Outside the Box

by Rochelle Paige

  “Really?” I asked. “I think I got the gyros when I was here before.”

  “Yeah, there isn’t much demand for Russian and Uzbek specialties in a town this size, so they added a bit of variety to the menu to help bring business in the door. I’m sure the gyros are good, but tonight, you’ll get to experience this place on a whole new level,” he promised.

  “A whole new level, huh?” I teased.

  “Alexandra will let the owners know I’m here with a date, so I’m sure they’ll pull out all the stops to help me impress you because they’ve been bugging me to bring a girl here for months,” he explained. “They’ve kind of taken me under their wing a little since I come in so often.”

  “I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that you speak Russian, too,” I pointed out, hoping he’d tell me more about himself.

  “Or that I remind them of their son who moved to Boston a few years ago after he graduated from college,” he added. “Just like being here makes me think of being home.”

  “How so?” I asked.

  “My parents moved to the States before I was born because they wanted their kids to have plenty of opportunities, but they never let go of their culture or traditions. So I grew up eating Russian foods, learning how to speak the language, and listening to the music,” he said before waving his hand around the restaurant. “Being here gives me a little taste of home. I can speak in Russian without people looking at me like I’m crazy because they have no idea what I’m saying. I can watch the music videos they play some nights, although how they manage to get Russian music videos piped in, I have no idea. And I get to eat some amazing food that reminds me of the dishes my mom loves to cook.”

  “Like these,” Alexandra said as she brought out a couple of beers and plates with appetizers. “I brought some of your favorites for you and your Aubrey. I thought you’d like to have her taste them, but I can bring whatever you’d like if these don’t work for you.”

  “I’m sure it will be wonderful,” I assured her. “It smells delicious.”

  She smiled before leaving us with our food.

  “Have you ever tried Russian beer before?” Luka asked.

  “Nope, and I’ve got to warn you that I’m not a huge beer fan,” I answered.

  “You may find this one to be the exception,” Luka said as he pointed at the bottles. “It’s a pale lager that’s kind of similar to Yuengling except they use rice in the brewing process so it removes some of the bitter taste. A lot of my buddies hate it because they’re huge beer fans, but you might like it.”

  I took a small sip of the beer, tasting the hops without the bitterness that usually makes me hate beer. “Mmmm. Not bad.”

  “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.

  “In that case—carry on with the stories,” Luka said with a grin.

  Lexi took him up on the offer even though he’d only meant it as a joke. “Okay then. That covers an embarrassing moment. What about something you regret?”

  “Lexi, c’mon. Give Luka a break,” I pleaded with her. “I wasn’t like this when you started dating Drake.”

  Luka laid his hand over the one I had on his thigh. “No, I’m a big boy. I can take it. And it’s good that you have a friend who looks out for you. To be honest, there isn’t much in my life I regret. The only thing that really comes to mind is that, after a really bad breakup this summer—which Aubrey already knows the details about—I was very angry with my ex and slept wit
h her best friend. Well, now her ex-best friend since they don’t speak to each other anymore.”

  Lexi stared at him for a moment, her eyebrows raised and her lips parted in surprise. “Damn. I didn’t see that one coming.”

  “Shit, Luka. I wasn’t even going to go there and you know I don’t mind giving you a hard time,” Jason said.

  Although Luka hadn’t shared that part of the story with me earlier, I could tell the conversation was making him very uncomfortable and I wanted to move it along as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, I also knew that sometimes Lexi could be worse than a dog with a bone.

  “Hey, the good news there is it’s not like I ever have to worry about that, because even if I fucked him over as badly as his ex did,” I started, wanting to get the point across to Lexi that he was the wronged party in that situation, “there isn’t a chance in hell you’d ever sleep with him, Lexi.”

  “Damn straight,” she agreed.

  “It’s not like he’d survive the beatdown I’d have to give him for trying,” Drake added, making Lexi and me giggle because of the glare he gave the other guys just at the thought.

  “You’re such a caveman,” Lexi teased him. “And I think the guys already got that idea the first time we saw them in the hallway. Right?”

  “Hell yeah. It was pretty hard to miss that Lexi was yours with the way you practically pissed in circles around her,” Jason joked.

  “Pissed in circles,” Lexi snorted as she laughed. “Ohmigod, that’s so funny.”

  “And so accurate, too,” I said, chuckling along with her.

  “Hey, I resent that remark,” Drake mumbled under his breath, making Lexi and me laugh even harder. It finally broke the tension at the table, and conversation turned away from the grilling of Luka to lighter things.

  ****

  I panted against Luka’s mouth, drowning in his kiss. The rest of the evening had gone much more smoothly once Lexi backed off. We’d had a few drinks and I’d had the chance to catch up with Lexi while the boys talked about sports. All in all, it was a success.

  “Come back to my apartment with me,” he demanded.

  “Not yet,” I replied.

  I wasn’t sure what kept giving me the power to resist saying yes, but I was starting to think there was a little bit of fear mixed in there. What was building between Luka and me was deeper than anything I’d felt for any guy before him. I didn’t want to mess this up. Plus, it kind of felt like cobwebs had grown down there seeing as so much time had passed since the last time I had been with someone. I knew in my head that I was being silly, but I worried a little that maybe I’d lost all my moves and I wouldn’t be good enough in bed to satisfy Luka. I’d clearly lost my mind since meeting him.

  “I know you want to say yes,” he muttered. “Why do you keep saying no?”

  “I don’t think I’m ready for us to take that step yet,” I argued.

  “Nothing even has to happen tonight,” he rasped out. “I swear to god I’m not pressuring you for sex. I just don’t want our night to end like this. It isn’t enough. I want—no, I need—more time with you.

  “Soon,” I promised.

