I looked at the caller ID and cringed, knowing I just lost the second part of the wager with Ivan. It was Rose.

"Hello," I said, as I answered the phone.

"Hi Comrade," said Rose into the phone, "I know that I probably should've waited a couple days to get in touch with you so that I don't look all clingy or desperate or something, but I knew you'd be busy tomorrow and I really just wanted to hear your voice."

I smiled, hearing her words. "No, I could never find you clingy or desperate. It's nice to hear your voice, too, Roza," I told her. I'd almost forgotten Ivan was standing there until he began smirking at the mention of her name and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. "What are you up to today?"

Ivan pulled out fifty dollars and passed it to me. I hadn't even considered the fact that since she was the one to call first, it meant I hadn't initiated the contact, so I won the first bet. I felt better about it until Ivan started miming lifting a heavy weight over and over again.

"Not much," replied Rose, "I finally got the bathroom unpacked. Lissa will be super-happy about it when she gets home. What about you?"
"I just got done with church, actually," I told her.

"Oh? I didn't know you went."

"My whole family goes. We have since I was little," I told her. It wasn't a lie, but definitely not the only reason I was there, since it was required for school.

"Maybe I should join you there sometime. I haven't been since Lissa and I went to St. Vladimir's," she told me. I cringed. There was no way I would be able to have her meet my family and keep my age a secret.

"Maybe," I said, noncommittally, "I remember you telling me how much you liked to sleep in, so don't feel like you have to."

"True," said Rose, "Anyway, I just wanted to run an idea past you. I guess Christian has been bugging Lissa about the four of us spending time together once he's not your teacher. I know that you've got finals for his class this week, so once Friday night comes . How do you feel about a double-date next Friday night?"

I frowned. Yet again, it seemed circumstances were making it difficult to keep my age from Rose. But I couldn't say 'no' to this one. "I guess so," I told her, "What did you have in mind?"

"How about that new Italian restaurant in Springfield that opened last month? I know money's a little tight for you, but I could pay for us. Christian might object, but I don't really care what he would say about it."

I looked at the fifty dollar bill, still in my hand, thinking I'd feel a lot better if I could pay for her in front of Ozera, and told her, "Actually, I'd be glad to pay. I just got some money. Christmas came early, I guess."

"Great," said Rose, "It's a date, then. How does dinner at seven sound? Lissa's going to be at Christian's beforehand, so maybe I could have you come to pick me up at six so that we get a few minutes alone at the house before we head to the restaurant?"

"That sounds good," I told her.

"I can't wait to see you," she said, "And I can't wait to get my arms around you." I growled slightly. After our mishap last night, I had made sure to preventatively 'prime the pump' a couple of times in my morning showers. Doing so was helping me get better control over my physical reactions to Rose, but my body still heated at her words.

"That sounds very good," I told her, my voice getting huskier.

"Great! I'll call you back later to let you know. Talk to you later, Comrade."

"Okay, Roza, talk to you later," I told her, hanging up the phone.

As soon as Rose hung up the phone, it instantly rang again. I picked up the phone, without checking to see who had called. "Hello?"

"Is this Dimitri Belikov?" asked the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Who is this?" I asked, not wanting to give an answer until I'd cut through the bullshit and knew who I was speaking to.

"This is Coach Alto. We've got the conference track meet next week, and

Phillips just broke his leg, which makes you our strongest discus thrower. I'm going to need you to do some extra-heavy lifting every day this week, so I want you to plan that into your schedule."

I groaned, knowing I had just committed to extra reps and now I'd be doing them with extra weight, too. "Yes, Coach Alto. I'll see you tomorrow, sir."

"Good deal. Don't let me down, Belikov. See you then."

I hung up the phone, knowing I was in for a hell of a week.

-=o0/&\0o=-

"One hundred ninety-eight, one hundred ninety-nine, two hundred," Ivan counted out for me, spotting me as I finished the set, "... aaaannnddd ... that concludes your bet! It was a pleasure doing business with you, Dimitri. It's four thirty now. Now, go home and get ready for your double-date with her." For good measure, he slapped me on the arm, something that would've been playful if my arm wasn't already so sore.

I was so tired each night from the extra lifting that it hadn't left me much time for anything but sleep to recover and my arms were so sore I hadn't even been able to take care of my stray erections from thinking of Rose the past two days. I stood up and looked at Ivan. Huffing and puffing, I told him, "You ... fucking ... bastard. I will get you back for this."

