I can’t form words. My brain has shut down, replaced entirely by the sensation of her lips on mine, her hands still resting against my chest, the way she’s looking at me like I’m worth wanting.
I don’t deserve this. The familiar voice whispers in my head. I should put a stop to this before it gets out of hand.
But for once—just this once—I let myself ignore it.
Because Selene is smiling at me, and nothing else in the galaxy matters.
Chapter
Four
SELENE
Ifloat into the kitchen like my feet aren’t quite touching the ground.
The lunch rush is in full swing—the usual chaos of prep work and chatter filling the space. Laura stands at one of the industrial cooktops, stirring something that smells incredible. Elana is pulling plates from a cabinet, her pale skin flushed from the kitchen’s heat. Charlotte sits at the staff table in the corner, nose buried in a book as always, thick glasses sliding down her nose.
I barely register any of it. My thoughts keep circling back to the courtyard, to Khatak’s shocked expression, to the taste of krivva fruit and?—
I walk straight into the corner of the prep counter.
“Ow!” I rub my hip, face heating.
“You okay there?” Elana calls over, eyebrow raised.
“Fine! Totally fine.” I make a beeline for the coffee station, desperate for something to do with my hands.
The coffee maker gurgles as I fill a mug. I lift it to my lips, then set it down. Lift it again. Put it back on the counter. My fingers drum against the ceramic.
I can’t stop replaying it. The way I’d leaned in. The way his hands had found my waist. The little sound he’d made when?—
“Selene?”
I jump, nearly knocking over my untouched coffee. Charlotte is staring at me, book lowered, her eyes magnified behind those thick lenses.
“You haven’t taken a single sip of that coffee.” She pushes her glasses up her nose. “And you’ve been standing there for three minutes.”
“I haven’t?” I glance down at the full mug. “Oh.”
“What’s going on?” Elana abandons her plates, crossing the kitchen toward me. Laura turns from her cooking, wooden spoon in hand.
“Nothing! Nothing’s going on. I’m just—“ I pick up the coffee mug again, realize my hands are shaking slightly, and set it back down. “I’m fine.”
“You’re vibrating,” Zoe says, appearing in the doorway with Tumeric perched on her shoulder. The little orange furball chitters at me. “Like, literally. You’re like a phone set on vibrate.”
I open my mouth to deny it, but Elana is already grinning. She knows. I’m certain of it. “Oh my god. What happened?”
“Nothing happened. I just—” My face is definitely burning now. I can feel it. “There was apple bobbing. And fruit. And?—”
“Spit it out,” Zoe says, setting her bright orange alien fur-ball pet Tumeric down on the counter despite Laura’s squawk of protest about health codes. She hops up to sit beside him, legs swinging. “You look like you either won the lottery or committed a murder. Honestly, I could see it going either way with you.”
“I kissed Khatak!” The words burst out of me in a rush.
Silence.
Then chaos erupts.
“WHAT?” Elana practically shrieks.
