“Sometimes, I can’t get out of this cycle. In my head, you know? Thinking about things. Replaying them. Good and bad. Over and over. I guess that’s why people talk about love–hate relationships.”
I arched a brow in her direction. “You hate me?”
“No.” She laughed a little. “But I hate things you’ve done, even though I know you had good reasons. And I know you want to do things differently from now on. I guess it all just boiled up a minute ago, like some messed-up accusation soup spiced with…I don’t know…” She shook her head. “Lust and rage?”
“The rage is justified.” I slid her a slow smile. “I can work with lust.”
Her lips twitching, she swatted me with a soft backhand across the chest.
“And light slapping,” I added.
Tess laughed. The fading light didn’t hide the electric-blue spark of interest in her eyes when they met mine across the center aisle.
“Who gets to do the slapping?” She looked eager as hell, and I grinned as I flew us over the hazy dark-green jungle, relieved we were done arguing.
“I’m a firm believer in equality. I say we take turns.”
She nodded. “Where do you like to be slapped?” she asked, utterly serious.
I chuckled, that heaviness finally lifting from my chest. I breathed deeply for the first time in what felt like hours. I loved the way Tess just said things like “I’m fully vaccinated and on birth control” or “Where do you like to be slapped?” She was worth every second of the agonizing decision I’d had to make on Albion 5. Not to mention this whole bounty-on-my-head, run-for-your-lives, suicide-mission thing we had going on now. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
I threw her a heated look. “Slap me anywhere you want, starshine. I’m up for it.”
“Anywhere?” Her eyes dipped to my lap. “Upfor it?”
“Well, let’s avoid some places, right? Or it might cut the fun short.”
She grinned. Then the thickening jungle caught her eye, and she leaned toward the window again. “It’s beautiful! So lush and green.” She watched the treetops go by, and I lowered us even more, making sure she got the best look possible without disturbing the birds and other creatures living in the forest.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing down. “It’s like the trees are connected by something. Woven together.”
“Vines. They’re as thick as my arm in places, sometimes thicker. And little creatures run across them, going from tree to tree.”
“Like monkeys?”
Her uncle had called hermonkey. They were long extinct, too sensitive to have survived the downfall of Earth, but she must’ve read a book about them. “Something like that. Here, they’re called ganokos.” I tilted my head toward the rolling blanket of textured greens. Pockets of mist hung in clearings and swirled around leaves. “All that, as far as you can see, is the Gano Jungle. And see that river? The Gano. It’s full of terrifying things. Fish with teeth the size of your hand. Reptiles. Snakes. Creatures that belong in nightmares.”
Tess slowly pulled away from the window, still peering down.
“But there are places where it’s safe enough to be on the banks. For fishing. Hiking. Maybe a swim, if you’re really careful.” I hadn’t always been careful. Kids did stupid shit, and I was surprised I’d come back in one piece—or at all—from some of my jungle adventures. A close call when I was sixteen helped me realize I wasn’t indestructible. As an adult, I had to wonder what the hell my parents were thinking, letting me run wild along the river.
“I know of a few safe spots to take a dip.” I glanced at Tess, a smile pulling at my lips. “And the water’s warm here—unlike insomeplaces.”
She laughed. “The beach on Albion 5 or my old shower?”
“Both.” I shuddered. “Either.”
She watched the tropical forest go by, her curious eyes seeming to gobble up every detail and color. The subtle tilt to her spine still angled her body away from the window, but the excitement on her face and the way her hand pressed against the clear panel said she was ready to brave the jungle. “I can’t swim,” she murmured.
“I know. But I bet you’re a quick learner.”
Her wide, giddy smile snuffed every crazy and heart-wrenching moment of the last few weeks out like a candle. I didn’t give a damn about the past anymore. My only concern was the future.
“You’ll do great.” I smiled back at her, my chest lurching with the privilege of getting to be the one to bring exciting firsts into Tess’s life from now on, hopefully starting with skinny-dipping.
“Do you think we’ll have time?” she asked. “To swim, I mean?”
I took us down lower as the first of the bungalows appeared by the river. “We don’t meet your uncle until tomorrow, universal time. Daylight here is ahead of that clock by several hours. We’ll have all morning before he’ll even technically start looking for us.”
