Page 7 of The Program

Neither of us spoke, the risk too great in public. It was even too great in the privacy of our own suite, the cameras that had been installed by The Program obvious if you knew where to look. It was harder for Addy since she liked to talk, but we either stuck to harmless topics or took comfort in each other’s company in silence, speaking with our body language rather than our voices.

It had been an adjustment for me as well. One of the things I loved the most about Addy was her ability to talk about any and everything and never stop. It had become a sort of soundtrack to my life. I used to find it frustrating or annoying at times, but now that it was gone I missed it more than I ever thought possible. I wanted my life to be filled with endless chatter, her bubbly personality shining through in every aspect of her actions.

Instead, I settled for holding her close whenever possible.

On the walk back to our suite I gripped her hand in mine, tangling our fingers together and enjoying the way she squeezed mine back. Our hands swung between us as we walked, and I had the sudden and strange urge to pick her up and carry her instead. It might have had something to do with how short she was compared to me. Her arm was raised to reach my hand and that height difference made me want to scoop her up and pin her to my chest.

No matter what happened in that meeting, there were going to be lots of cuddles tonight.

Typically we would dress down and get comfortable for the evening once we returned back to our suite, but today was not an ordinary evening. Instead, we rolled up our sleeves and lounged about watching something on the holo-board that neither one of us paid any attention to.

Instead, I kept glancing at the time.

As time crawled closer to the meeting, I leaned down as if to bury my nose in Addy’s hair to inhale her scent and whispered in her ear. ‘Staggered exit. Opposite directions. Ten clicks between. You go first.’

‘Hey, I have a tutoring session tonight,’ she spoke up loud enough for the surveillance equipment to pick up.

I raised a brow in question, wondering what she was up to. This wasn’t a part of the plan I was privy to...

‘Oh?’

‘You wanna stop by and walk me back?’ she asked, and

I played along even if I didn’t fully understand.

‘Or I could just come with you?’

She beamed up at me. ‘Sure! That would be fun. You could be my assistant.’

I snorted. ‘Yeah, okay. I’ll be your assistant.’

She winked at me and I chuckled at the insinuation. We didn’t have sex, but those watching us didn’t know that. We realised early on that they would assume our relationship to be sexual in nature, if only because she was a Griknot. We had fun with it most nights, making the bed creak and being obnoxious with our noises. Addy took things a bit further than just nights, though, and tried to be as cringeworthy with her flirting throughout the day as well.

It had become a sort of inside joke between us.

‘Well, sugar tits, we should probably get there before the cadets,’ I exaggerated my wink back while she tried not to laugh at the nickname.

‘You’re right, twinkle tush. Let’s go now.’

Twinkle tush?I sure hoped that one stayed behind closed doors…

I pinched her butt on the way out the door for good measure, and also as a punishment for the nickname. She squealed and smacked at my arm, but the smirk on her face told me all I needed to know. She was going to get me back for that, and I was going to have to find another way to punish her.

‘Brat,’ I teased.

‘Sorry master,’ she retorted and I couldn’t contain my groan. It wasn’t completely faked, either. Just because she wasn’t into sex didn’t mean I wasn’t, and I was finding my hand just wasn’t doing the trick as much lately. If we weren’t being held captive I might have taken her up on her offer to sleep with someone else. As long as she watched.

‘Watch it,’ I warned, letting her know she was close to crossing the line. She was usually pretty good at respecting my body’s needs and not making them worse, but sometimes she got a little carried away.

She tangled her fingers in my shirt sleeve, gently stroking along the skin beneath in apology. We walked the rest of the way like that.

As expected, the study room was empty when we arrived, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Markus appeared with a tray full of food, a grin on his face despite the way Addy stiffened beside me at his entrance. Things between them had always been tense, but ever since the take-over she had been even more stand-offish with my best friend and I hadn’t been able to figure out why. I had decided a long time ago to stay out of it. I trust her ability to read people, but I was still capable of making my own decisions over who to trust. And I trusted Markus implicitly.

I greeted him with a smile and a fist bump, ignoring how Addy didn’t even try to hide her glare. She seemed almost afraid of him, always becoming jumpy whenever he was around. Still, she never tried to explain so I let it rest. I doubted I would ever understand her reaction to him so I saw no reason to agonise over it.

He's also been a wreck since Jorna went missing during the take-over. He hadn't seen or her from her since, and his concern over his girlfriend was evident in the dark shadows beneath his eyes and the rough stubble on his chin. I didn't want to add to his stress by bringing up whatever was going on between him and Addy.

We made small talk while we waited for the others to arrive. It didn’t take long. Dorian, Urman, Cadmus and Henrik arrived first but were quickly followed by Bromm and Foryk. It was when the door closed behind the last of them that our assigned guard arrived, taking his place at the back of the room as if standing out of the way while he watched over us. It was simply to keep up appearances in case another guard checked on us, but he was just as included in this meeting as everyone else here.

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