Isn't It Bromantic (Bromance Book Club #4) by Lyssa Kay Adams

            “Which friends?”

            “The Loners.” She toed the floor with her sneaker. “They were at your house when I got there yesterday. I don’t think the old one likes me very much.”

            Vlad dragged a beleaguered hand over his hair and spoke on a sigh. “What did Claud say?”

            “I don’t remember exactly, but it was something like, ‘You’re a heartless bitch who should be hit by a train.’ ”

            Vlad’s eyebrows pulled together as his expression darkened. “She said that?”

            “Maybe not those exact words, but that was clearly the meaning.” She shrugged and adopted what she hoped was a self-deprecating smile. “Hey, if I were dead, then you’d be a real member of their club, at least.”

            Her attempt at humor missed its mark. “Elena, don’t ever say anything like that again.”

            She squirmed again under his examination. She self-consciously scratched a nonexistent itch on her face as she thought of something to say.

            “You’re not wearing your ring.”

            She shoved her hand back into her pocket.

            “You had it on yesterday.” His voice had dropped an octave.

            “I saw yours on your dresser. I figured since you weren’t wearing yours . . .” She shrugged. “I left mine next to it.”

            “I only take mine off for games, Elena. I’ve been wearing it.”

            “Oh.” Her heart hammered a confusing beat. Why was he telling her that?

            A brisk knock on the door interrupted them. Madison poked her head in. “Can I come in?”

            “Yes, of course,” Elena said, switching back to English. She turned away from Vlad, hands still in her back pockets, as Madison walked in. Madison greeted Vlad, checked his incision, and then introduced the two other trainers with her—a pair of eager-looking grad assistants who seemed like they couldn’t wait to start torturing him with squat thrusts.

            Done with the introductions, Madison smiled and said, “So, I bet you’re ready to get out of here.”

            “Very much,” Vlad answered.

            “Since you’re here, Elena, does that mean you’re staying, or . . . ?”

            The empty, sour feeling returned to her stomach. “No, I am going back to Chicago.”

            “You can stay.” Vlad said it in Russian, and at first, Elena wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. But when she looked down at him, his expression confirmed it. A pink tinge rose above the dark outline of scruff on his cheeks, giving him a boyish, sheepish look. “If—if you still want to.”

            “But you said—”

            “I was a jerk yesterday.”

            Heart pounding, she glanced at Madison, who was quietly conversing with the two other trainers. Even though none of them could understand her conversation with Vlad, Elena appreciated the attempt at privacy. She stepped closer to his bed. “I don’t understand. You—you want me to stay?”

            His response was a single nod.

            A warm bloom in her chest began to melt the cold loneliness that had been slowly turning her heart to ice. “I bought a plane ticket for tonight. I don’t know if I can cancel it.”

            “Just don’t get on the plane.”

            “But the money . . . I always cost you so much money.”

            His expression became wounded. “I don’t care about the money, Elena. If you want to go, then go. But I’m asking you to stay. Do you want to or not?”

            Just like that day so many years ago when he’d crouched before her with two shiny rings, she hesitated before answering. And just like then, a smile spread across her face, and when she finally found her voice, it was a whisper. “Yes.”

            His features relaxed, as if he’d been holding his breath in anticipation of her response. He nodded and swallowed hard. “Okay.”