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vladi

“ W ill you just hit send already?” Hayes groans sitting on the couch in my living room. He’s come over to help me work out the details of this grand gesture I planned, and now I can’t seem to do such a simple task.

I hover my thumb over my screen. “I can’t do it.” I slam my phone down on the cushion, hiding the offending text from view.

“Vladi. You are never nervous. Why are you so worked up about this? You know this isn’t going to work if you can’t hit send, right? Do you need me to do it?”

“No. Goddammit—I’ll do it,” I grumble. This shouldn’t be this hard. I can send a text. I take a deep breath, grit my teeth, and fire off the message. “There. It’s done.”

“Proud of you bro.”

My phone buzzes in my hand, and Larsy peeks over my shoulder, then glances back at me with a wicked grin on his face.

As I swipe to see the response, my eyes are blinded by balloons, then fireworks, then what can only be described as every fucking emoji known to man.

I don’t think I’ve ever used an emoji in my life, and now they are all on my screen. Every. Single. One.

I run a hand over my face, shaking my head as the phone rings. Dammit, I didn’t want to talk about this. Larsy doubles over with laughter as I narrow my eyes with a murderous look.

Sucking in a breath like the opposing team has a breakaway, I swipe to answer the call, gritting my teeth to keep my annoyance at bay. “Hello.”

I can’t understand what’s happening on the other end of the line, only hearing what sounds like a child squealing over a gift they received Christmas morning.

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Would you please stop screaming?”

“VLADSTER! No way am I not screaming about this! Of course you can call in your one favor to make a grand gesture so you can get Maggie back!! This is everything I’ve ever dreamed of, buddy. Do you want me to come over now? I can be at your place in ten minutes.”

I shake my head, already having a headache from the less than thirty seconds we’ve been on this call. “Fine. Yes. Come over. Larsy’s here too.”

“Oh my God—best day ever! I’ll be there so fast, and we’ll get this done in no time. Jordan Boucher at your service, Mr. Volkov!”

“That went as well as I was hoping it would,” Larsy says, still laughing as I end the call.

“God, he has so much enthusiasm for everything. I’m over here trying to rest up the last few days before training camp, meanwhile he ran a fundraiser for a dog rescue yesterday.

And now,” he looks at me with a smirk, “he’s going to help you plan some grand gesture for Maggie. ”

“Don’t remind me,” I mutter, leaning my head against the back of the couch .

“You know you love him, Vladi. We all do. And you know, deep down, there’s something more than what’s on the surface, whether the kid wants to admit it or not.”

“I know, but that doesn’t absolve him from annoying me.”

Hayes scoffs. “Point taken.”