Page 56 of 10 Days to Ruin

“Goddammit!” I moan. All the almost-there tautness goes rushing out of me and I flop back on the mattress like a landed fish. I’m sweaty, achy, unsatisfied in the rudest possible way.

It almost makes me feel guilty for what I did to Sasha.

And I’m gonna kill Gina.

She always gets salty when I don’t text her back. She once gave me a three-day silent treatment because I didn’t heart-react to a GIF of a pair of otters hugging with the captionugh, so usthat she sent me at two A.M. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s dropped in on me unannounced to demand I watch the series of TikTok links she’s sent.

I abandon the vibrator on the duvet so I don’t forget to clean it later, throw on a bathrobe, and march irritably toward the door.

“Gee, I swear I’m gonna?—”

But as I rip it open, I see it’s not Gina. It’s not Gina at all.

“Hello,ptichka.”Sasha’s tie is still slung loose around his neck, exactly how I left it. “Miss me?”

19

ARIEL

There’s a three-second delay between my eyes registeringSashaand my mouth catching up.

“What… How did?—”

“You’re not the only one who knows how to swing by without warning.” He leans in, close enough for me to taste the mint on his breath. “Now, are you going to invite me in or not?”

I yank my robe tighter. The satin does exactly nothing to hide the fact I’m naked beneath it. “Not.”

“Fair enough.” He takes my wrist and pulls me into the hallway.

“Where are we— Jesus, I’m not dressed!”

“A shame.” His gaze sweeps me head to toe, lingering on the strip of thigh my robe doesn’t cover. “But it won’t matter where we’re going.”

“And where is that?”

The elevator dings. Sasha tugs me inside. “You wanted to know who I am, right? Well, I’m showing you.”

Twenty minutes later, we’re deep in a part of the Bronx I’ve never been to before, parked outside a restaurant calledBabushka’s Lap. The neon sign flickers like a dying firefly.

Through the windows, I see plastic ferns, a countertop aquarium with a single listless goldfish, and a bulletin board papered over with ads from Russian newspapers.

Sasha strides in like he’s home. When I follow him in, I see why.

An old woman behind the counter looks up, her creased face splitting into a grin as she cries out in pure joy, “Sashenka!” She rounds the counter faster than her cane should allow and grabs his face in her wrinkled hands. I’m stunned that he permits it. “How are you,malchik?Still handsome! Still scowling! Have you eaten?”

She doesn’t wait for him to answer before she turns to me. “And you? Clearly not! You’re skin and bones!” She swats Sasha on the arm and my eyes bulge at the fact that he doesn’t immediately order her execution and public dismemberment. “Have you been starving this poor thing? She’ll need fattening up if she’s to survive you!”

Sasha chuckles and runs a hand through his hair. “Zoya, this is Ariel. Ariel, this is Zoya.”

I keep my bathrobe clutched closed with one hand while I offer the other to the old woman to shake. Taking me by surprise, she sweeps me into a hug instead. I’m mortified, but she couldn’t give a damn less.

“Any friend of Sasha is a friend of mine,” she declares, oozing maternal warmth. “And anygirlfriend of his is even better.”

My face goes beet red. Sasha makes no move to correct her.

She steps back, though she keeps both wrinkled hands plastered on my shoulders. “You are a beauty, dear! Let me put some food in your belly.”

I keep blushing as I fumble to remember how adults make conversation with new acquaintances. Especially when that acquaintance doesn’t even blink at Sasha showing up here with a woman in a robe.Is this a regular thing he does?“Is, uh— Am— Is this your restaurant?”

---