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“What are you doing?” My skin warms and turns such a dark blue it’s almost indigo.
“I want to see how things look on you, and you need to help me with the zippers.” She says it like it’s obvious, but ever since I learned my True Mate is on The Rose, I can’t help feeling a little different around Vera.
Sometimes I still hope she might be the one. Other times, I wonder if I won’t be able to find my True Mate, because so many people assume Vera and I are more than friends. Considering how much time we typically spend together, it’s not an unreasonable assumption.
I’ve asked out five girls since The Rose launched. I figure if I’m going to find my True Mate, I should start looking right away. Half of them have brought up Vera. None of the dates have gone farther than kissing. None of them did it for me. Not the way Vera does.
I know I can’t be certain that any of them aren’t my True Mate without having sex with them, but sleeping around has never appealed to me. It’s just not my thing. Kind of like how shopping isn’t my thing.
“Why don’t you get Ada to change with you? I’m sure she’ll have better advice than I will. And…she’ll…be better with the zippers.”
Vera looks at me like I’m crazy. “What the hell is wrong with you lately? You’re acting all weird and awkward.” Her vibrant features fall just a little, and she gnaws on her bottom lip. “Did I do something?”
“No. No, of course not.” I wrap her in my arms and pull her close against my chest. She’s so soft and fits so perfectly. She feels like home. “I’m sorry, Vee. I know I’ve been acting strange.”
Tell her, one part of my brain screams. But I can’t bring myself to do it. I’m not really sure why. “I’m just worried about all the sabotage on the ship and feeling a little on edge.”
“That doesn’t explain why you’re acting all weird about me changing in here with you. It’s not like we haven’t gotten dressed in the same room thousands of times before.”
I sigh. She’s right. But what she doesn’t know is that every one of those times I got hard just looking at her. It took all my self-control and a lot of facing the other direction to hide it. I got really good at thinking about the swamp near my house growing up. Not sexy.
There’s so many more layers to my attraction to Vera now that I got that damn Message. How will my True Mate take it if I’m lusting after another woman? What does it mean that no one affects me the way she does? What if she’s my True Mate, but we never get together because we’ve been in the friend-zone so long she won’t ever see me that way? What if I lose control and try to kiss her and it ruins everything? I don’t want to risk our friendship.
Plus, she’s also my second engineer and a lead on my team. We’re gonna be stuck in close quarters for seven years on this mission.
Without giving any of that away, I can’t think of any legitimate reason not to change in here. So I smooth her hair back and say, “I guess I’m just not in the mood to see that hideous mole on your back.”
My attempt at making light of the awkwardness works. Vera clamps a hand over her lower back, hiding the spot. “It’s nothideous.”
She’s right. It’s not. In fact, I really like that cute little mole. I’ve even jerked off a few times thinking about the way it sits just above her butt, like a punctuation mark to the curve and swell of her ass. But, I shouldn’t be thinking about that—especially right now.
I attempt a smirk. “It’s as big as an electromagnetic hydrogen plug. I feel like it’s going to jump out and electrocute me.”
She rolls her eyes. “One of these days, it just might.”
I laugh and turn away from her, focusing my attention on the pile of clothes she picked out. It doesn’t take long to sort through them. There’s only one that I’m willing to be seen in.
I can hear the rustle of fabric behind me and I try not to think about Vera naked as I strip out of my shirt and pants, leaving me in just my boxer briefs.
Before I can pull on the suit, she says, “Now,thisis hideous.”
“Hey, I’m not even dressed yet. Don’t talk about my butt like that.”
I’m trying to keep the levity going, but as soon as I say it, I imagine Vera behind me, staring at my ass. The thought makes me both giddy and self-conscious.
She makes it worse by slapping my butt. “I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about this dress.”
I turn around to find her standing in front of the mirror, wearing the most atrociously unattractive dress I’ve ever seen. She still looks beautiful.
Vera
Suns!SincewhendoesZenth have an ass? A nice ass? I didn’t look when I turned around to slap him and then my hand was connecting with a firm buttock I didn’t recognize.
When I fully spin to face him, he’s wearing nothing but his briefs and my mouth dries out and falls open. He’s always been tall and lean—all bones. Kind of gangly. But the man standing in front of me is… hot. Like standing too close to the sun hot. Somehow in the last four years since we roomed together in Uni he’s filled out without me noticing.
He’s always in grubby work clothes or his uniform, and I guess I’ve just gotten used to seeing him in a certain light—the same way I have since we were kids—but right now…
Wow.
