Page 76 of Notes About Vodka

"Don't forget about us," Rhea interrupts.

"My apologies," I reply and line up several shots for Rhea, Skipper, and a few other friends that have joined us, including Mads who just walked in to the Blue Key.

"To Laura! Hey Val, how do we cheers the birthday girl in Russian?" Skip asks.

"Nas derovia," I reply. At the glazed look in everyone's eyes, I say it slower so everyone catches onto the consonants and syllables. "Na-as, de-ro-via. To your good health!"

Laura whispers, the phrase coming of her lips with a slight southern accent, "Na-as dear-rov-ia."

I grin and start to tease her for the cuteness but Skipper and Mads call out together, "Nas derovia, Laura!"

Then, glasses clink andwe throw back the vodka.Damn, I forgot the za cuska. Little bits of appetizer or food for my girl. Hmmm… how sexy it would be to feed her a piece of bread, with a little butter and sturgeon caviar right now.

My eyes track Laura's throat again. I want to kiss where her neck contours into her collarbone as she swallows. Trace my lips down her chest, leaving hickeys along the scar that resides between her breasts before I take my time with each of her nipples.

Fuck, I need to calm down.

The thoughts cause my dick to bulge. I fidget, trying to hide my growing arousal by moving on to make the next martini.

The second is a bright pink cosmopolitan. “This one is a bit sweeter than the last, with cranberry juice and a hint of lime. Perfect for someone as sweet as you, Laura. It would be a Cosmo without some of the other secrets, so for you, my song science writer, I call this,The Hemingway. Name already coined by someone else, FYI.” I laugh as I pass the drink forward.

Rhea takes it from me before I get it all the way to Laura, sipping, “He’s right, this one is definitely as sweet as you, Laura Mae.”

Laura laughs and its music to my ears, and heart. “Stop it Rhea! You know I hate hearing mylegalname. But, it sure would be nice to know before you gobble is all down.”

“You’re right,” Rhea says, “Val, please make the Turkey baby over here another drink of her own. This one already has my saliva on it and tainted the taste.” Then, Rhea just tilts it back and its gone.

Well, go girl!I make another Hemingway and when Laura takes a sip, the smile that crosses her face lights up her eyes.

“Oh, wow, I was expecting sugar, but this is different. Yes, its very sweet, but…”

“It’s the agave nectar,” I tell her.

“Yummy, I like it.”

“Good, I’m glad.”

Next, I pour a deep blue martini with curaçao, its color almost matching the dim lights around us. “And this one is…exotic. Refreshing.”

I gentle pop Rhea’s hand as she tries to grab the drink as I pass it to Laura and exclaim, “Oh no, not this time. Birthday girl gets all the first sips from here on out.”

Laura grins at Rhea, chuckling to herself. She takes a sip, her eyes fixed on mine. I feel my heart beating so loudly it drowns out the music, the crowd, everything else. The thirdmartini is a deep blue, almost sapphire, like Laura’s eyes tonight. When she looks into it, the silver gray I know so well start to sparkle through. “This one is called a blue lagoon, with blue curaçao and a splash of lemonade.

“Val,” Laura pauses, they are all amazing but this one is so…refreshing. Is there pineapple in here?”

“Just a splash, and grenadine,” I say as I lean into Laura.

I’m going to kiss her. But before I my lips can connect to hers, Rhea interrupts, asking, “Val, okay, so we you are a Russian, but how did you actually get stuck here in the U.S.? Laura hasn’t told us much, if anything. And more importantly, why are you studying science? You totally need to just become a mixologist and open your own bar.”

I chuckle. “Ha, well, I don’t know what Laura has said, but after I came back to the United States as an exchange student, I never went back. I used to have an old joke about it, but it’s pretty bad.”

“Okay, well color me curious,” Skipper interjects.

“Well, I’m still here, but… you haven’t exchanged me back yet… so there’s an American student also still stuck in Russia.”

I can hear the crickets.

“Yeah, I told you that was a bad joke.”

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