“Sunt, de asemenea, român,” Andrei said, bumping his shoulder against his mother’s, earning him a teary smile. He looked over at Ian and translated, “I am also Romanian.”
“What about your family? You don’t sound as if you’re from Kentucky or Ohio,” Sonja asked and Andrei instantly tensed. He hadn’t even thought about warning his mother not to ask Ian about his past. Fuck, he didn’t even know anything about Ian’s past, but there’d been enough hints and awkward silences that he knew that it wasn’t good.
“I’m not originally from here. Born in New Hampshire and lived there for a bit before ending up in Cincinnati. Lucas, Snow, and Rowe are the only family that matters to me.”
Sonja smiled brightly at Ian. “And they are an amazing family to have. Particularly that Snow. He is one good looking man.”
Andrei groaned and Ian chuckled on the other side of Sonja. He so did not need to hear this, and neither did Ian.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Andrei. Your Lucas is good looking too, but that Snow…” She paused, making a yummy sound. “Look at that ass. I bet you could bounce quarters off that ass.”
Andrei looked across the room in time to see Snow bending over to place his drink on the coffee table before walking over to Lucas. He immediately snapped his eyes closed again. Yes, Snow was definitely a handsome man with a long, lean frame, but in truth he didn’t even turn Andrei’s head. Not the way Lucas did. Whenever he saw Lucas, he automatically wanted to have his hands on him, running them over every muscular hill and valley until he had all his contours memorized.
Ian’s chortle brought Andrei out of his thoughts about Lucas.
“And I bet your father thinks Snow is sexy, too,” Sonja continued, oblivious to Andrei’s growing discomfort.
Ian’s laugh turned to a choking noise. Andrei leaned back so that he could look behind his mother at the other man. “Not a word,” he mouthed soundlessly, earning a wicked grin from the chef. Oh, he was so fucked.
“Do you think he’d—”
“Mom!” Andrei shouted before he could stop himself. He blinked and found that everyone in the living room was now staring at him as if he’d lost his mind. He was feeling pretty damn close as it was.
Sonja blinked wide, innocent eyes at him. “What? I was only think—”
“Yeah, I can guess what you’re thinking. No. God, no.”
At this point, Ian was sniggering so hard he could barely breathe. The slender man was leaning heavily on the counter next to the sink, his head thrown back as he laughed.
Sonja bumped her hip against Andrei’s, dragging his attention back to her. “Who would have thought that we’d raised such a prude?” she teased.
“I’m not a prude.” He started to say more, but stopped. He was not having this conversation with his mother. Ian couldn’t breathe as it was. He didn’t want to draw more people into the kitchen to discover Sonja’s interest in Snow.
“Love you, dragule,” she murmured, still sounding more than a little amused with him.
“Love you, Mama. Even if you like to drive me crazy.”4The Laundry RoomHe should be drinking.
An hour later, it had become a refrain repeating in his head. Why the hell hadn’t he grabbed a glass of wine? A shot of bourbon, tequila or vodka. Fuck, he’d even take the cheap domestic beer Rowe seemed to favor.
At least Ian and his mother had found something else to talk about besides Snow’s ass. The doctor was in the living room with his father, Rowe, and Mel. And Lucas…Lucas had disappeared, which suddenly felt dangerous. Dangerous enough that his heart rate actually picked up. Ian had a beautiful townhouse, but it wasn’t overly large. There weren’t a lot of places that Lucas could escape to.
Not that he wanted Lucas to escape. He was the one person Andrei did want to spend time with on Thanksgiving. Andrei just didn’t want to get ambushed again. Kissing Lucas sucked all common sense right out of his brain and left him ready to tear off clothes.
“Andrei!” Ian shouted, his voice tinged with laughter.
His head snapped up and he blinked to find both Ian and Sonja staring at him with wide grins.
“Lost in a daydream, pumpkin?” his mother teased. “Ian has said your name four times now.”
Andrei inwardly cringed at the nickname, for once wishing she’d used a Romanian endearment simply because the others were less likely to repeat it. At least Snow and Melissa hadn’t been in earshot to hear “pumpkin.”
“What’s up?” Andrei asked Ian, forcing a smile onto his lips while trying not to look embarrassed.
“I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I left some kitchen towels in the laundry room. Our hands are a mess,” Ian paused and lifted his hands, showing that they were covered in…shit, he didn’t know what. He looked over at his mother’s and she was also mashing something up with her hands that had him lurching back, curling his lip in disgust. Was that sarmale? Or something else? It was obviously better that he didn’t know how some of her dishes were made because it looked like something out of a horror show.