"Oh." He stared at his hands for a moment. "I will, of course, not say anything."
"There's a lot more you need to know, but for now, just pretend you're a friend of mine from Russia. Maybe instead of a student, I'll say your visiting and wish to observe American classes. Then you can shadow all of us."
"I will attempt to be unobtrusive," he offered tightly.
Nikolai was clearly unhappy, but I could think of a lot of reasons why that might be, so I didn't question him.
Chapter 5
Sofia
"How do you do it?" Nikolai asked when we stepped outside.
"Do what?" Doc glanced at the Russian mage.
"Go out in the sunlight."
"Oh. I'm only half-vampire." Doc opened his door and climbed in the cab.
Nikolai stared, his gaze darting between Doc and the pickup. "What…I don't even know what to ask right now." He sighed and rubbed his forehead
"It's called a truck," I explained. "Here, you can sit up front so you can see better."
Nikolai jumped when Doc turned the diesel on, glared at the vampire, then followed me to the passenger side door which I opened for him.
He awkwardly climbed in. Not admiring Nikolai's very fine ass while he got in was impossible with the way the borrowed jeans fit him, and I just hoped no one noticed my attention.
I hopped up on the running board and grabbed his seatbelt. "Need to strap in. I'll show you this time."
I leaned across the mage and slid the buckle into the slot. "You release it by pushing this button here."
He looked down and touched the button. "Thank you."
"Sure." I hopped off the running board and shut his door for him and then climbed in the back.
Nikolai looked like he was trying to stare at everything as Doc drove down the narrow dirt driveway.
My phone chimed, and I pulled it out.
Victoria: Girl! How's it going with all those hot guys?
I couldn't help myself. I giggled as I replied.
Sofia: Picked up another hot guy.
Victoria: What!
Sofia: LOL. Long story short…actually, I don't think I can explain over text. I'll tell you tonight. Not dating him or anything.
Victoria: You'd better.
Sofia: We're actually headed to town if you want to join us.
Victoria: Naw, catch you tonight. Working on a paper.
Sofia: Later.
Victoria responded with a thumbs up icon.
Nikolai had twisted around and was watching me, but he didn't ask what I was doing. He had so much to learn about.
"Hey, Nikolai, can you do the language transfer thingy with other knowledge?"
"Thingy?" He drew the word out as if trying to figure out what it meant. After a moment, I thought he gave up. "Yes."
"Do you want to, you know, just grab a bunch of my memories and see if that helps you get up to speed with the world as it currently is?"
"Ah. I believe I will be able to manage on my own."
"Okay, cool." I wasn't as convinced as he sounded, but he could always ask me later if he changed his mind.
"I'll teach him to use the internet," Doc said.
Nikolai was again glued to the window as we pulled into town. Doc drove through the downtown touristy area and headed toward the outlet shops. Before long, he parked, and Doc and I got out. Nikolai managed his seatbelt, but he couldn't figure out the door. I tried not to laugh, it really wasn't funny, and opened the door for him. "Here's the latch for next time." I demonstrated, and Nikolai nodded stiffly.
Fortunately, the store wasn't very busy. It was very interesting to watch Nikolai's reactions to everything. He had literally never seen or even imagined most everything he was experiencing. He walked nearly on top of me, tense, but not saying anything.
Finally, after a quick glance at Doc, I took Nikolai's hand, uncurled his fingers, and slid my hand into his. Doc nodded his approval and went back to throwing things our Russian friend might need into a cart he pushed.
"I'm glad you're basically my size," Doc mused. "We don't have to try anything on."
As we worked our way through the store, Nikolai relaxed a little, though only so that he wasn't crushing my hand in his grip. He certainly wasn't comfortable.
I eyed a lavender flannel shirt that matched my magic. Doc noticed and grinned at me, tossing it in the cart with everything else.
It took a little time to work our way through the various outlets, but by the time Doc was done, Nikolai had clothes for the season, a couple of different jackets, a pair of hiking boots and a pair of winter snow boots, gloves, and a hat.
"Hungry?" Doc asked after putting the bags in the truck.
I hadn't been until he mentioned it, but then I was ravenous. "Yeah."
Nikolai didn't answer, but he had to be hungry.
"What do you want, Sofia?"
"Um," I glanced at Nikolai. He looked stressed. "Let's just grab fast food, hit the college, and get back."
Doc followed my glance to Nikolai and nodded. "Drive through it is."
Nikolai clutched my hand so hard, I thought my fingers might be turning blue.
"You have another boyfriend?"
I yelped at a very familiar and unwelcome voice and spun around. Doc was already in front of me, and I stepped in front of Nikolai, though he was probably more than capable of defending all of us. Alex stood a few feet away from us, arms crossed, glaring at me.
We had the truck at our backs, but I hoped Alex wasn't going to start something. I couldn't help the tremors of fear as my heart started racing. Seeing Alex reminded me too much of being kidnapped. Nikolai put his hands on my shoulders as I pressed him into Doc's truck with my back.
"No, why?" I managed to stammer.
"You
