Page 41 of Trove’s Purpose

“Oh, yeah!” Garnet sat up, looking at her. “Come on, Cheese-”

“You guys really like the Cheese thing, huh?” She grumbled

“-how are things going with Trove?”

They were staring at her again. Expectant. Excited. Of course, they were. Clearly, they all believed in this mating thing. More than that, they liked Trove. He called them his sisters, and their kinship was built in the fires of a dangerous job.

“It’s… there,” She finally said, glad she had already had this breakdown with Hyde. She didn’t think they’d appreciate her side quite as much.

“What are you thinking of him?” Haven asked.

“He’s a lot of fun to be with,” Chee said, because that was true. She’d had a great time going with him to the shooting range and the spa and getting street food. And he was a fantastic kisser.

And then she wanted to be sick when she thought about why he would be.

“You don’t seem very excited,” Grace pointed out, her voice understanding.

Chee forced a smile. “Well, they say the bond or trigger or whatever isn’t instant for humans, right? So, maybe it just hasn’t hit me yet.”

“Yeah. Right,” Grace nodded before sharing a look with Haven.

They all went silent, and it was so awkward now. Heavy in a way it hadn’t been before. Chee could just rock her feet, cradling her cup. Wondering if she suddenly changed the subject if they’d let it happen or if it would be too clunky?

“He’s kind of a slut, huh?” Garnet asked right as Chee was taking an uneasy sip, nearly making her choke on it. Garnet gave her an understanding smile. “You think we don’t know what he does when he has station leave?”

“We know who he is,” Grace agreed. “Honestly, I’ve worried about him before. I’m glad that he’s with you now.”

“Is he?” Chee asked, probably a bit more sharply than intended. But she could only see that smile on his face as he told the prostitutes ‘later’.

“Of course,” Goldie assured her, smiling brightly. “He’s a domini. His, er, thing doesn’t work for anyone but you now. So, it doesn’t matter what he was like before, you’re all he needs now.”

Instead of making her feel better, Chee felt worse. Grimacing, she muttered, “You mean I’m the only one he can have.”

“No, that’s not…”

“It’s basically the same thing,” Chee set her drink down, wrapping her arms around her legs. “He’s being hijacked biologically. He doesn’t actually want to stop living that life. I don’t care if that’s what he wants to do. I just… I can’t live like that.”

She wasn’t looking at any of them now, but the heavy silence told her the expressions they must have on their faces. Stuck between loving Trove and wanting to defend him and not being able to think of anything to say.

“Oh, I know!” Goldie suddenly called out, clapping her hands together. “Why don’t we get to know Trove better?”

“I feel like enough ladies have gotten to know him,” Chee grumbled.

“Not like that,” Goldie chuckled. “No, Alred and I watch vids together. And they have true crime out here in space too. And Trove has an episode!”

“What?” Chee frowned.

“Er, Goldie,” Grace started cautiously. “I love the idea, but maybe that’s not the best… I mean, we all know the guys don’t have good pasts. And maybe a true crime about Trove isn’t exactly…”

“No,” Chee disagreed, unfolding her arms. “I want to see.”

Grace looked at her, frowning. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Chee nodded once, absolutely certain.

Because the crimes of his past were a big part of who Trove was. What shaped him into who he had become. And she did want to know more about him. As much as she believed it made her an absolute moron, she was curious about him. She only knew was the brief rundown that Hyde had included in his debrief so she knew what she was getting into. She wanted to know more. She wanted details.

“Let’s do it,” Goldie smiled before looking up at the ceiling. “Alred! Can you pull up that episode I saved?” She looked back at the rest of them. “I didn’t watch it yet. I was saving it. I wasn’t sure what for yet, but I think this is it.”