Page 40 of Galactic Sentinels: Vol 2
“So I’m some clueless hick now?” she snaps.
Logan should really change the subject. But he barrels on.
“I just want what’s best for you. The world’s full of darkness.”
“You’re right—I’m a big ol’ optimist,” she says sweetly. “I wake up full of delight!”
“Huh?”
“I rise and shine! Get it? Anyway, I’m not going.”
“If you ever change your mind...”
“I’ll let you know. But for now, what are we doing with those two losers?”
I glance at the unconscious goons and silently ask Xenon for backup.
Jason sighs. “Guess we’re hauling them to the nearest prison base for trial.”
“Damn it, I was hoping to stay a few days!” he grumbles.
“You could stay the night and leave tomorrow,” Sam offers. “You can use Mom’s old room.”
“Gooz?” Logan and I ask in unison.
My whole body tenses at the idea of her sharing a bed with someone—not that she meant it that way.
“This is Gooz!” she says proudly, pointing to a tiny mauve furball asleep on the couch.
That thing’s alive? Looks like a purple puffball. Logan relaxes.
“So that’s your new pet?”
“He’s a Gouzil. Be nice!”
We decide who sleeps where. Jason and Xenon stay on the ship to watch over the prisoners. Logan takes Olivia’s room. I get the couch.
Now everyone’s asleep. Except me.
The evening went well. We all shared stories about Olivia. Jason and Xenon listened respectfully, even asked questions.
We gathered around the big composite table, empty plates and glasses scattered like the remnants of a feast. Nostalgia hung in the air like perfume.
Now, silence. Just me, the couch, and a half-finished bottle.
I shouldn’t have drunk so much. I told myself it would dull the pull I feel toward Sam. Instead, it numbed everything else—my judgment, my restraint.
She’s in the next room, asleep. And here I am, shirtless, restless, haunted by her.
Her lips. Her curves. Her light.
Why her?
Maybe because her brightness pulls me out of the darkness I’ve lived in my whole life.
Maybe because when she looks at me, she sees me—not Logan’s partner, not some elite Sentinel. Just… Ayden.
A soft noise breaks my thoughts. A door. Bare footsteps on the floor.
