Page 93 of Chosen Road

Truly exasperated, she began to rant. “I been in this country for sixty-four years and my English is getting worse. Is Canadian cow, koukla. Canadian cow that is on the money!”

There was a pregnant pause and then Gus threw back his head, his laughter rolling up from his belly.

Alex leaned towards Yiayia, a wide smile on his freckled face. “A moose, Yiayia?”

She lit up. “Yes! Moose. He snore like a moose!”’

A moose.

I snickered, then giggled. The more I thought about it the funnier it got. Laughter bubbled and popped in my stomach.

Alex giggled and snorted across from me while Yiayia sat primly, a small smile belying her laughing eyes. Happiness hit my chest and filled my heart.

Gus placed both of his palms flat on the table and hung his head, his great chest heaving. Joy gurgled up from my chest and out of my mouth, slowly first then gaining power, and I laughed, falling sideways in my chair towards Gus who cupped the back of my head and pressed a laughing kiss to my forehead.

“Moose,” he choked out, gasping for breath.

I looked into his eyes and stuttered, “Canadian cow!”

Yiayia let out a bark of laughter, her face creased with happiness. Alex’s joy overflowed, filling the room. The more they laughed, the more I did.

I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks. I laughed until my stomach clenched, and my lungs ached for air, until my cheeks ached, turning rosy and warm. I laughed until I was forced to push myself away from the table and run for the bathroom. Even there I could hear them laughing as Yiayia scolded them, and I laughed, too.

Hours later, he chuckled softly in my ear. “It’s not even a moose, it’s a caribou. You going to tell Alex he doesn’t know the difference between a moose and a caribou?”

For the past three nights that I’d slept there, Gus called me on my cell phone to ask me about my day, exactly as he would if I’d been lying beside him.

“You can tell him. But make sure it’s in front of Yiayia so she can tease him,” I replied.

He chuckled and then grew silent. “Can I come to you, Amber?”

My heart stuttered in my chest. I wasn’t ready for that. I mean, my body was fully on board, but every time I thought about him touching me, flashes of her hair, her thigh, her body merging with his, her head thrown back in ecstasy as he plowed into her, assaulted my mind.

“I just want to hold you, beautiful, not going to touch you.”

“Okay,” I answered quickly, not wanting him to feel rejected.

A minute later I heard the soft click of my bedroom door clicking shut and then he slipped into the guest room.

Holy mother.

His pajama pants hung low on his hips and clung to his ass and his thick thighs. His hair stuck up in odd places from lying in bed, and the shadows cast by the bedside lamp deepened the shadow of his beard. He twisted around, showing me his broad back as he quietly shut the door.

My breath caught in my throat, and he turned and paused. “Is this still okay?”

“Yes,” I croaked.

He smiled. “You should stop looking at me like that.”

I gave my head a small shake and pulled my eyes back up to his face and all other thoughts flew from my head because, instead of the heat and desire I expected to see in his eyes, I saw only uncertainty and apprehension. I moved over, drew back the covers, and patted the space beside me.

He lumbered over to the bed and turned to sit on the edge. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. I’m not going to turn away, agapi mou. I promise.”

He lay on his side, one arm folded under his head, and placed his hand in the space between us.

We used to sleep like this, mirror images, our hands linked in the middle. I rolled to my side and slipped my hand under his. “Hi.”

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