Axel snapped his rear gate into place and eyed the generous puddle of drool Eugene had left behind. “I’m going to run my truck through the car wash.”
“I’ll come with you,” Lucy said, walking to his front passenger door.
Axel didn’t refuse her. He wasn’t ready to end his evening with her anyway.
Normally he would have done the self-wash, but with Lucy in his vehicle, he decided to do the automatic one. He even spent extra for the deluxe wash with all the soapy bells and whistles. He drove his truck slowly into the wash bay, stopping when the lit-up sign told him to.
Lucy looked around like she was on a ride at an amusement park, watching everything as though she’d never ever get a chance to see it again. Maybe she wouldn’t.
“Thanks for not insisting I go back to my room.”
“You’re old enough to make your own decisions.”
The electronic car wash sprayed the entire truck with pink, blue and green foam, enclosing them in the cab of his truck. She looked at him and he stared back. He offered his hand, which she took. He sandwiched her fingers between his and drew them to his face.
He kissed the back of her hand, gently, and promptly withdrew, placing her hand on the center console. She was not his. She was not going to be his. He needed to keep things on a friendly basis. Friends only. That’s it.
If she was moved by his action, she hid it well. She startled when the automatic car wash arm sprayed several jets of water over the vehicle to scour off the melting foam wash.
They didn’t speak. Axel simply watched her enjoy the car wash. He breathed in her sweet scent and shoved his feelings way down inside, as deep as possible. The time they had left was dissolving, swirling away like foamy soap melting in an industrial-sized car wash drain.
And then everything would change forever.
Chapter Sixteen
One week before the wedding
For Axel, time sped by like water through a leaky colander. As each day went by, more of the wedding plans locked into place. Each time Axel saw Lucy, either near or far away, he was reminded of the dwindling time he had left with her. After the wedding, she’d go back to Alpha-Prime and he’d only see her at family events or when he and Francine visited their former home planet. Would she avoid him in the future? Would he avoid her?Space potatoes.
His heartbeat sped as Lucy walked into the Celestial Barbeque Shack and spotted him waiting for her. Valene was coming later to discuss more wedding stuff, but for now, he and Lucy could discuss all of the Dirk Crusher books she’d been reading.
She dropped into the chair across from him and took a big gulp of the sweet tea he’d ordered for her. Her evident pleasure made him want to laugh. “Okay, what was your favorite book?”
“All of them,” she said with genuine glee in her expression.
“Good answer. I share it.”
“I loved the first book I read,Just Die Already, as much as all the rest of the series.”
“I agree. I’ve gone back and read the others a couple of times now and I enjoy them just as much a second or third time through.”
She mentioned a few plot points she loved that he’d forgotten about and they both agreed Dirk Crusher was very cool.
Lucy grew serious. “I guess you’ll have to send me the next one by interstellar mail.”
Axel sobered up, too. Only seven days until he married someone else. Someone who was not Lucy, the love of his life. Someone he still couldn’t bring himself to hurt or refuse to marry. Francine. Lucy’s favorite sister. His bride-to-be. A good soul who didn’t deserve any animosity from him whatsoever.
“I’ll send it, I promise.” She nodded, but didn’t smile. It had become the way most of their conversations ended, with no smiling as they realized the gravity of the life theywouldn’tshare together forever.
He looked at his watch. His sister would arrive any minute and change the dynamic of the discussion. That was fine, but he valued each second with Lucy, resented each moment he had to share her. Every day he found ways to love her more, if that was possible. Their mutual love of all things Dirk Crusher was yet another reason.
“Hey, you two,” Valene called out as she approached their little table. “Have you been here long?” She glanced at their mostly finished glasses of sweet tea.
“We met a little early to discuss the latest Dirk Crusher book,” he said.
Valene rolled her eyes. “You and Dirk Crusher.”
