“When you say it, it always feels like you’re poking fun or looking down on me.” I admitted under my breath.
“I suppose there have been numerous times when I said it because I was irritated with you. But really, you are an immovable force, Ethin, truly, incredibly breathtaking, in more ways than you will giveyourself credit for,” he said, and it was more than I could bear, more than I could accept, but he caught my chin and kissed away any chance to speak doubts.
We stood like that; me leaning against him, uncaring if anyone found us while his thumb rubbed my side. I traced the lines of his face, over his jaw that he hadn’t shaved that morning. The stubble tickled and I leaned in to feel it, to feel him on my lips and taste him, although I missed the cherry. That flavor had become his and I wanted more of it everyday.
“Why did it take you days to work up the nerve to apologize face to face?” I asked when my hands traveled to his neck.
“Do I need to remind you about thediemessage?” He laughed and took my hand to press a kiss against my palm.
I should pull away. Leave.
I didn’t.
“You glared bloody murder at me any time I was in the room.” He narrowed his eyes in a teasing fashion. “Figured you might cool off if I kept away, except you certainly know how to hold a grudge, don’t you?”
That… was true. Maddy brought it up as well, though I hadn’t meant to glare that badly. I was annoyed, especially after he gave all those compliments. I thought he lied, and the pain of that made me so incredibly bitter. I didn’t want to care.
But I did. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe in what he saw in me.
“Grudges are meant to be held,” I replied against those lips that would hardly leave me be, and I didn’t mind even a little.
“Is this grudge over?” he whispered between every touch that never lasted long enough.
“I could use further convincing.”
“How about tonight? My room this time.”
My chest grew heavy, my breathing a little labored. “A change of scenery?”
“Among other options.” He caught me by the waist and whispered in my ear, “To make up for the loss of angry sex, I want you to fuck me tonight.”
He walked away, leaving me with a far too eager imagination and heat running straight to my cock.
I ran after him. “We should fight more often!”
Roys laughed, and I started counting down the time to lights out.
030
“What’swiththatchipperface?” Arana asked in the lounge.
“I’m not making a chipper face.”
Please.My cheeks hurt from all my grinning.
My mind had been to the filthiest recesses of the galaxy imagining Roys in all manners of compromising positions. It was easier to think about sex rather than the other sensations that reared their ugly head from time to time.
He trusted me. He meant what he said, all of it, since the beginning. Roys saw me in ways no one else did and no one else ever would.
I bit the inside of my cheek while Arana gave me the stink eye. Behind her, Ryker argued with Lilea over what to watch. We had time until lights out to enjoy a movie, which Roys chose to join us during. He sat on the opposite side of the room when all I wanted was to drag him into my lap. Which was weird because I wasn’t the cuddling type. Sex was all I needed. That was all I would ever need.
Right?
Everyone agreed on a movie—meaning Zavir stole the remote and no one had the audacity to tell him no—and the survey team joined for a massive movie night. Maddy sat on the floor near me. When anything funny happened, she laughed and brushed against my leg.
Once, I took the chance to run my fingers through her hair, like she let me when we were kids. I never knew why I enjoyed braiding her hair. The braids were shit, but she let me, and I’d do it mindlessly whenever we were close. She didn’t make me stop, though she glanced back once where I expected a glare or a warning that she’d remove my fingers. Neither happened, but my hand still fell away.
Sitting there with everyone reminded me of the Colony, a memory I thought I had forgotten. One where Mom, Dad, Pops, Maddy, and I sat on the old pipes high in the city to watch a film played across a giant screen across the way. We didn’t have the credits to afford tickets, but Pops found a place to watch from afar. We huddled together, me on Pops' lap and Maddy on Mom’s with Dad in the middle holding all the snacks.
