“She says I am too green.”
I wasn’t familiar with the saying, so I asked Freddie.
That’s hard to believe. “Is Kasa on the ship?” Perhaps this situation merely required my unparalleled matchmaking skills.
“She arrived from Argos this morning,” Garran said. “But I have loved her since we were seedlings.”
“Is she with someone else? Or is there someone else she wants?” Many species regularly engaged in polyamory, and since Garran had taken me to bed, maybe Argosians did as well.
When his head whipped up, I fell backward on reflex.
“She says there is not. But if there is,” he growled, “I will be very hurt.”
I sighed. He really was a gentle farmer. Never judge an Argosian by their muscle mass.
“Well, Garran the Brave, Garran the Verdant.” I took his thumb in my hand. “You have asked for the perfect person this evening. I happen to be quite good at this sort of thing. Worlds class, in fact. In order for me to help you, though, I need you to tell me everything you know about Kasa. And don’t spare a single detail.”
A smile bloomed across his face. “Okay. I will tell you everything.”
I sat with him for at least an hour while he told me how he and Kasa met, what sorts of things she liked, what sortsof things she didn’t, how her hair reminded him of billowing fields of grain bathed in the violet glow of twilight. Garran, as it turned out, was quite poetic. About halfway through our conversation, I convinced him to let Freddie join us since I’d need help pulling off this matchmaking endeavor.
Warily, Freddie walked across the ballroom and sat cross-legged next to me. When he did, his knee brushed against mine, and I wondered if it was by accident. As we shared the remaining rum and Garran went on and on about Kasa’s eyes, I might have stretched, reaching my arms into the sky, using the movement as an excuse to slide over a fraction until thatbrushturned into atouch. So much heat built at the place where our bodies made contact that by the time I knew enough about Garran and Kasa to get started, the rum had vanished, the tips of Freddie’s ears had turned pink, Garran could hardly hold his eyes open, and I had exercised every ounce of self-preservation I possessed by not sliding even closer, turning thattouchinto apress.
Eventually, I sent the security mechs back to Morgath and shot Elanie a over my VC. Then Freddie and I—supporting the crushing weight of Garran’s arms slung over our shoulders—led the stumbling, lovesick Argosian back to his suite to sleep it off.
“You did well with Garran,”Freddie said as we walked side by side back to the deck twelve crew quarters. “Not that I’m surprised.”
“Thank you,” I replied. I’d definitely bask in that one in my pod later.
“Saved my hide, for certain. I wouldn’t have made such agraceful dance partner.” His words had thickened after the rum, but they still rolled off his tongue.
“Sometimes a situation needs a more feminine touch,” I replied, giving myself a mental slap when I realized I also wouldn’t mind rolling off his tongue.
“We make a good team,” he said. Then, before I was able to summon any sort of response, his head tilted toward a pod door. “This is me.”
His pod was only a few doors down the hall from mine. But no matter what, I would not spend the rest of the night imagining him sleeping mere meters away. “Good night, Freddie.” I held out my hand. It felt intolerably awkward.
Ever the gentleman, he took my outstretched hand in his and gave it a firm and professional shake. “Good night, Sunny.” When he pressed his palm against his security panel and entered his pod, his door slid closed before I could even peek inside.
Later that night, after I took a (cold) shower, then slid beneath my covers, I reached under my pillow—the secret place where I’d kept Joshua’s necktie. It was only supposed to be a reminder. Of his laughter, the hysterical stories he’d told me over dinner. Of his lips on my skin and his fingers grasping my thighs.
But even months later, I still sometimes slept with his tie wrapped around my hand, wondering if I would ever see him again— feel him again— knowing it was probably for the best if I never did. Tonight, sliding my fingertips down the soft gray fabric, the raised bumps from its embroidered detailing tickling my skin, I wrapped his tie around my hand again. Despite my little self-pep talk, I let my thoughts wander to him, just down the hall, actually here, actually real. So close. Closer than I’d ever imagined he’d be. And yet, somehow, farther away than ever.
6
The senator’sdoor slid open after a couple of light knocks, revealing a lovely brown-skinned female in a soft white wraparound sweater and ornately detailed green silk pants.
“Hello there.” Lena, the senator’s wife, had a rich yet delicate voice, like cream poured over ice.
“Good morning. I’m looking for?—”
“Sonia,” she interrupted, shouting over her shoulder. “It’s for you.” Turning back to me, Lena waved. “Please, come in.”
“Just a moment,” came a deep voice from a back room. It was firm, confident, brimming with self-possession,senatorial.
“Hi. Have you come to visit my moms?”
