Page 50 of Space for More

“It was my honor,” Phelix says, his eyes locking on mine for a moment, making my heart leap into my throat.

It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t matter.

By the timeI get Eden back to her hotel, we’re both exhausted. She’s quiet until we reach her door, but when I go to wave goodbye, she pulls me in and kisses me so sweetly I want to melt against her. Kissing Eden is like seeing the world in color for the first time. Everything is so much brighter and saturated with her around. I don’t resist when she takes my hand and guides me into her room.

“I know you’re upset, but please stay with me,” she says, setting her purse down on a table and slipping her boots off.

“Ready for more already? You humans are insatiable.”

She chuckles and shakes her head. “I just don’t want to be alone. And I think you could use some snuggling.”

“I’m fine. I’m not upset,” I say, dropping my purse beside hers and sitting down on the edge of the bed to unzip my boots.

“You don’t have to hide your feelings from me, Mez.” Eden using Fina’s nickname for me makes my cheerful facade soften. I don’t really know Eden, but I believe her. She may be the only person other than Fina I’ve trusted when they tell me I can.

“Okay, fine.” I sigh and kick off my boots, wiggling my sore toes in relief. “Seeing Phelix like that was…weird.”

“I’m sorr?—”

I raise a brow at Eden, and she stops herself from apologizing. “Good girl. I’m not upset with you at all. It was my idea. I just didn’t anticipate how I’d react.”

“I could tell it was weird. We shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t fair to either you or Phelix.”

“I think it was pretty fair to the dude getting to blow his load inside you again and again,” I scoff, my bitter sadness rising.

“He cares about you, Mezli. He felt awful about how you reacted. I kept him upstairs to make sure you had time to get what we needed, otherwise he would’ve come down as soon as we…separated.”

“Good for him. I don’t care about him.” I sound like a petulant child, but I can’t stop the defensive reflex.

Eden sits down on the bed next to me and wraps her arm around my shoulder, pulling me into her. “Suuure you don’t.”

I flap a hand dismissively at her. “I don’t!”

“It’s okay to care, Mezli. It means you’re human. Or nexxit. You know what I mean!”

“Caring only leads to getting hurt,” I say, the cracks in my walls I’ve built over the past four years deepening.

She nudges me with her shoulder. “Don’t be so melodramatic. You care about Fina, right? You’d have to after all the things you did to help her when she moved to Spire. You made her a fake clothing store, for fuck’s sake.”

“Of course I care about Fina,” I grumble, knowing where she’s going with this. Why does she have to be so smart and logical? It’s annoying. And just what I need.

“Has caring for her only led to pain?”

“She can be a pain in the ass sometimes…”

Eden’s warm laugh at my answer is light shining through the fissures in my facade. “Okay, fine! You’re right.”

“What happened between you and Phelix sucked. You both still feel the hurt of it. But are you the kind of person who lets pain keep her from living? No! You’re the most confident, amazing person ever. If you want him, take him. He’s yours. You just have to have the guts to let him in.”

“Like you did?” I ask with an eyebrow wiggle and she scowls at me. “Kidding! I hear you. Mostly the part about being the most amazing person ever. But also, the part about taking what I want. Someone really cool must have told you that.”

“The coolest. The prettiest too.” Eden grins and waggles her eyebrows back at me. “With a pussy that tastes like heaven.”

I bring a hand to my mouth in fake shock. “Eden! What happened to the shy human who’d never been laid? Don’t tell me I turned you into a sex fiend.”

Her smile widens. “Nah, I think I already was one. Just hadn’t had the opportunity to explore it.”

“Well…you’re still here for a few more days…” I say, giving her a slow look up and down. Just sitting and laughing with her makes me crave her.

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