Page 37 of Bad Teammate
The girls shook their heads.
“Nah,” Austen said. “Just gotta trust ’em, and remember that they’re with you for a reason. Besides, we’ve been through our trials already. If Dane wasn’t serious about me, trust me, we wouldnothave made it this far.”
“Exactly what Austen just said.” Emma nodded. “If Jack wasn’t serious, he would’ve run for the hills the second he found out I had a daughter.”
“Oh—I thought—” My eyes widened. “You’re saying that Jack is Mackenzie’s stepdad?”
She took a sassy sip of wine. “Well, I prefer to call him the dad that stepped up.”
“Emma!” Austen clapped victoriously. “Ilovethat.”
“But to answer your question, yes, Jack is her stepdad. She loves himsomuch, though. And she calls him Daddy, which is all I need to know that she totally accepts him. Her bio dad, on the other hand?” Emma rolled her eyes with pain and disgust. “Let’s just say he’s permanently out of the picture.Anyway,enough about us. We want to know aboutyou, Katerina.”
“What do you want to know? Ask me anything.”
“Allabout your life in Russia,” Austen blurted out, not wasting a second.
Emma nodded excitedly. “Tell us everything.”
I gave them a meandering summary of life in Russia—a little bit about my childhood, a little bit about my studies, and my job as a translator. Then we talked about actuallifein Russia: what the culture is like, the shopping and the restaurants and public transit, and any other questions they could think up, too.
When they asked if I had a special man back home, I shook my head and told them no, in fact, I’d never had a serious boyfriend. Their jaws dropped. They were stunned to hear that—which led to me telling them what a horrible disaster the dating scene is in Russia, thanks to the fact that there are eleven million more women than there are men. All the decent men were desperately snatched up long ago, leaving nothing but the playboys, the losers, the alcoholics, and the just-plain-undateable for the rest of us. “They drink and smoke far too much, they swear like sailors, and they cheat like dogs. Yet they expect a woman to do all the cooking and cleaning, while also looking like a top-tier supermodel.”
After hearing all that, Austen looked like she’d just taken a bite out of a lemon. “Oh,euch. Nope. No thank you.”
Emma giggled and turned to Austen. “Can you imagine?”
“Hellno. I thought modern dating couldn’t get any worse, honestly. But being outnumbered like that? Having to fight and claw other women over some random, broke jerk? Nope, forget it. I’d rather become a nun.”
The three of us shared a laugh.
“Would you ever want to move to America, Katerina?” Emma asked. “The dating scene can’t be any worse than Russia.”
“Living in America used to be one of my dreams,” I said.
“Used to?”
“It’s a long story …” I sighed. I’d told them a lot already, and I didn’t want to explain all of that. “Anyway, I can’t see myself leaving Russia now.”
“But what if you found a decent man in America? Would that convince you to move here?” Austen asked, raising a palm. “Because it doesn’t sound like you’re going to find one in Russia.”
I snickered. “Maybe, but I’m only here for seven days. I’d have toreallybe swept off my feet for that to happen.”
The three of us joked around about the impossible odds of finding a gem of a man in the span of a week. God, they were so funny—they could really crack me up. We were all just laughing nonstop. My cheeks burned like a furnace, thanks to the wine. I knew I was still grinning like a fool. I felt so light and happy.
“I know I just met you two,” I said, “but I think you’re bothsogreat.”
They laughed and wentaaw.
“We think you’re great, too,” Austen said.
“Which is why I wish youwouldmove here,” Emma said, “because I can tell already you’d fit the ladies’ crew like a glove.”
“Yeah,” Austen agreed. “Sure, we’re the players’ wives and girlfriends, but I don’t think anyone would say no to having a player’s sister join the club as an honorary member. Or who knows? Maybe you could be one of the girls if—”
Austen suddenly quit talking when Emma jabbed her with an elbow.
My eyes narrowed.Am I missing something …?
