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“Did you fight?” Katie asked.
“No,” I said. “We better hurry. I didn’t realize I slept so late. Someone should have woken me.”
“We thought you were having cuddle time,” Steve said.
“Why did he leave?” Sid asked. “He’s never been gone this long.”
“When he shows up again, you can ask him,” I said. “We need to get going, or we’ll be late for the new group.”
“No one is buying your bullshit, Andie,” Roni said. “But if you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. One way or another, we’ll find out soon enough what’s going on. The fact that we didn’t have anyone pounding down our door means he’s around here somewhere, and I’m sure he’ll be happy to fill us in.”
I grabbed a piece of toast.
“Sounds about right. I’ll meet everyone outside.”
CHAPTERSIX
Molev wasn’t waitingby the vehicles, either. I knew I’d really let him down and understood it wasn’t because we weren’t having sex yet. Our physical relationship was only a small piece of what he wanted from me.
He worshipped my body, but he wanted my heart. And I’d frozen when he’d asked for a long-term promise.
It wasn’t my first time freezing, either. But I doubted telling him that would give him any comfort.
Suppressing a sigh, I ate my toast and tried to think of a way to nicely tell Molev that I had no interest in marrying, ever, or having a child. Ever. No matter how nicely I said it, I doubted it would go over well. It never had in the past, which was precisely why I’d hoped to avoid the topic altogether.
Telling people I didn’t want kids always resulted in shock and shame. Their shock and their attempts to make me feel shame for my choice.
Unfortunately, I doubted I would be able to put off the conversation with Molev for long. I’d known it was looming and that it would bite me hard sooner or later. I’d hoped it would be much later. As in “after there’s a vaccine and all the undead are gone” kind of later. But it looked like our long overdue discussion couldn’t be avoided any longer.
Considering Molev’s attitude toward Lucas, I knew Molev wouldn’t take the news well. The topic of having children had ended five of my relationships. My refusal to return an “I love you” had been the death of at least two. Looking back at all my failed relationships made me feel a lot older than twenty-six. In my defense, some of them had come and gone in three months.
Why did I end up with men who liked to move fast?
At least, now I felt more certain Molev wouldn’t just leave.
Possibly.
Maybe?
The rest of the team joined me by the time I finished my toast.
“We can go,” I said once they were seated.
The soldier driving my vehicle gave me a questioning look.
“He’ll meet us there,” I said, hoping it was true.
Molev wasn’t at the training course, but several personnel were already there, setting up the water coolers.
“This is going to be a really awkward introduction,” Roni mumbled as we gathered by the drop-off point.
“Just stick to the routine. We know what he’s looking for,” I said, taking the folder one of the personnel handed me.
I handed out the master list of names that someone had already divided into seven groups for us and started reading the demographics as we waited for the trucks to arrive. This batch had more women in it than men. Notably more. While I saw it as good news for Molev, I wondered what it meant. Was Waurlyn testing us? Were there simply fewer male volunteers? Was word spreading that we were taking mostly women?
The first truck rumbled down the road before I finished reading. Looking up from the paper, I watched the volunteers get out and look around.
“Good morning, and welcome to Camp Irwin,” I said loudly, calling everyone’s attention to my typical welcome introduction.
