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

            “Double, double toil and trouble?” Elena said.

            Vlad grunted another laugh.

            “She said, ‘Claudia, I know you are so happy right now that it’s hard to imagine things will ever be bad. But there will come a day when you’ll be sitting across from him as he is eating his breakfast, and all you will think is why? And then you’ll get over it, and things will go back to normal.’ That is marriage. Security and stability with the occasional what the hell was I thinking?”

            Elena turned a pointed gaze at Vlad and whispered, “ ‘Thus heaven’s gift to us is this . . .’ ”

            His chuckle came out a surprised puff of air before he finished the couplet. “ ‘That habit takes the place of bliss.’ ”

            “Your mama was right. There is a Pushkin quote for everything.”

            “Who is Pushkin?” Colton asked.

            Vlad shook his head and wiped his mouth. “We are with heathens, Elena.”

            Elena sighed dramatically and plunked her elbow on the counter. “Now you’ve done it.”

            Vlad leaned back in his chair, still shaking his head. “Alexander Pushkin is only Russia’s most famous and important poet in all of history.”

            Elena adopted a theater whisper. “His mama is a literature professor at the university in Omsk and teaches a course on Pushkin.”

            “Who is Pushkin?” Vlad muttered again. “He is to Russia what Shakespeare is to Britain.”

            “Between the two of us, we’ve probably memorized every one of his poems. His mama used to make us sit for hours and analyze every word, every translation.” Elena adopted a matronly tone of voice. “ ‘Literature is life, and Pushkin is its beating heart.’ ”

            Vlad grinned, a wide, toothy thing that showed off the tiny gap between his two front incisors. “You sounded exactly like her.”

            “Damn, boys,” Mack said. “Been a long time since we’ve seen the Russian smile like that, huh?”

            “Indeed,” Malcolm said, nodding with an almost Zen-like quality. “Indeed.”

            The guys did that talking-with-their-eyes thing again.

            “Well,” Linda suddenly said. “We’ve invaded your space long enough this morning. We should get going.”

            Claud scowled. “I’m not ready.”

            Linda grabbed her mother’s arm. “Yes, you are.”

            “Breakfast was incredible,” Andrea said. “Can we help clean up?”

            “No,” Elena said, waving her hand at the mess. “I’ll take care of it.”

            “Before you go,” Colton said. “We have an idea that perhaps you ladies would like to help us with?”

            Vlad’s eyebrows tugged together, as if he didn’t quite trust whatever was going to come out of his friend’s mouth.

            “Since Vlad can’t be with his team during the Stanley Cup championship—”

            Elena snuck at a glance at Vlad to gauge his reaction. He had none. He’d gone impossibly still.

            “—I was thinking that we should throw him a party here on Saturday to watch the first of the Nashville games with him.”

            Vlad’s throat went taut with a hard swallow. Apparently, this was news to him. His fingers crumpled his napkin into a tight ball. Elena wasn’t even sure he knew he’d done it.

            “A party with Colton Wheeler?” Andrea gushed. “Count me in.”

            Colton winked. “Be sure to bring Jeffrey.”

            Andrea winked back. “Who?”

            “We were thinking that everyone can bring food to share,” Mack said. “I know Liv and Alexis are both hoping Elena will make some authentic Russian dishes.”