Page 58 of Galaxy Between Us

“Brock?!” I growl his name.

“No, Knox! I meant, like, back in my boarding school days. He was sweet and always made me laugh when I left campus to get a sandwich from his family’s shop. We weren’t dating, but we were both young and eager to explore.” Ari fidgets with periodic table magnets on the wall, absentmindedly sticking them into place by memory.

“What’s with you and all these Betas?” I grumble.

Arius sighs.

“I guess I fell into the same old societal bullshit about purity and waiting to do it with the right Alpha.”

His shoulders slump as if he’s embarrassed of that, but the realization hits me like a jacuzzi jet. And it feels damn good. The words are merely a whisper on my lips.

“I’m the only Alpha you’ve been with…”

Ari lets the silence answer for him and my ego skyrockets. I like that. I like that a lot. Nobody has ever gotten their knot inside my Omega except for me.

“Proud of that?” he lifts an amused eyebrow, feeling my immense pride through our bond as I bask in it.

“Mine,” I mutter to myself, and Ari giggles.

Sneaking up on us, my mom knocks on the open door, shielding her eyes with her other hand.

“Do you two want leftovers to bring home?” she asks carefully.

“Mom, we’re not doing anything. You can open your eyes,” I sigh, sounding like my teenage self.

“Yeah, we’re decent. I’d love some of the mashed potatoes if there are any left,” Ari adds and my mom drops her hand, dramatically relieved to see us clothed and on opposite sides of the room.

She disappears back into the kitchen. While Ari finishes the periodic table, I relax on my old bed, dozing off a little. Dr. Raul warned us to take advantage of sleep while we still have it. Too comfortable, I let my lids close and my mind drift.

I ease into a weightless dreamland where everything is familiar, yet new, flashing quickly from scene to scene. I see Arius painting a wall. I see our daughter with a frog-shaped pacifier. And I see something about a meeting table.

Like some important thing had just been finalized, though I’m not sure what. I try to focus on the odd air about this meeting and figure out who it was with, but the strain causes me to wake up.

I blink and lift my head, worried that it’ll be morning.

But Ari is just finishing the final elements.

“Ta-da!” he steps aside, jazzing his fingers at the board. “Care to check my work?”

I snort, rising from the bed.

“No need. You’ve had it memorized since you were nine.”

“I could’ve gotten rusty since then.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Chapter XXV

The hallways of Comet XI seem longer the more swollen I get. I feel greasy and winded by the time I reach the West wing where I’ll be greeting the first batch of Omega operators and a few more cleaners.

Ignoring my incessant craving for pineapple juice, I pause near a vending machine, contemplating grabbing a snack now before I’m stuck in work-mode. Preppy laughter fills my ears and my eyes drift to a window facing the gardens outside.

It looks like Chet and Jaimie are out there having a romantic picnic. I watch the Alpha sensually pop cubed cheese into the Omega’s awaiting mouth before they lean into a slow kiss. The moment they share is so intimate that I almost feel perverse for watching. But I can’t look away. My chest aches, not with heartburn, but for some alone time with my mate like that.

Knox and I haven’t seen much of each other all week. With the new changes at Comet XI, I’ve mostly been on the bottom floors while he’s stuck in meetings at the top. Even after work there’s hardly any time for cute dates. I’ve been working on the nursery and Knox has been baby-proofing the rest of the house, overly cautious of everything that is a potential hazard.

Don’t even get me started on the shopping. We’ve got three different strollers now. A durable one for extracurriculars, one for every day, and a stylish one for nice events.