“Glad you like it,” Luka said as he began to describe the appetizers of fried spinach-and-cheese-filled pastries and a huge Uzbek bread roll. I enjoyed both, but the dinners were just plain amazing. I’d had beef stroganoff before, but they served it with a house-made sour cream that made this one amazing. We also had something called “Fish Moscow” that I wasn’t too sure about, but I was surprised by how good it was when Luka talked me into trying it. It was baked sea bass and smothered in a sauce similar to the one used on the stroganoff along with mushrooms, tomatoes, and potatoes. The fish was mild and the vegetables were so fresh that it was the perfect dish on this fall night.

Dinner was followed by a special pastry that was their dessert of the day. It had filo dough layered with a cheesecake-like filling, topped with chopped almonds, and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Alexandra served it with Turkish coffee, making it even more enjoyable. As I savored my last sip, I sighed deeply.

“I hope that means you enjoyed dinner,” Luka said.

“Absolutely,” I replied. “And you are more than welcome to pick up the gauntlet any time you want if it means you take me out for another meal like this.”

“Then I’ve accomplished what I set out to do if you’re willing to come out with me again,” Luka said as he reached over the table to hold my hand.

****

Going to dinner after studying together quickly became Luka’s and my thing. We tried a few different restaurants in town. I enjoyed introducing him to some of my favorite places, but Luka still preferred to go to Oasis whenever we could.

Tonight was a variation in our routine since we were at the Rooster’s Nest with Lexi, Drake, and Jason. It was the first time we’d all been out together, and I was hoping that things would go smoothly.

“Holy shit, Aubrey,” Lexi whispered to me.

“What?” I asked, wondering why she had a shocked look on her face.

“Your hot guy math geek is my neighbor!” she told me.

“Shut up!” I gasped. “Seriously?”

“Small world, huh?” she responded.

The guys all seemed to get along fairly well, which was nice. Lexi, on the other hand, remained relatively quiet after filling me in on that little coincidence, which had me a little worried. She was just watching Luka and me together with a questioning look in her eye, like she was just biding her time. And I knew that meant she’d pounce soon enough.

“So far you seem like a good guy, Luka, but I hope you don’t mind if I ask you a few questions to help me get to know you better,” Lexi finally threw into the conversation. “If Aubrey’s big brother Jackson was here, he would have taken care of this already, I’m sure. Since he’s not, I guess it falls to me as her best friend.”

“Ask me whatever you want,” Luka offered.

“Oh shit. Don’t tell her that,” I mumbled under my breath while Drake sat there laughing because he knew Lexi well enough to know that she’d take Luka up on that invitation.

“What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done before? Something really embarrassing or that you regret. That’s the type of dirt I want to hear so I can decide if you’re good enough for my best friend,” Lexi rattled off.

Luka looked a little bit stunned by Lexi’s questions, but it made Jason laugh. “I’ve got this one, dude,” he said as he patted Luka on the back. “That’s easy. He got pissed when his mom shared this story with me because it was so embarrassing. When he was in the fourth grade, there was this girl he had a crush on. He was feeling sick one morning before school, but his mom had this hard-and-fast rule—if you didn’t have a fever or could prove that you’d puked, then you had to go to school. He makes it about thirty minutes into the school day before he starts feeling worse. By then, the teacher had put everyone in small groups, and his crush was in his group. She asked him a question, he turned to answer her, and then he puked all over her.”

Luka had an adorable blush spread across his cheekbones. “I’m so glad I let you tag along tonight, Jason.”

Jason just laughed before continuing on. “That wasn’t even the best part. He finally got the courage to ask her out his freshman year of high school and she turned him down flat. She said no way in hell she’d ever be able to kiss him because every time she saw Luka, it made her think of vomit.”

“Fuck,” Luka swore. “Don’t you know when to shut up?”

I reached under the table and squeezed his thigh before resting my hand on it. “Well, I never think of vomit when I look at you and I’m more than willing to give you extra kisses to make up for the embarrassment,” I reassured him.