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

            “It’s fine. I’ll be right out.”

            She wanted to run away, lock herself in her own bedroom and hide. But she couldn’t. Not until she knew he’d made it safely out of the bathroom. So she waited, wincing, as the sounds of his crutches approached the door. She pulled it open for him and put enough distance between them to avoid any chance of touching him again. He’d wrapped a dry towel around his waist again, but rivulets of water dripped down his back from his hair.

            “I—I’ll get some clothes for you.”

            “I can dress myself.”

            “Fine. I’ll, um, I’ll be downstairs.”

            “Dammit, Elena. Stop.”

            She hovered in the doorway and stared at the closed door to her room, caught between two worlds. Across the hallway, all her notes, all her work, her future. Behind her, all her desires, all her longings, her past. But he didn’t feel like her past anymore. He felt real. He felt present.

            “What just happened?” he asked, managing to sound both wounded and confused.

            “Nothing.”

            “It wasn’t nothing.”

            “Then it’s something we need to forget.”

            “Why?”

            She turned around and found him in the same spot as before. Rooted and stuck. “I had a job interview yesterday.”

            His face drained of color. “What are you talking about?”

            “The Moscow Independent.”

            He washed a hand down his face.

            “I mean, it wasn’t really an interview, but I called Yevgeny, and he said he would get back to me in a few days. I have no reason to think he won’t offer me a job.”

            All the warmth and softness evaporated from his eyes. They became as hard as his jawline, his expression as dark as his beard. “Congratulations.”

            “This was always the plan, Vlad.”

            “Not always.” He turned around on his crutches. “You can go now. I don’t need your help anymore.”





CHAPTER FOURTEEN





By six o’clock, the food was done, the house was full, and Elena wished she could be anywhere else.

            They hadn’t spoken again all day, and Vlad had barely even looked at her. For everyone else, he offered smiles and hugs. But whenever their eyes crossed paths, his face turned to stone. Shortly before the game was supposed to start, the guys got him settled on the couch and then huddled around him in the way they always did. From her spot on the opposite side of the room, she felt the weight of their stares. She looked up to find Mack, Malcolm, and Noah watching her and whispering. They quickly looked away, making it obvious that she’d just busted them talking about her.

            Vlad had probably told them about her job interview and now they hated her too. She gave them her back and pretended it didn’t matter. She sensed someone else staring, but this time it was Alexis, who studied her with a slight tilt to her head and a questioning look in her eyes.

            “I’m sorry, did you say something?” Elena asked.

            “I asked if there was anything I could do to help?”

            “Oh. No, thank you.” Elena shook her head to clear the fog. She gestured toward the table covered in food. “Please just enjoy yourself.”

            Alexis looked back and forth between Elena and Vlad before quietly excusing herself.

            “Heads up, girlfriend.” Colton’s sudden voice over her shoulder was a fierce whisper. “Your friends are here.”

            Great. Just when she thought the night couldn’t get any worse, the Loners marched in single file. Elena slapped a hand over her right eye as it began to twitch.

            “What’s wrong?” Colton asked.

            “Hex.”

            Colton tugged her hand away. “Courage, woman. Don’t let them intimidate you.”