"You wish, sunshine," Ivan said as he dodged behind a weight machine and added, "You'll be grateful if you can lift your arms high enough to take a swing at me for a while. Besides, I just kept you from looking desperate to her. And I gave you the money for taking her out for dinner tonight!"

I scowled at him as we both started walking towards the locker room. He was right, but I wasn't going to admit it yet. "You like this chick, right Dimitri?" he asked. I nodded. "Do you want her to think you're desperate?"

"No," I muttered.

"What was that?" Ivan asked as we both unlocked our lockers.

"No," I replied, facing him, louder than before.

"So if you like this girl so much, is it better for her to think you are some creepy stalker who is obsessed with her, or that you have a life without her and that she needs to pursue you? Trust me on this, Dimitri. If there's one thing I know, it's how to get a woman who's already interested more interested."

"Could've fooled me with my sister," I told him.

"Viktoria's different," he said, "She's special. Plus, she's not interested. Yet." Ivan winked.

"And she never will be," I told him, closing my locker and shouldering my gym bag.

"Nonsense, Dimitri," he said, following me out of the locker room, "Just give it time. One day, Viktoria won't be able to get enough of the Zek-man."

-=o0/&\0o=-

At home all week, I'd been taking a triple-dose of ibuprofen for the pain, but I'd forgotten to bring any with me to Randall's. It was five fifteen and I was leaving to get Rose in forty-five minutes. If nothing else, I would desperately need something for the pain so that I could manage to work off a little of my excess arousal to stave off any unwanted erections at the restaurant.

"Do you have anything for pain? Maybe something strong?" I asked Randall as the dull ache in my arms was already becoming more insistent. As an afterthought, I added, "Dad?" I never called him that when he wasn't around and often didn't when he was, either, but I knew that he preferred it. If I wanted to get him to help me, I figured I'd better play nice; catch more flies with honey.

"In the medicine cabinet over the bathroom sink," Randall called, "Third shelf, in the prescription bottles. There are three kinds to choose from."

On the third shelf, I found four prescription bottles. "Huh, must've forgotten about one," I muttered, as I eyeballed the bottles.

I had to drive and two of them said not to take while driving, so I looked at the other two. One of the other two said, "Take 2 capsules every 2 hours, as needed," while the other said, "Take 1-5 tablets, as needed. Do not exceed 5 tablets per day. Results may take thirty minutes to an hour for full potency. Lasts at least 4 hours." Opening the bottle that lasted four hours instead of just two, I took the full five tablets, knowing how bad my arms were already hurting, then hopped in the shower to finish getting ready.

Forty minutes later, I'd showered, relieved some pressure, shaved, and dressed in my shirt and tie for my double-date with Rose, Lissa, and Christian.

My arms were still aching. I texted Ivan.

Me: Fuck, dude, my arms are killing me. This is all your fault

Ivan: Don't blame this on me. You lost a bet, fair and square. Take a painkiller and call me when you have real problems

Me: I took some pills that Randall had for the pain, but they're not doing shit. I took five of them, too

Ivan: Maybe they're not pain meds. What is it?

I looked at the bottle and texted back.

Me: It says Sildenafil Citrate. WTF did I take?

I closed up the cabinet and headed downstairs to meet Rose for our date. A few minutes later, as I was standing at Rose's door, my phone was ringing. I looked at the caller ID. Ivan.

I pushed the answer button and could already hear Ivan laughing on the other end of the phone. "What is it?" I asked, into the phone.

Rose answered the door, wearing a low-cut green wrap dress that stunningly displayed her perfect breasts. She smiled one of those man-eating smiles and said in a breathy tone, "Come in, Comrade. We have half an hour to be alone before we need to leave. And you look so good I want to eat you up." I was already hard looking at her.

Ivan was laughing so hard that he was having trouble talking. "Dim-Dimitri, y-you, you took, you took viagra, dude! They're boner pills! And you took five of them!"

Der'mo!

Ivan continued to laugh so hard I had no doubt that he was rolling around on the floor. Rose was licking her lips as she looked at me and I couldn't help but think of what I'd imagined those lips doing to me.

"Ivan, I'm gonna have to let you go now," I said and without breaking eye contact with Rose, I hung up without waiting for a reply. Then, to Rose, I told her, "Rose, I think I have a little bit of a problem."

-=o0/&\0o=-

Author's Notes:

I have heard countless stories of people taking the wrong prescription medication accidentally when there were more than one bottles in the same place (for example, I have a friend who accidentally took his father's sleeping pill instead of his blood pressure medication once) and it just seemed too fun to throw this in here.

I have plans. Next chapter, there will be some absolutely filthy and very enjoyable smut.