Page 40 of Obsession

We were friends, but a part of me wished we were more than that. “Well, yes—”

“Then as my friend, you have to be honest with me. I was never going to be able to attract Zav. You saw how bad I was at flirting. I couldn’t even toss my hair without practically yanking the horns from his head.”

“You might have had a rough start…”

She raked a hand through her hair. “It’s so embarrassing to think of how I made a huge idiot of myself in front of him and you.”

I held up a finger. “You only made a small idiot of yourself in front of me, but that is probably because I do not have horns.”

She gave me a playful shove with one elbow. “Thanks a lot.”

I hated how much I loved laughing with her and even being poked by her. It was like being with a friend who made me feel all fizzy inside. But then I reminded myself that she did not feel that way about me. To her, I was just a friend.

Zav was the one who made her flustered. He was the one she had wanted to impress. He was the one she regretted embarrassing herself with. Not me. Him.

“When we get out, you can try again,” I suggested, even though it pained me. “It is not too late.”

“Oh yes, it is.” All the levity drained from her voice. “That’s what I meant when I said it was a mistake. I realize now that my crush on Zav was just that—a crush. I don’t actually want him.”

My throat constricted even as my heart leapt. “You don’t?”

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s great. He’s hot, smart, kind. I can’t think of a reason why I shouldn’t want him, but I don’t. Not anymore. I don’t know if I ever really did or if it was an infatuation because he was new.”

I understood the fascination and excitement around something new. I’d spent most of my life bouncing from one exciting new female to another.

“I’m sorry to have wasted your time,” she said. “And for barging into your quarters and blaming you for it going wrong.”

I couldn’t help grinning, even though Britta losing interest in Zav did not do a thing for me. She still thought of me as her friend. Even so, my chest swelled, and my grin widened. “You have no need to apologize. I enjoyed teaching you.”

She gave a soft laugh. “Even if I was a horrible student.”

“I doubt you have ever been a bad student a day in your life. Zav was just the wrong person, which is why it didn’t work.”

Britta tipped her face to me. “The wrong person? Does that mean you think I’d be good with the right person?”

I lost the ability to speak as she held my gaze. What had she asked me? Was I supposed to be talking now?

Grekkinghell. I did not know what was happening, so I did what instinct told me to do and crushed my lips to hers.

The instant our mouths met, I sank into her, moaning as I let myself get lost in the kiss. She moved her lips hungrily against mine, returning my moan with an urgent one of her own. My entire body shuddered, the ground beneath me trembling, and then she tore her lips from mine.

“Kann?”

I blinked at Britta as the ground shook again, and the entire simulation flickered, the walls of the cavern vanishing for a moment. My stomach dropped and the euphoric sensation evaporated as if I’d been doused with freezing water. If the simulation disappeared, I should have seen the holographic panels of the chamber, but I hadn’t. I had seen blackness.

Was the program fracturing? Were we in danger of flickering out of existence too?

Chapter

Twenty-Six

Ariana

Ibraced my hands on the desk, my vision blurry as I studied the flight plan for the hundredth time.

Come on, Ariana. Focus. You can’t fuck this up. You’re finally going to fly the mission to save Sasha. This is what you’ve been begging for, so let’s do this.

My usual stern lectures weren’t helping this time. Not when I knew Volten would be staying behind along with Fiona and Jess. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust myself to fly the mission solo, but I’d grown so used to Volt’s presence it was hard to imagine not sharing the adventure together.

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