Page 38 of A Mate for Vasek
Suddenly, Dawn lost her appetite. She also lost her cool. “I’m so fucking sick of hearing about Kean’s compound and Reka 5. If you want those to be your home, fine! But don’t drag me into it. Those aren’t my home. Earth is home. I want to go home!”
It was only after her outburst that she realized that they were no longer alone. Dex, Berus, and an older human man whose name she didn’t remember were at their table. Great, more people to witness her being completely irrational. Now she feltlike a grade-A turd. These people had been nothing but nice to her.
Dex, bless him, pretended not to hear her outburst and instead snatched what passed for a chicken tender, or was that a tepin tender, off her plate. “Are you gonna eat this?”
Then, before he could get it to his mouth, Nibbles woke and lunged at the tepin strip so fast it was a blur. Dex almost lost a finger.
“Dang it!”
“That’ll teach ya to dangle your meat in front of the ladies,” said the older man, cracking up. Then the three men hurried over to the replicators for their own dinners.
Dawn noticed the moment Vasek’s eyes were on her. She looked up to see him and the captain walking in. The moment their eyes met, Vasek looked away.
“Vasek is nice,” Cami said. “He helped Berus and me when we were in New Rhea. I’m glad we were able to return the favor. Are you staying with him after?”
It took Dawn a moment to realize that the question was aimed at her. Cami was trying to gloss over her outburst and make things less awkward.
“I… I don’t know. I accidentally ended up with Vasek, and he promised to bring me to Kean’s compound. He never asked, so I don’t think so.”
Which was how she’d wanted it in the first place. With her freedom, she’d be able to find a way back to Earth. The thought of Earth had her feeling guilty.
“I’m sorry I yelled,” Dawn said. “I just…”
“It’s okay. We’ve all been through it. Some react worse than others.”
Dawn sniffed. “You mean more delusional?”
“We have people on Reka 5 who still think Earth is viable,” Lana said. She’d been quite silent for a while now. “They aren’t dangerous when they are alone. But when they get together, it usually spells trouble. I don’t know you well, Dawn, but please don’t cause trouble for people I care about. Most people at Reka 5 are happy there. Same with Kean’s place.”
Dawn nodded, understanding her. This was as close to a warning as she was going to get from the captain’s wife. Don’t cause shit. Got it.
She didn’t want to be trouble for any of them either. They’d been nothing but kind to her, and they’d come to Vasek’s rescue.
She glanced over at Vasek, who immediately looked away.
Cami cleared her throat. “So… do youwantto stay with Vasek?” Cami asked. “Because that’s a look if I ever saw one. And he got super jealous of Dex earlier.”
“He was pretty adamant that he wasn’t interested in keeping me around. It was one of the first things he told me. I mean, if he asked me to, I would. But…” She shrugged.
“Well, I think he’s going to ask you. You just wait.”
Chapter 20
Dawn
Cami was wrong. Vasek never did ask her.
He did, however, make sure she got set up at the compound. She now had an official ID number, which was recognized throughout the outer planets. It meant she could now collect her own credits and be her own person.
Dawn hadn’t realized just how important that was until it happened. She’d been so happy and grateful that she’d thrown her arms around him. But Vasek had shoved her away, like she’d burnt him with her touch. He’d apologized after, saying something like it was his fault and not hers, then ran off.
Dawn couldn’t believe it. All the way at the butt-end of the galaxy, and she got the “it’s not you, it’s me” spiel from a freaking alien? Unbelievable!
Roxy, Cami, their mates, and Dex had taken her out to celebrate her newfound freedom afterward, and Dawn had done her best to pretend she was happy when it felt like her heart had been torn apart.
But what the fuck had she been expecting anyway? Vasek had said from the beginning that he didn’t want to keep her. Just because they spent some time together and did the horizontal tango didn’t mean he’d change his mind.
It fucking hurt, and she had nothing to blame but her dumb, stupid heart.
