Page 93 of The Darkest Parts of Me

I am about to meet Renn’s best friend, who he thought was dead.

They’re both from a planet called Earth.

Their crew members were murdered because of what they uncovered.

And on top of all that, I am wildly in love with Renn.

And he loves me back.

“Did I miss anything?” I say to myself. I watch the shock shift into sadness, spreading across my features. I trace my fingers down my throat and chest where Renn’s mouth was just moments before. Just thinking about it makes me blush. Then I see tears forming in my eyes, because soon, the sound of his voice, his touch, all of him will be out of reach, and I have no idea how long he will be gone, or if he will come back at all. I wipe away the tears, then take a deep breath. There’s still so much to say and do before Renn leaves tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

He’s leaving tomorrow, and I’m not sure I can imagine my heart aching more than it does right now.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Maven

I’m not sure what I expected when it came to Nate, but the handsome, dark-skinned man I see standing next to Renn when I step outside the cabin is a good surprise. He’s incredibly attractive, but in a different way than Renn. Nate is pretty, while Renn is rugged. I can only imagine the damage these two could cause together, breaking hearts left and right from just one look. Shy spies me and runs over, causing Renn and Nate to snap their heads in my direction. Nate gives me a wide-toothed grin, so I smile back.

“Mave.” Renn holds out his hand for me to join them. I feel nervous as they both watch me while I make my way over. “Nate, this is Maven. Maven, this is Lieutenant Nathan Hayden.”

Nate gives him an irritated look, then rolls his eyes. “Nice to meet you, Maven.” It takes me a second to realize that he’s speaking my language.

I stammer, trying to respond, but I’m too shocked to put anything together. Nate laughs, loud and hardy, and I turn to Renn, confused. “Wait. What? How?”

Renn laughs then urges him closer. “Let me show you.”

Nate obeys then turns his head to the side, folding his ear forward slightly, revealing a small, round device stuck on the back. The translator. The details Renn explained briefly the night of the attack vaguely come to my mind.

“Oh,” I say, blushing slightly only for a second or two. “Explain to me how this works again,” I say smiling toward Nate, but Renn is the one who speaks.

“The translator deciphers the language it hears, then connects to the part of the brain that is associated with language development and provides neurofeedback so the user can translate the speech. In turn, it helps you learn the language faster. It usually takes a person a good week to really start to understand the language.”

“Except for me, right, Captain?” Nate says with obvious pride, and though I can understand what he says, it does sound off somehow.

Renn rolls his eyes. “Nate here is gifted, which really means he’s too smart for his own good. He learns things at a much quicker pace.”

It takes Nate a couple of extra seconds to decipher what Renn says, the AI translating for him, then he gives him a look somewhere between annoyed and pleased. I like seeing Renn interacting with Nate. I imagine it probably resembles how Tasha and I act around each other—relaxed but comfortable giving each other a hard time when appropriate. I notice Renn keeps watching my face, almost to gauge what I think about Nate, and to be honest, it feels like I know him already.

It must be so strange for Renn to see his worlds colliding almost literally.

“Should we go inside and . . . talk?” I ask, not exactly sure what to do next. This is obviously a first for all of us, and so much has happened in the last day that it is starting to feel overwhelming. We clearly don’t know exactly how this will all play out, having never been in a situation like this before.

“Yes,” Renn says with an added light in his face as he looks back and forth from Nate to me. We wander back into the house with Shy in tow. “I’ll get a fire going,” Renn says, hanging his jacket near the door. Nate flops onto the couch.

“So, Maven. You probably don’t like me very much right now,” he says. I fold my arms in front of me.

“Why do you say that? Because you’re taking Renn with you back to Earth?”

His eyes go wide for a moment. “Wow, Renn really did tell you everything then.”

“He did,” I confirm.

“And you don’t care that he’s from an entirely different planet?” Renn gives Nate a look that reads watch it, but I don’t mind. I know Tasha would be doing the same thing if she didn’t know the guy I was claiming to be in love with. Especially if he were from a different planet. It feels weird even thinking that, let alone hearing it out loud.

“No. Not at all.” He cocks an eyebrow at me, and I can’t help but laugh. “Sorry. You just remind me a lot of my friend, Tasha,” I say. Renn comes to stand next to me now that the fire is going.

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