Page 68 of Every Almost

Reyna felt tears prick at her eyes. She never cried, ever. But, she had to reason, she'd never known she had a brother, either. "That may be the most wonderful thing you've ever said to me."

He gripped her fingers in his hand. "Well, good. Because it's true. And I've made my peace with it because it still puts you in a very important spot in my life. One that is still reserved for you and no one else. Soul match or not, you are part of me. My past, my present, and my future."

Reyna nodded at him then, one tear spilling onto her cheek. He took his other hand and caught the tear with his finger.

"What we are is exactly right. My whole body agrees with it - mind, body, and soul, in fact. There's no pull or ache or signal I'm ignoring. Just you, my best friend."

Reyna looked at him for only a beat before she stood up off her chair and threw her arms around him, leaning her head on his shoulder as his arms encircled her. She let a tear fall, but that was the one and only that got away. She was still herself, but now, she felt the love in ways she never knew could be possible. Looked at Jere. Looked at the kitchen, warm and low-lit, with Borran's steady presence at the counter.

As she pulled away from him, she smiled and his watery grin shone on his face for her. This was it, this was the question that had lived quietly between them for years, never having been spoken, but also never urgent, and now it had been answered. And it turned out that the answer, for both of them, was that they were their own chosen family. The kind you build a life beside.

"But Reyna, I need you to know something," Jere said, his voice shifting back to the seriousness of the real conversation."If it ever happens, if I find my actual match and it activates, whenever or wherever it activates, I have to go for it. I won'tnotbe able to. You know that, right?"

And Reyna did know. Even though she'd just learned about it, she knew from Jere's description that the activation was biological, instant, and permanent. When it came, the pull was not something you could order around.

"I know," Reyna said.

"You promise you won't be angry?"

"Oh, Jere, I'll befurious," she said, knocking her shoulder into him. "But, I'll let you go."

"Rey—"

"That's how it works," Reyna interrupted. She couldn't listen to him try to reason with her about being upset about him leaving, especially after the conversation they'd just had. "You just don't argue with biology. Hell, youcan'targue with it, really."

She picked up her drink and took a sip. But she couldn't really taste it. Instead, her mind was fully occupied with the possibility of a future where this ridiculous, loud, irreplaceable person walked away from her and Elena and the Emberkind because his body told him he had to. She'd have to stand on this ship and let the corridors fill with the silence of his absence. She would do it, because it was what he needed, and she loved him more than enough to never be in the way of his happiness. But if anything, all she could hope for was that it would happen for him somewhere she'd be able to keep him in her life.

"I mean, who knows how long it will take anyway? Like anyone would want to be your soul match. Your volume alone would be grounds for annulment."

And then he laughed again, his big, boisterous laugh, causing her to giggle next to him.

"You know I love you, right?" Jere asked as his laughter died down. Reyna looked up at him, and his expression alone would make her believe anything he asked of her.

She nodded slowly, dropping her gaze to her feet. "I do."

He put his forefinger under her chin, making her look up at him again. "Do you know how much?"

Reyna laughed softly. "Oh, I don't know," she said, teasing. "Bigger than the universe?"

His finger dropped from her chin, and his smile spread out so wide that Reyna began to worry he may actually pull something.

"That's it exactly!" He exclaimed, his excitement palpable. "Rey, that's genius!"

"I don't know about genius but?—"

"No," Jere interrupted. "It is. It's genius and perfect and nothing would be better." He pulled her to him again, gripping her in another bone-crushing hug, but Reyna let him. "I love you. Bigger than the universe."

Reyna melted against him again, against this person who could have been her soul match, and was, in almost every way that couldn't matter. But that was okay. Because she had this. And this would last, no matter where in the universe they were.

"Bigger than the universe," she whispered against him.

At the counter, Borran continued working his dough and said nothing, which was Borran's way of saying everything.

"Bigger than the universe, Rey."

Jere had gotten to saying that phrase every chance he got. He would say it the way he said everything important to him, at full volume, with a big grin, and as if the words themselves should be grateful he chose to say them explicitly.

He was signing off a comm call from the bridge after having wrapped up a coordination session with a research station that had agreed to take their latest batch of rescued fauna. The station director had been difficult, but Jere's charms had worked its wonders, as always. The creatures had a new home, no further questions.