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

            “It’s how we eat everything,” Elena said.

            Colton shoveled a huge bite into his mouth. “These are amazing.”

            Elena filled her own plate and sat down next to Vlad. “They’d be better with tvorog, but I couldn’t find any at the store.”

            “What’s tvorog?” Mack asked over a mouthful.

            “It’s a kind of Russian cheese. You can’t have real syrniki without it, so I had to use ricotta cheese instead.”

            “They don’t sell it in stores?” Andrea asked.

            “Not usually, at least not in America,” Elena answered. “Some international markets will have it, but that’s pretty rare. It has to be served fresh or it will spoil quickly.”

            “I might know a place that would have it,” Colton said.

            Vlad coughed, and Elena watched as he locked eyes with Colton and engaged in one of those silent conversations of his own. A moment passed in which Colton seemed to have been scolded, because he finally shrugged and looked away.

            Andrea suddenly sighed dramatically. “Anyway,” she said, “I need advice.”

            Claud rolled her eyes. “Here we go.”

            “What? I need to talk about this. And that’s what we do in our morning coffee hours. We talk about things.”

            “I’m listening, darlin’,” Colton said.

            Andrea gave him a coy smile but then she sighed again. “I don’t know what to do about Jeffrey. He really wants to, you know, take things further. I just don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.”

            Claud snorted. “You mean you don’t know if you’re ready for him to know the truth about your boobs.”

            Mack coughed into his coffee, and Colton grinned. “I’m suddenly extremely interested in this conversation.”

            Andrea crossed her arms, probably to show off the very boobs they were discussing. “For the last time, there is absolutely nothing wrong with breast enhancement.”

            “Oh, I heartily agree,” Colton said.

            Elena snuck a glance at Vlad. He seemed as unfazed as he was unsurprised by their conversation. Apparently, Andrea’s boobs were a regular topic of conversation during morning coffee hours.

            “I just, I’m still so gun-shy from Neil,” she said. She looked at the Elena and the guys. “That’s my ex-husband.”

            “Ah,” Elena said.

            “I mean, I care about Jeffrey. I do,” Andrea continued. “But what if he’s just another Neil? We were so perfect together for so many years, and then . . . it just fizzled.”

            “Before or after he died?” Elena asked.

            Vlad snorted and then coughed to again cover up his laugh.

            “See, that’s your problem right there,” Claud said, pointing at Andrea. “You’re still waiting on your knight in shining armor who will make you all giddy and sparkly for the rest of your life. What you should be looking for is someone you’re still willing to have sex with after they make you look at pictures of their colonoscopy.”

            Malcolm spit out his coffee.

            “That’s what’s wrong with so many young people today,” Claud continued. “You think marriage is this grand romantic adventure that’s never going to end. That’s not what it is. It is a partnership. A legal agreement that makes it so damn annoying to get out of that you stick by each other even when you want to beat him with a giant zucchini—”

            Elena opened her mouth, but Linda waved her off. “Don’t ask.”

            “—because it’s just too much of a pain in the ass to break up.”

            Noah pounded his chest to clear the last of his choking fit. “Well, I’m excited to get married.”

            “You shouldn’t be excited to get married. You should be ready to get married. There’s a huge difference. Most people are excited for a wedding but never think about what happens after that or what marriage really means.” Claud leaned forward. “You know what my mother told me on my wedding day?”