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“Wait,” Dora says behind me. “What are you doing?”
“Turning back to the station.”
She sighs, and then comes up behind me. Her arms lock around my waist and she burrows against my back. “Don’t bother. We need the credits. It’s enough for me that you would.”
“Of course I would. You’re my mate. You and Bethiah are everything to me.”
Dora gives another little sigh and squeezes me tighter. “If Bethiah gives even a whiff of feelings for Rhonda, you can replace me in our triad, because I’m out at that point.”
“I feel exactly the same. It’s either us three or it’s nothing.”
She shakes against my back, and I hear a soft sniffle that twists something inside me. “I don’t want to lose you guys.”
“Me either, sweetheart.” I rub the arm around my waist, wishing I was better at comforting. “Me either.”
Eighty-Six
BETHIAH
When I get out of the shower and enter my bedroom, Rhonda is there.
She sits on the bed, her hands folded in her lap, and watches as I stride out, naked, using the towel to wring out the last of the water from my hair. “You lost?” I ask. “Because this isn’t your room.”
“I wanted to talk to you,” she says, and regards me with a long, slow look. “You haven’t changed, you know.”
“Neither have you.”
“Still as beautiful as ever.” Rhonda smiles. “And a few more tattoos.”
This sounds suspiciously like sucking up. I stride past her and push a button on the wall so my clothes closet opens up. The moment it does, a filmy yellow garment flutters, and I feel my face grow hot. It’s my sleep tunic. The one that matches Dora’s pink one. I shove it to the back and pull out my most severe gray tunic. “Did you come here to ogle my ass or was there a point to this visit?”
“I see you’ve moved on,” Rhonda says in a delicate voice. “With two people no less.”
Yup, there was a point to this visit.
“I’m thrilled for you,” she continues. “I always wanted your happiness, you know. Though I admit I’m surprised that you’d get together with another human after what we shared. It seems…well, never mind.”
I grit my teeth and yank my tunic over my head, keeping my back to her. Count on Rhonda to lay little barbs in between her compliments. “Let me guess. You think I’m using Dora as a replacement for you. How very arrogant.”
As I pull on my trou, I hear Rhonda get to her feet. Her skirts swish as she crosses the room toward me. “It’s just unexpected. I seem to recall a lot of crying and insisting that you’d never love another if I turned my back on you, and now it seems that you’re loving two. One would almost think you’re doing it to hurt me.”
I manage to keep from rolling my eyes, but barely. “Oh yeah, I was really thinking of you when I was nose-deep in Dora’s pussy and getting railed by Jamef. Totally thinking, ‘Gee, if only Rhonda was here to judge me in this moment.’”
“Judge you?” She sounds hurt, and in the next moment, she comes around my side and enters my line of sight. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“Honestly, Rhonda, I have no idea what you’re doing right now.” I yank a belt from its spot and sling it around my waist.
“I’m trying to apologize.” Her voice is quiet. Soft. “It’s clear you’re angry with me and I always hated it when you were angry with me.” She bites her lip delicately, her gaze downcast. “I know you think me heartless, but it wasn’t about feelings back then. It was about survival.”
“Uh huh.” Like I haven’t heard this before. I tap the auto-fastener on my belt and let it slither around my waist, then dig around in the closet for my boots. They’re not in here. That’s weird. Dora always puts them back for me. With a little frown, I glance around the room. Where did I leave them?
“Just because I chose badly doesn’t mean I didn’t have feelings for you back then. That I didn’t cry into my pillow every night and wish that things could be different.”
An ache starts low in my chest. I don’t have feelings for her any longer, but seeing her brings up all the old emotions and pain, and it’s hard to ignore how I’d felt once upon a time. How my world had felt like it was ending because of her decision to choose the stability of finding a rich patron instead of going adventuring with me.
“I had a lot of feelings back then,” Rhonda whispers. “And I still have them now.”
Oh no. The hairs prickle on the back of my neck. “Don’t —”
A hand touches my arm. “Bethy —”
Instinctively, I react to a threat. I whirl around and grab Rhonda by the throat, forcing her backward against the wall. Her eyes go wide and she lets out a terrified squeak of distress.
