Four years ago, Dimitri Petrov had his leg blown off by a landmine while in military service. Suffering from PTSD, he doesn’t do crowds, and he doesn’t do people. If he had his way, he’d never leave his house at all. Dimitri’s sister, Irina, runs a dating agency, and despite that it would be better for business if they had a pretty woman working the front desk, Irina insists Dimitri’s the man for the job.<br><br>In a whirlwind of pink shirts, flapping hands, and outrageous flirting enters Elian Hubert. Elian needs a date. Invited to speak on love through time in fiction at a Valentine dinner, there is no way he’s showing up alone. When Dimitri tells him The Single Pursuit is unable to help on such short notice, Elian suggests Dimitri be his date.<br><br>Dimitri doesn’t do dates, and he doesn’t do dinners, but Elian’s made him happier in the last few minutes than anyone’s been able to do in years. He might not do Valentine's, and he might not do gatherings, but maybe he can do Elian ... a favor and accompany him to his presentation? If things go too badly, he can always hide behind a curtain and pretend he’s somewhere else.

Be Still, My Heart

Elian leaned in close and whispered, “Let’s sneak out of here.” Right as he’d spoken the last word, a man walked up to the podium, welcomed everyone, and introduced their first speaker—Elian Hubert.


“Oh, fuck.” The hiss wasn’t loud enough for anyone but Dimitri to hear. He reached over and squeezed his hand.


“We’ll sneak out once you’re done.” He winked, and Elian nodded.


He took his place on the podium and smiled out over the tables. Dimitri held his breath, hoping it would go well. Irina patted his arm.


When Elian first began to speak, his voice shook a little, but a few sentences in, he grew more confident. He told the audience about his wine-soaked musings about love. He didn’t tell them he’d written the article while still drunk, but he had the audience laughing frequently, and he described the jumps and conclusions he’d come to. He talked about literary works Dimitri had never heard of, but he could tell the audience had.


Chapter 24