“You don’t have to be so melodramatic.”
“I’m not,” I protest.
She bites her lower lip before giggling. “I’m teasing you!”
“You’re so much happier now.”
“I am,” she says softly. “They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it’s true in a way, but I also learned how to love and accept who I am.”
“That’s even more important.”
“You better watch it,” she warns.
“Watch what?”
“You’re turning into a big old softie. What if the other soldiers realize what a teddy bear you are?”
“I wouldn’t mind being your teddy bear that you can snuggle at night.”
She grins. “You know what a teddy bear is?”
“I do. I also know about baseball and football and American football, although I don’t understand why there’s a difference. What do Americans call football?”
“Soccer. You like sports?”
“I just wanted to learn what I could about Earth.”
“Why?”
“So that if we ever spoke again, I would understand most of your references.” I grin. “Like Captain America.”
She laughs and claps her hands. “He’s my favorite superhero.”
“Is he?” I narrow my eyes. “How does my ass compare to his?”
She gasps and covers her mouth. “Did you just read comics or… Did you watch the movies?”
“Maybe I did.”
“And just on the off chance that I might bring up something.”
“I had a lot of time on my hands.”
“But you didn’t know what I would like.”
“I tried to learn as much as I could. There’s a lot of gaps.”
“Well, maybe I can fill in your gaps instead of your chip. How does that sound?” she asks as she gives me a tight hug.
“I love the sound of that,” I murmur as I embrace her, rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head.
I don’t ever want to let her go. This moment is perfect. I don’t want to mess things up again like I did last time. Can this moment just be frozen forever? Then I could die a happy Novan.
No. Not yet. I need one last thing from her before I can die with a smile and a content heart.
A kiss on the lips.
20
Callie
Two days. That’s how long it’s been since I last saw Adir, since I reintroduced him into my life. We’ve talked, though. After my first lesson with Fynn, I decided it was past time for me to have a chip of my own put in, and I called Adir yesterday.
“In the interest of starting things off slowly,” I said, “I have an idea to propose.”
“And that is?” he asked.
“A double date.” I hesitated, waiting to see if that’s one of the terms that he discovered its meaning before.
“With who?” he asked.
“Lara and Stox. The two captains. I understand if you might find that a little—”
“If that’s what you want,” he interrupted, “then that’s fine with me. I just… I don’t think that they think much of me. They aren’t my biggest fan.”
“Do you trust me?” I asked.
“Of course I do.”
"Then, do you really think I would want us to go on a double date with a couple who will want us to not be together?"
He paused. “But the captain… He…”
"He's not going to run off and tell the overlord on us. Besides, the women have been granted freedom, right? We get to choose who we want to be with. Are you going to let me choose or not?"
“You can choose,” he said in a rush. “I can’t wait.”
“Good, because it’s tomorrow.”
And now, it’s time. I’ve changed out of the dress they provided us. Lara somehow got her hands on a blue dress that compliments my dark hair. She also has a fair amount of makeup, something I never wore of much back on Earth and never missed my entire time here. She finishes my eye makeup and steps back to appraise me.
“Well?”
“You’re all dolled up, and you look stunning. Adir won’t want to keep his hands off you.” Lara purses her lips and tilts her head to the side. “Do you want to wash it off?”
“What? No! Why would I want that?”
“In case you don’t want his hands on you.”
I side-eye her.
She holds her hands up and breaks out into a grin. "I'll stop! I swear. I just… You do realize you don't need Stox and me there, right?"
“Of course we don’t need you there, but I thought it would be nice,” I say defensively.
“Nice, yes, of course, but, hon… Honestly, I’m surprised.”
“Surprised about what?”
“That it’s taking you two this long to kiss and make up. I thought for sure when you kissed his cheek that you would let him back into your life.”
“I…” I shrug. “We might’ve separated, but we weren’t truly apart. Not really. I always carried him with me, and he felt a lot of guilt.”
“I did a lot of talking with Stox. You know I did.”
I nod. She told me about what they talked about. That combined with what I found out from the guards tells me all I need to know about how different the Novans consider sex.
“That he felt guilty means he knew you were the one. He just wasn’t willing to recognize that yet.”
“Fear of the almighty overlord kept him away.” I scowl.
Lara laughs. “I know you don’t like Nestrol, and I get it, but he can actually be a decent man.”
“At times, maybe.”
She laughs some more. "Let's go, or else we're going to be late."
I drive the two of us over to the spot Adir insisted we hold the date. He and Stox are to meet us there, but when we arrive, their centuricmobile is already parked.
We don’t have to walk far to see that there’s a massive blanket on the ground, white and fluffy.
