Chapter 7 - I should tell you

Sasha's POV

I arrived at Nef's condo at 7:25 pm. It was Stephanie who opened the door and told me that Nef was still getting dressed.

"Sorry, I'll be there in a minute!" She yelled down the hall.

When she walked into the living room where I was seated she was wearing a baby pink dress and a cardigan. The dress came down just below her knees and the cardigan covered her bare shoulders.

"I missed you while I was on the road," I said as I stood and pulled her into a hug.

She wrapped her arms around me and I smiled.

"In English please," She said.

"I bring flowers for the pretty lady."

I pulled away and handed her the bouquet of tulips I'd brought for her.

"Ooooohhhh Thank you. These are pretty," she smiled. "Let me put these in some water."

She walked into the kitchen to grab a vase for them.

"Ummmm, Sasha? Help, please?" I heard her call to me.

I walked into the kitchen to see her standing in front of the sink pointing to the vases that were stored on top of the oak cabinets. I couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Why you put them there if you can't reach?" I asked.

"I didn't do it. It was my giant of a roommate!" She narrowed her eyes at me. "Less talking. More grabbing."

I grabbed the vase that she pointed out and stepped to the sink to fill it with water. She placed the tulips in the vase and then placed the vase in the center of the dinning room table.

"Ready short lady?" I asked smirking.

I extending my elbow to her like any gentleman would and she took it. I felt her hand grip my bicep and her nails try to get through the fabric of my blazer and shirt. I had worn gray slacks, a lavender button down shirt, and a gray blazer.

"I'm not short."

"Course not. You just not tall," I leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead.

She glared at me. It was fun to tease Nefertiti. It made up for her laughing when Ovie harassed me. There had been a few times when she had joined in with Ovie. They both seemed bent on embarrassing me. It didn't help that she thought it was cute when I blushed.

We made it to The Source for our 8 pm reservation. It was an Asian influenced that had a modern feel. Through our conversations I had learned that she had been to both Japan and China with her grandparents. Her grandfather was the founder and CEO of some big name international investment firm. She had come back from Japan with love of sushi and Asian influenced foods...yet another thing we had in common. I loved sushi and other Asian influenced foods. It seamed liked the more I talked to her the more I wanted her.




Nef's POV:

He hugged me. He kissed my forehead. He missed me while he was away. Dammit Sasha why did you have to go and say that! It made me happy that he missed me because I sure as hell missed him. But it made me feel like crap. Not because he missed me but because he spoke in Russian. He thought that I didn't understand him. I almost felt like I was lying to him. He had never asked me if I spoke Russian. He had assumed that I didn't. I hadn't bothered to correct him either.

Bah! I should tell him. I should tell him. Why hadn't I told him yet?

Dinner with Sasha was amazing. He picked me up at 7:30 with a bouquet of tulips in hand. He was an absolute gentlemen, opening doors for me, pulling out the chair for me to be seated, standing when I excused myself from the table to use the restroom. Guys like this don't exist today!

At dinner we continue to get to know each other. Sasha asked about a million questions on school. He had focused on hockey so much when he was younger that he hadn't gotten the chance to experience school as a normal kid. He had gotten the chance to attend Traktor Chelyabinsk hockey school. He attended normal classes while at Traktor but the main focus was hockey. he hadn't had the chance to attend a homecoming or a prom. I told him about high school and undergrad.

"I love University. I got to live on campus with Jesse and we both decided to attend the same graduate school so we live together."

"You know Jesse a long time?" Sasha asked.

"Yes. We met freshman year of undergrad...our first year. That was 6 years ago."

I asked him what Traktor was like and if there was anything that he missed or wished was different.

"There are things that I wanted to do like hang out with friends, go to party, go to malls but there was no time. There was lessons for school and then hockey. There was lots of practice; learning to shoot, to backcheck, to penalty kill, learning the power play. Then there was physical training: skating, running, weight lifting. Not a lot of free time but I would not change it. I love hockey. It make me happy."

After dinner Sasha drove back to my condo.

"I always have fun with you," Sasha said.

I smiled and told him that it was the same for me. He parked the car and walked me to my door. We said good night and I hugged him. He kissed my forehead before he released me from the hug. He told me that we would talk later and with that I walked into my condo.