“Mmm. I think we need to thank Keylan. I wanted to kiss his feet last night.” She stretches and rolls off me.
The loss of her skin against mine usually has me pulling her right back. Not today. Time is short if we ride the winding national forest road up to Honor and kissing anyone anywhere isn’t happening. “Don’t talk about men in our bed.”
She thinks I’m kidding and her smile shows it. I roll then lift her. The shower is filled with her monologue. I let it go and wash her, then me. Dressed, robotic on and out of the room, I make coffee, fill two travel cups and roll the bike out for the ride. While I’m waiting, I send a chat to Done about breakfast. He'll meet me at Dunkin in an hour.
Sophia runs down the steps with her bag and cup. “Thanks for filling it.” She leans and I kiss her lips then drop the helmet on her head and my visor down. As I swing my leg over, she says, “We’re leaving early. Do you have a meet?”
“With Done.”
“I thought he’s not due here until tonight?”
“You’re right.” I start the bike and she slides against me.
The monologue starts again so I listen and make sound but I’m pissed so I have nothing to say. Our new house is perfect. It has an office big enough for her desk and mine. Havoc has his room and a bathroom so when it snows, my partner isn’t out in the cold. The carport in front of the garage is great so the bikes can stay out when we’re in a hurry or just being lazy. It meets upwith the side deck so weather doesn’t make grocery runs a chore. I’m not sure that’s a thing here, I’ve never done a grocery run here because I eat in the dining room and pickup takeout when I don’t want to. The Clubs send whatever I need up to the room. My house on Sentinel was stocked but I didn’t do it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I was thinking about groceries. The carport and roof over the deck make the run easy. I never went on a run here.”
She laughs and talks about the Prospect app. It makes the grocery runs a moot point. Officer in Badass is going to make me lazy. This isn’t just a member working in a Club, this is busy in a way that everything you need or desire is brought to you. It reminds me of the robots. Pretty soon I won’t remember how to shop or change my oil, then change a tire probably. She’s quiet so I tell her, “I’ll find out the stores when I’m with Done. We can shop so we remember how to.”
She laughs. “I’m not a shopper but don’t think everything in my life should be automated. It’s like the ship, after the glitz, it’s ho-hum.”
She’s not wrong but moves on to the ride. The view from the rise is like a painting of a mountain road that snakes its way around hills and quick valleys that lead you to higher hills and quick valleys. It’s an impressive ride that feels longer than it is. We’re in Honor before I’m ready to be done.
The gate opens like the ABSZ and Bravo. Our ID is picked up with recognition, plate and tracking. I got to see it with Mag at Bravo. They check everything with different sensors as you get closer. I pull up to the Officer road and stop at the little Bit two story house. It’s between Kristos and Mase’s bigger versions.
My girl giggles seeing it. “They keep everyone equal and it never strikes anyone as unusual here.”
“It’s always been. One furlough in Virginia I was in thedining room and a girl came over filthy dirty to tell an Officer she was in and fine. She was coming off a shift and had to change because she was blood splattered and smelled like a Billy goat. Her words.” I take her helmet and hang it on the bar.
Her giggle is back until I hook a finger into her cargos and pull her closer. That gets her attention on me. “No one is named in our bed, you never kiss feet, that includes mine. I will never say anything but your name in our bed so you never have a reason to doubt that you’re the only woman on my mind.”
I wait patiently while her eyes close and she takes a deep breath.
Her pretty eyes show that love so I’m not doubting my place. I wasn’t but I’m glad she feels it. “You did say that with the list. The disrespect…”
I pull and kiss her like she is the only woman on my mind. “You’ll remember.” Her dazed look makes me smile. She’ll remember. “Let me know if I’m sleeping here or you’re back to Liminal later. We can eat in Utah at the place Mase and Kateri told us about. She nods so I kiss her head and drop my visor down. “Later, Charlie’s Angel.”
Going out the Colorado gate, I get to the Dunkin in minutes seeing quite a few bikes in the lot.
“VP Girard.”
I turn fast and tip but Nash steadies me. “Thanks. Are you on Ops?” It’s early for him to be flying from Sentinel already.
“I’m on my way to work, I slept here last night.”
I nod seeing Mase and Seth walking out. “That wasn’t you calling me.” Nash points across the lot. “Who is it?”
“Your new IT Brother. He was meeting Logan but has to get to Liminal for a meet with Web.”
I nod. “It’s a nice ride on the back road.”
He smiles. “It’s a ride we take a lot. You have some good places to eat and the Dunkin. Mase had them put it up for ourrides. The Club is a five-minute ride from the door to the gate.”
They like their Dunkin. “We’re riding later to get a layout.”
He nods. “I stayed to get the business plan to Logan. I didn’t know he’d be here but I had some businesses already up because it’s a stopping point for Brothers at Honor. I gotta go. Pres scheduled an early meet.”
