“Oh, really?” he drawls, a smug look back on his face.
Felix blushes.
Kheph practically squees with delight and hugs Sasha tight.
Our ship is about to become a complete lovefest, but now I might actually get to join in some of the fun rather than suffering as the lone singleton on board.
“When Najar told me what was going on, I honestly wasn’t surprised.” Gemma’s expression turns mischievous. “Besides, you’ve always had a weird fascination with tentacles ever since you started reading?—”
Najar immediately perks up at her words.
Felix hastily lifts a hand to cover her mouth before she can say any more.
“Enough of that now. Ahem,” he says, looking all kinds of awkward. Then he frowns at his sister. “What about all your stuff here on Earth?”
She waves a hand dismissively. “I’ve already moved all my bigger, important stuff into storage. I had your apartment packed up and put your crap in my unit too. By the way, you totally owe me for that. I closed out your lease and did the same for mine. The storage unit’s set on an auto draft, so my bank account will stay active and pay it on a monthly basis. I’ve got plenty in there to cover that for at least several years. Otherwise, I don’t have a whole lot tying me down here. I will miss my trusty Subaru, but I’ve already sold it, and someone’s coming out here later to pick it up. They’re cool with it since I gave them a good deal.” She tilts her head. “I’ll have to figure out how I’m going to earn money while we’re gallivanting across the universe, but your friends assure me it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Gemma is such a fucking smart, sexy badass. She’s going to fit right in on the Sleigh Belle, I can already tell.
My tentacles wave in the air like they just don’t care!
“Damn,” Felix says, shaking his head in amazement. “I haven’t even considered what I’m going to be doing in that regard.”
Her answering grin is full of satisfaction. “Duh. Your head’s been too full of lovey-dovey thoughts for you to think about anything else, don’t worry. But there are options for us. Believeme, I’ve grilled Khephren and Najar on this extensively over the last few days.”
Najar shudders.
“She would have made a skillful Dravethian warrior,” Kheph whispers at me.
Felix turns to study all of us. “You guys would really be okay with my sister becoming part of the crew?”
I’m ready to bust out the champagne and throw a parade over the fact.
Kheph steps forward, chest puffed out proudly. “We might be an odd band of misfits, but we’re one happy family here on the Sleigh Belle—and we already consider you part of that family, Felix, so your sister was an honorary member before we ever talked to her. After getting to know her better over the last few days, we’re confident she’ll fit right in, and we’re happy to have her.”
My eyes sting a little. I’m so damn lucky to be part of this crew. Naj and Kheph have their flaws, but they’re loyal and honest and have huge hearts.
Gemma claps her hands loudly, her expression firm. “Okay, now that we’ve got that all cleared up, let’s get a move on. No point in staying too long out here. We don’t want any randos spotting us, do we?”
That gets our asses moving, and we spend the next fifteen minutes loading all her stuff—and there’s a lot of it—onto the ship. She definitely came prepared to be gone from Earth for a very long time. A thrill of hope and excitement races through me.
When she hands me a box, our fingers touch, and for a moment I fear I might spontaneously explode like a motherfucking supernova.
The wry grin she flashes me is sexy as hell. “I realize this is a total cliché and basically the equivalent of hitching my lesbianU-Haul to your spaceship when we barely know each other, but I hope you don’t mind.”
“You can hitch your vehicle to our ship any day,” I say, my voice coming out breathy.
She licks her lovely lips, and I can’t stop my brain from imagining other things that tongue can do…
Naj appears and grabs the box out of my hands, an arch look in his eyes.
Dammit, I know he’s gonna tease the hell out of me later. It’s only fair play since I’ve been razzing him nonstop ever since Felix joined us and it became apparent Naj had the hots for him.
Once everything else has been removed from her car and taken to the ship, Gemma pulls out a strange tank and a bag holding water and some kind of small aquatic creature.
Felix gasps in obvious delight. “You brought Wanda!”
Gemma rolls her eyes. “Of course, I brought Wanda. There’s no way I was going to leave your beloved pet behind.”
