Page 7 of Bratva Bastard

“Clearly,” Gabby teased. “Seriously though, everyone dealt with Helga’sinterestingattitude without causing a scene. Even Maxim, and she was riding him hard every step of the way.”

“Refresh my memory, which one was Maxim, again?” I asked. The only guests I knew were from Gabby’s side, and most of her family and friends were in Brazil for the wedding, so her friends from Moscow were just as foreign to me as the groom’s guests.

“The best man,” Gabby answered, sipping her drink.

Fernanda whistled, cocking an eyebrow. “Mm, you mean Mr. Tall, Russian, and Handsome?”

“That’s the one.”

I groaned, rolling my eyes. “Ugh, you mean the guy who left early with the blonde?”

Sure, my tone was laced with a thick layer of judgment, but come on! The guy left his best friend’s wedding early so he could hook up with some blonde chick. It’s sick!

“Lucky her,” Fernanda mumbled.

Gabby shook her head, a smirk on her face. “Why do you care so much? You think he’s cute or something?”

My cheeks burned with heat, both girls’ attention focused solely on me and my blazing red cheeks. “No,” I said, too defensively. “It’s not that. I just think it’s totally inappropriate for a member of thewedding partyto leave early to sleep with some girl. I mean, it’s disrespectful and beyond rude. It was yourwedding.He couldn’t wait to have sex?”

“Oh, lighten up, Cris,” Gabby said. “Maxim’s a good guy. A bit of a playboy, but a good guy nonetheless.”

“Yeah,” Fernanda agreed, chiming in. “He was having fun, it’s what you’re supposed to do at a wedding. It’s practically written in the books that weddings are where the singles hook up. And when you’re in that moment, about to have a one-night stand with a sexy guy, the last thing on your mind is worrying about the bride and groom, who are probably too busy to even notice you’re gone. At least someone got some last night.”

“Maybe you should’ve brought Luiz,” Gabby teased. “Then you wouldn’t be so tense about the situation.”

She and Fernanda snickered as I rolled my eyes again. Between the two of them, they were determined to drive me crazy.

“I don’t think it would’ve mattered,” I answered, my cheeks growing hot again.

Gabby nearly choked on her drink, and stared at me in shock. “You mean you and Luiz still haven’t…?”

I shook my head and Gabby looked from me to Fernanda, and back to me. “Seriously? Not even a little?”

My head jerked back, and I looked at her with confusion. “Not that I even understand that statement, but no. Not even a little.”

“I thought you guys were super close,” Gabby admitted. “He calls your mom “Mama,” and everyone in town thinks you’ll be married by the end of next year. I just figured you’d taken your relationship to the next level.”

I shook my head, facing the floor. Why, I don’t know. There was no reason to feel ashamed for being a virgin. Plenty of people were virgins, and why was it a bad thing to want to wait for the right guy, the right moment?

But that made me feel worse, knowing that even Luiz, who I’d been with for years now, wasn’t the right guy. Like everyone else, I assumed we’d be married soon, but hearing Gabby talk so fondly about her wedding, her husband, I wondered if I would ever feel that same spark, that same magic.

Truth be told, I couldn’t see a wedding with Luiz giving me the same butterflies Gabby had with getting married. And that was possibly the most depressing thought of all. More so than admitting I was a virgin in my twenties.

“So, wait,” Fernanda said, holding out her hands to stop anyone from speaking. “You’re telling me you’ve been with Luiz for severalyears, and haven’t slept together? And he’s fine with waiting?”

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say. Sure, the topic had been mentioned a few times over the years. You don’t date someone that long and it does not come up. And I didn’t blame him when it did. We were two people, in our twenties, in a committed relationship. Yet, we weren’t having sex. But he knew where I stood and respected it.

“Damn. Somebody give that man a medal. Either he really does love you, or he’s gay.” Fernanda laughed, taking a sip of her drink and then adding, “That, or he has a side piece. Though, I can’t see Mr. Timid Banker sleeping with the hot receptionist.”

“It’s not like we haven’t doneanything.I mean, I do keep him satisfied in other ways. We just haven’t taken thebigstep.”

“Or, as the Americans say,hit a home run.”

“I believe it’sthird base,” Gabby corrected.

We burst into laughter until there were tears in our eyes. A good laugh, the kind that hits you deep in the gut, but feels so good.

“Seriously, though,” Gabby said, calming her laughter. “Do you want to have sex with Luiz?”

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