necklace as I continue looking for Lom or anyone really. Eventually, I find Lom in the kitchen. The fact is that no matter how much I try to ease my worries, I’m not going to. My parents aren’t going to react well in the least bit, and that’s obvious as hell to me. I shake my head because even though they’re going to be furious with me, I’m not the only one who took part in this whole ordeal. My aunt had a huge part to play, but I doubt they’ll even show me an ounce of the anger they have toward her, if they have any, in the first place. They might just blame me because I would’ve “known better”, as my mother always loves to say.
As much as I’m trying to anticipate what’s going to happen, there’s no point. All I’m doing is getting myself worked up in the process.
“Morning there, upryamaya mysh,” Lom states in a low tone.
I glance over at him, and he’s flipping eggs in a pan. He’s in a pair of plain black sweatpants and has a dark navy blue tank top on. His arms look delightful from this angle, and I’m caught staring at his perfect body. Lom isn’t overly beefy by any means, but he doesn’t have a thin swimmer’s physique, either. He’s like a perfect blend between the two of them. He’s slender yet muscular, but he isn’t too bony that I don’t want to cuddle with him at night.
“Good morning. Are you making us breakfast?” I cock a brow in surprise, and Lom chuckles lowly.
“I might be. Guess you’ll have to wait and see.” There’s so much playfulness in his voice that it causes me to smile. I love this side of him, the carefree Lom I’m starting to really fall for. As much as I’ve tried to hold my feelings back, I notice they’re starting to spark. Especially here lately. He’s just been proving himself to me more and more, and I’ve never had anyone like that. I can only hope that he doesn’t fuck it up somehow, but I’m doing my best not to get anxious or think that something bad will happen.
“Okay, well, while I wait, I’ll have to grill you with some questions, I guess.”
Lom turns to look at me and snickers. “Will you now?”
“Yep. What’s your favorite color?”
“Purple.”
“That’s not specific enough. What shade of purple?” As I ask, Lom flips the eggs over.
“Plum purple,” Lom immediately says, like he didn’t even have to think about it.
“Really? Interesting.”
“What’s with the weird questions?”
“They’re not weird at all. I’m just trying to get to know you a little better. And what better way to pass the time than to ask some questions?”
“You’re being weirder than usual. What’s with that?”
I shrug my shoulders and go over to the fridge. “I don’t know. I guess I’m not ready to go back home tomorrow. Back to reality and all it holds. Being here is such a nice break from everything.”
“I forgot we were going back to Atlanta, honestly. I’m so used to being here in Grozny. We’ll need to get our bags packed up tonight.”
“Do you want to come back here one day?”
Lom swallows hard, and there’s an odd pause of silence. “Eventually, yes. This is my home, and Atlanta was only ever supposed to be a temporary thing. One day I will be coming back here.” Lom’s eyes meet my own, and nervousness soars within me. We’ve just started really getting to know each other—and now he’s telling me he’ll be going back to Grozny eventually. Where does that leave us? Heartbroken and in different cities, or hand-in-hand next to one another? I’m not sure. Lom clears his throat and changes the subject, “What are your plans for the day?”
“I don’t have much. I figured I’d go through some emails, check in on some of my listings and see if there’s been any traffic on them. I’ve gotten some notifications for one listing specifically, so I might reach out to those potential buyers today. Otherwise, I can’t think of anything else to do.”
“How about going out for coffee with me?” my cousin’s voice comes out of nowhere, and I turn back to see her standing at the entrance to the kitchen. I wonder when she got here or how much she heard.
“Yeah, I’d love that, actually. It’ll give us more of a chance to tour the city together.” I smile wide.
“Yeah, and it means we can rack up Ruslan’s credit card a little bit too.” Amelia yanks the card out of her pocket, and a mischievous smile covers her face.
“If you don’t want the eggs, I’ll eat yours,” Lom tells me, and I can’t help but hold back my laughter.
“You totally were making those for yourself and acted like you were cooking for me.” I go up and smack him on the arm. Lom laughs and wraps an arm around me, then pulls me against him.
“I might’ve been, but I’d never let you starve. I was going to let you get more sleep. Go out with your cousin and get some food. I’ll eat these delicious eggs, and take this.” Lom digs into his pocket and pulls out his wallet, handing me his card.
“Lom, I don’t need you to do that. I have my own money.”
