“I’m good with that.” Tish closed her eyes and let her head rest on Xaber’s chest. “Falling in love with the two of you was the best decision I ever made.”
Xaber chuckled. “I don’t think any of us had a choice. We were destined for each other.”
“Definitely. We never had a chance. It’s the three of us against the galaxy.”
She liked the sound of that, too. She wasn’t alone anymore, and she would never be again. She’d found her forever. And their names were Xaber and Mace.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ninety-four minutes.That was how much time was left before they arrived at Amadox Station.
Xaber sat in the cockpit of theTrue, staring at the viewscreen as the station slowly became visible. His fingers drummed a steady beat on the console, and he did his best to pretend boredom and not nerves made him fidget.
Mace was prowling the corridors of the ship like an over-vigilant security bot. Tish was tinkering with systems that were already running perfectly. They had different reasons for feeling on edge.
Tish was impatient to see her family again. He understood that. She’d had to flee the station so quickly that they’d never had a chance to say goodbye in person. He knew what it felt like to be torn away from someone without warning.
Getting her reconnected with her parents would be one of the highlights of the mission along with getting revenge on the asshole who had tried to destroy her life.
The engines needed to be tested before they made any long jumps, so they’d done a few shorter ones to be certain. That made their trip longer, but it had given them plenty of time tolearn about her. Now they knew the truth, she’d shared details and stories about her life and family.
Those tales made him realize how different her life was from his. He and Mace had left their maturation vats as adults, their knowledge and behaviors were the result of coding and conditioning instead of a standard childhood. The only family dynamics he knew were the ones his batch of siblings had created for themselves.
That was why Mace was stomping up and down the length of the ship. Because this was new territory. Neither of them had afraxxingclue how to interact with normal family. Usually, they didn’t care about shit like this, but this was Tish’s family…and that made all the difference.
He heard her light steps approach the flight deck but didn’t react to her arrival. They’d learned more about each other on this trip, and he’d discovered Tish was more talkative if he let her speak first.
She laid a hand on his shoulder and kissed the top of his head. “You’re overthinking things.”
“I’m not. We’ve got a solid plan. This is going to work, and you’re going to be done with this mess before long.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She moved to stand beside him so she could make eye contact. “It’s not the plan you’re thinking about. You’re worried about meeting my dads.”
He gave her his best blank look. “Not a chance. I’m looking forward to it. Why would you say that?”
“Liar.” She laughed and ruffled his hair. “I talked to Mace. He said you’re both feeling stressed about it.”
He sent a terse message to his back-stabbing batch-brother. “You told her?”
“I had to. She asked why I was wearing a groove in the deck plates. I’m not going to lie to her.”
“A heads-up would have been nice.”
“Sorry.”
His brother did not sound the slightest bit contrite, but that ship had already left orbit.
“I know you’re talking to him right now. Giving him shit for not warning you?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
“You don’t need to worry. My dads are going to love you two.”
He pivoted the chair around and tugged her onto his lap. She curled against his chest without protest, and some of his tension faded away.
“I don’t care if they love me or not. That’s their decision. The only thing I care about is you. The thing is, they matter to you, so all of this matters to me.”
He scowled. “This is why I try to avoid relationships. They’revethingmessy.”
