Page 79 of Space Junk: Houston, We Have a Hottie
Jackie comes bounding into the room in that special way that she does when she’s excited. It’s not quite skipping, but it’s damn close.
She bounces to a stop in front of me, smiling wide. “Hey.”
I lean down and kiss her, my favorite part of the day. Well, if you don’t count bedroom time.
I pull back and rub my nose lightly against hers. “Okay, spill.”
She leans in, placing her hands on my chest. “How did you know I have something to tell you?” She pouts and it’s adorable.
I touch her nose with mine again. “Never mind how. Tell me. What has you so happy?” I gesture to the paper plates. “Besides my awesome dinner, of course.”
Jackie looks over at the dinner set-up and lets out a happy sigh. I love how she loves the small things.
And then she snaps back to attention, full of energy again. “You’ll never believe who called me today.”
“Well, if I’ll never guess, you better tell me.” I reach for her hips and draw her in closer. Which I regret when she bounces on her toes again, nearly slamming her forehead into my nose.
“The astronaut office! They called to set up my final interview, Flynn.” She is full-out jumping up and down now and I’m momentarily distracted from her words due to the wonderful things her exuberance is doing for her boobs.
She stops bouncing, much to my disappointment, and holds her thumb and index finger up, only an inch apart. “I’mthisclose to becoming an astronaut! Can you believe it?” And then she’s bouncing again while my legs become rooted to the spot, as if they are weighed down with lead.
“Wait. What?” I put my hands on her shoulders, holding her still. I catch her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
My tone must surprise her, either that or the intensity of my stare, because she gives me a funny look before shaking it off. “The final step in the astronaut hiring process. You know, the one I’ve been going through, that I told you about?”
My ears are buzzing and the heaviness in my legs has spread to my chest. “You told me you got through the first round, but I thought becoming an astronaut was a really fucking long process, and crazy hard or something. Isn’t it basically impossible?”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“And why are you so excited? I mean, I held you as you cried not two weeks ago. And you told me a big part of that was how scared you’d been for Jules. I thought that alone would cure you of this ridiculous scheme.”
Jackie steps away from my grasp, my hands sliding off her shoulders. “Ridiculous?”
Part of my brain knows I’m spiraling. That I need to take a step back and a couple deep breaths and not say something I’m going to regret. But the larger part smells the burning engines, hears the metal crumpling, chokes on the devastation from the inevitable crash. I can’t seem to separate my parents’ end from the history of space shuttle crashes, ISS safety alarms and the gut-wrenching feeling of Jackie being in constant danger.
“It’s too dangerous.”
Jackie lets out a nervous laugh. “You’re kidding, right?”
I just continue to look at her.
“You realize that statistically speaking, mechanics and those who drive vintage cars without all the modern safety features are more likely to injure themselves than astronauts, right?”
I still don’t say anything. I can’t. All I see is twisted metal and fire.
She lays a hand on my arm. “I’m sure if I give you all the—”
“No,” I hear myself saying.
I can’t see Jackie’s face anymore. She’s a blur, even though she’s just a foot away. But I hear her, her voice timid and shaky.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?”
I blink repeatedly, bringing her beautiful face back into focus. “I mean no, you can’t be an astronaut.” She flinches. “Not if you want to be with me.”
Twenty-Two
Real Time