  Luka grunted with frustration before replying. “Very soon?”

  “Yes,” I agreed, reaching up to give him one last kiss before stepping away to go into the dorm.

  chapter 6

  luka

  Each date with Aubrey sent me closer and closer to the edge. When I first asked her out, I hadn’t expected that I’d find myself a month later with the biggest case of blue balls in the history of man. I couldn’t help but think that it was my penance for judging her because of her dating history. It didn’t matter how often I jacked off¸ any time I got near her, my dick would get as hard as steel.

  Jason thought it was hilarious that, even though I hadn’t been able to talk her into coming back to the apartment with me yet, I’d kept it spotless ever since our first date in the hope that she’d eventually say yes. Apparently, my misfortune was a good thing for him because he didn’t have to lift a finger around the place—I was taking care of everything. But I didn’t give a fuck what he said because sometime soon she was going to say yes and I’d be prepared. Plus¸ I thought as I emptied the garbage, cleaning blew off some extra steam for me.

  I heard the elevator ping as I carried the trash out to the garbage shoot. I glanced up out of habit, and there she was. She hadn’t called or texted. She’d just said no to coming back here earlier tonight, but I didn’t care.. All that mattered was that Aubrey was here.

  I grabbed her arm, dropped the bag into the shoot, and pulled her into my apartment, through the living room and to my bedroom.

  “Aubrey,” I groaned before gathering her into my arms. “Thank fuck you’re here.”

  “But Luka,” she said quietly before I started to kiss her with all the hunger I was feeling.

  Her lips were so soft underneath mine and her body felt amazing as I ran my hands over her clothes. I licked at the seam of her mouth, waiting for her to open so I could get a better taste. Her lips parted and my tongue swept inside, tangling with hers as I pulled her even closer to me.

  I gripped the back of her head, her hair tangled in one fist, as I ate hungrily at her mouth. I wanted to devour her and make her mine. Now.

  “I want you so much,” I murmured against her lips, grabbing her ass so I could hold her in place as I ground my hips against hers. “You finally came to me. Tell me I can have you tonight.”

  “Oh, Luka,” she sighed before she pushed against my chest. “You’re making this so hard.”

  “It’s only fair because you make me so hard,” I reminded her, suggestively rubbing against her again.

  She laughed softly before shaking her head at me. “That’s not why I’m here.”

  “Doesn’t matter as long as you’re here,” I said before leaning down to kiss her again.

  “Luka, you aren’t listening to me,” she said a little more harshly. “I didn’t come here for you.”

  What the fuck had she just said? I pushed her backwards until she was sitting on my bed, right where I wanted her.

  “If you aren’t here for me, then who the hell are you here to see?” I growled as I towered over her.

  “Lexi,” she answered.

  “And you weren’t even going to stop and knock on my door?” I asked, relieved to know that she wasn’t here to see some other guy.

  She looked at me oddly, and I realized that some of the hurt I’d felt at her words had crept into my tone. Only moments before, I had felt thrilled at the thought that she’d finally come to me, and now I felt guilty for having thought that maybe she was here for some guy. I was even a little bit jealous that she was here for her best friend instead of me.

  “I guess if you put it that way, it sounds kind of bad, but I didn’t realized you guys were actually neighbors. I mean, I figured you all lived in the same building because I’d seen you before and Lexi mentioned running into you and Jason in the hallway when we were talking tonight. But not that you guys all lived so close that you shared a wall. Now that I think about it, I’m kind of surprised I’ve only bumped into you once since I’ve been to their place several times already.”

  “You know how crazy my schedule is,” I reminded her.

  “Yet you still make time for me,” she pointed out.

  “Yeah, but you’re special like that,” I murmured, looking down at her and liking that she was on my bed even if she was still fully dressed. “So we’ve got a problem.”

  Aubrey raised her eyebrows at me. “A problem?”

  “You said you didn’t come here to see me, but now that I have you where I want you, I don’t want to let you go,” I admitted.

  She beamed up at me at my words. “Maybe I don’t want you to let me go.”

  “What about Lexi?” I asked. Aubrey pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. “No worries there. I just let her know I wasn’t coming over after all.”

  “And she won’t mi
nd?” I asked, not wanting to come between her and her best friend.

  “Since I was on my way over to talk about you, I’m pretty sure she’ll cut me some slack,” she said softly.

  I sat down next to her on the bed and pulled her hand into mine. “You wanted to talk to her about me?”

  A blush swept across Aubrey’s cheeks. “Yeah. That’s what best friends do when they’re confused about a guy. We gossip about you.”

  “Were you at least going to say good things about me?” I teased.

  Aubrey leaned her head against my shoulder, fitting perfectly, like she was made to be there. “Very good things.”

  “Can I help with the confused part?” I asked.

  She sighed deeply before answering. “This thing between us? It matters to me. A lot.”

  I pulled her up into my lap and wrapped my arms around her. “It matters to me too.”

  “I’ve had boyfriends before,” she tried to explain, but I didn’t like that reminder very much, and she must have felt me stiffen beneath her. “We both have pasts, Luka. They are what they are, and they’ve made us the people we are today.”

  “True,” I gritted out.

  “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve never felt before for anyone else what I’m feeling now with you. And it scares me because you matter to me so much and we haven’t even been seeing each other for very long,” she admitted.

  “Is that why you’re hesitant about having sex with me?” I asked and then felt like an ass for bringing it up right now, but it had been bothering me for a while. I couldn’t understand how she had been able to say no to this crazy chemistry between us.

  “It’s part of it,” she whispered.

  “And the other part?” I asked, turning her head so I could see her eyes. Aubrey looked up at me with scared eyes before she shook her head. “Not ready to talk about it yet?” I asked softly, swiping my thumb across her lips.