In the Beginning (Volkov Bratva #1)(29)

“He’s good,” she commented to Vlad.

“He is alright. His guard is too high. Mishca is always protecting his face,” he responded and Lauren thought she saw a hint of a smile on his normally impassive face. “See what I mean?”

Mishca’s opponent was able to land a blow to his stomach, rushing forward to send Mishca to the ground.

Lauren winced as they both landed, Mishca on his back, the other guy on top of him, straddling his waist, but Mishca didn’t seem affected as he made quick work of the other man, doing a complicated maneuver to lift his legs and lock them around the other man’s waist, shifting their positions until Mishca had him in a headlock.

He held tight, the muscles in his arms pulling taut as he cut off the man’s air. In no time at all, he began tapping Mishca repeatedly on the side and the referee called it.

They climbed to their feet, albeit sluggishly, and clapped each other on the back. The referee declared Mishca the winner, lifting his arm in the air.

Lauren clapped just as loudly as the others, grinning as he climbed out of the ring, ignoring the scores of people congratulating him as he reached her, wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up. Vlad whispered something in Russian before walking towards the octagon where another man was waiting, his mouth pensive.

She made a soft sound of protest, wiggling out of his arms to stand on her own two feet. She wrinkled her nose and said, “You’re sweaty.”

“This is nothing. I hardly put up a fight.”

“You did good out there,” she said as he grabbed a towel and wiped his face, draping it over his shoulders.

His brow quirked up as led her over to the locker rooms. “Then you were impressed, no?”

“Of course I was. You were great.”

“Spasibo.”

“Thanks?” She asked.

He seemed to appreciate her quick translation. “Give me one minute, then we’ll go.”

***

“What are you thinking about?” Mishca asked, breaking the silence as they rode towards her apartment.

“My friends can be a bit…weird, and I’m not sure how to do this introduction thing.”

He pretended to be shocked. “No boyfriend to introduce?”

She smiled shyly. “No, I haven’t.”

He looked pleased as he kissed her cheek. “There’s no need to worry. As long as you care for me and I care for you, everything else is inconsequential.”

At his comforting words, Lauren was looking forward to the meet-and-greet, expecting it go off flawlessly…that was until she opened the front door.

Matt was consoling Piper as she sobbed about her new Christian Louboutin’s which were covered in some type of goo and red paint. Tristan was sitting on Amber’s stool, a towel draped around his neck, covered in the same substance that coated Piper’s shoes, but he was also covered in white powder, glitter, and feathers. Sticky, red paint was stuck throughout his hair, making him look like he jammed his finger in a light socket.

To top it off, he was dressed only in a pair of Superman themed boxer-briefs.

“I didn’t even see the f*cking cat!” Tristan complained as Amber tried not to laugh as she worked on his hair.

At their entrance, all eyes swung over to them and Lauren contemplated making a run for it, dragging Mishca with her whether he liked it or not.

“Lauren, we weren’t expecting you so soon,” Amber said, her eyes bright with mischief. “Good to see you again, Mishca.”

Narrowing her eyes on Tristan’s smirk, she was inclined to believe that he planned…well whatever the hell it was that happened to him.

“Should I…”

“Nope, don’t even ask,” said Rob coming out of Amber’s bedroom. “You wouldn’t believe him if he told you.”

“Well,” Lauren said drawing the word out as she clapped her ands together, thinking it couldn’t get any worse. “Everyone, this is Mishca. Mish, this is my roommate Amber, her boyfriend Rod, Matt, Piper, and the idiot with the glitter is Tristan.”

They all spoke consecutively, though Tristan scowled and stuck his tongue out at her like a toddler. Piper seemed to have forgotten all about her shoes as she flicked her hair over her shoulder, giving Mishca a flirtatious smile.

Lauren frowned, a sliver of irritation filling her as she tried to unsuccessfully justify the other girl’s actions. Choosing to believe that she was like this with every guy, Lauren cleared her throat and looked to Mishca.

“Want a tour?”

There wasn’t much to show, but it allowed her to get Mishca away from Piper.

“So this is your bedroom?” Mishca said looking around her space.

“In all its glory.” Luckily, she had cleaned it before leaving for the gym.

He touched her hand. “I’m not interested, in the redhead.”

She shook her head, about to deny that she had even thought of that, but changed her mind and said, “Good to know.”

“I think you’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“I…what? I wasn’t jealous.” But she looked to the right of him, her tone a fraction higher.

“It’s okay if you were,” he said chuckling. “My ego appreciates it.”

“Whatever.”

His phone rang, an insistent tone he couldn’t ignore. Picking it up, he spoke rapidly in Russian, his expression changing from amusement to annoyed and back again. After hanging up, he looked at her.