Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 130955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
He smiled at Jan, his heart still thudding where Yev held him close. “I don’t wanna tell the same story twice. It’s why I got you all to come tonight.”
Iga’s inquisitive gaze sliced him to pieces, and he’d known her long enough to recognize judgment when he saw it. Radek stood on his toes and gave Yev a kiss. “My husband’s a bit overprotective.”
Yev stilled, but it was Jan who gave an uncomfortable laugh, rubbing his tattooed forearms. “Very funny, Mr. No Commitment.”
“No, I’m serious. We traveled to Germany and got married.”
Radek’s friends remained suspiciously quiet, watching Yev as if he’d grown a second head.
“So you’re not legally married here. I’ll steal you,” Jan said, but as he reached for Radek again, Yev shoved him away.
“Stop touching him!”
Radek should be offended, he should yell ‘I can handle it myself’, but having Yev as his guard dog was a relief. As much as he wanted to pretend nothing’s changed, he wasn’t as confident in his body as he used to be, and he most definitely didn’t want Jan touching his stump.
“We’re as married as can be. You missed that boat, so you can listen to the whole story with everyone else.” Radek stuck his tongue out at Jan and pulled Yev toward the table where Iga made room for them by shifting all the way to the back.
Radek’s friends were the kind of people who’d find humor in almost any situation, so he was unnerved by their silence. He pretended not to notice and guided Yev into the booth while Jan stood close by with a heavy flush climbing his face.
The air changed from dense with perfume to thick with tension, and while Radek attempted to smile, even the cocktail he started drinking as soon as he was sandwiched between Yev and his former hook-up Andrzej couldn’t ease the tension deep inside.
Iga leaned forward, which made her massive beady earrings dangle. “So… you gather us here after ignoring everyone for so long, and it turns out you have a husband? What? What happened?” she asked in what was the most polite accusation ever. She didn’t have to mention the arm because that was painfully obvious to everyone.
Radek smiled, but his heart thudded all the way up in his throat, as if this were the first time he’d pranked his friends. “You all know I was supposed to go to Madeira for New Year’s, but before I left Dybukowo I went to the woods again, and this time I really did meet a wolf. Several in fact. It was a bloodbath. One grabbed my arm, dragged me in the snow. I managed to shoot the rifle, which made the others run away, but the one that held my arm, wouldn’t let go. I thought I was done for, but then heard an engine nearby and screamed for help. That’s where Yev comes in, running through the snow, guns blazing. He’s a forest ranger, you know?”
“That forest ranger?” Jan asked, spreading his arms so suddenly he knocked off a tiny fascinator one of the girls had worn to the party. His gaze, intense and searching wouldn’t stray to her even as she voiced her anger, and pinned Radek to the seat.
“What forest ranger?” Yev asked, his arm gently tightening around Radek, like the safety belt in a roller coaster seat just before take-off.
Jan smirked. “The one that was… let me remind you what you said, ‘full of shit’? The one who arrested you? And then you asked me to go on some prank rampage to his house?”
Radek groaned, sizzling under the scrutiny. He could either tell the truth or deny it, and he wasn’t yet sure which would do less damage.
Daniel imitated a drum roll by tapping his fingers against the table. “The plot thickens!”
“That only partially sounds like me,” Yev said in an easy tone and pressed a kiss to the side of Radek’s head in a gesture that seemed to have hypnotized everyone.
Relief that Yev wasn’t angry with him gave Radek the confidence to go on. “Yeah, so he did arrest me, but I deserved it, so let bygones be bygones. Who cares about shit like that anyway when this man,” he smiled up at Yev, “saved my life? He didn’t want to shoot the wolf either, because he might have hurt me in the process, so he ran over and held the wolf in a chokehold until it let go, and then snapped its neck!”
The gasps and widened eyes told Radek he’d been believed. Yev was a big guy, so he could have plausibly managed such a feat.
Yev leaned close, like a big bad wolf about to bite off Radek’s ear, and whispered, “Your ass will be paying for these lies.”
Radek bit his lip. He sure hoped so. “Yev took me to the hospital, but the arm couldn’t be saved. He stayed with me night and day. Turns out he’s not full of shit at all. He proposed two weeks later, and that was that, I’m a married man now.”