An Ocean of Stars by Becca Mionis

Author:Becca Mionis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YAF056030, YAF056000
Publisher: Simplify Media
Published: 2023-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

29

You Can't Spell "Distraction" Without "Action"

To my utter surprise, Captain stayed. I’d never seen him so reluctant to go back to the bridge, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t encourage him to put it off for as long as possible. Though he was noticeably more restrained after realizing just how human he actually was, things didn’t feel uncomfortable. If anything, they felt uncertain, charged with possibility.

It was as if for just a moment, I could pretend like we were a normal boy and girl living a normal life, realizing we liked each other under normal circumstances.

I fell asleep in his arms that night and expected to wake up snuggling a pillow again. Instead, I woke to the sound of something beeping and realized it was Captain’s wristband. He stirred, lifted his arm from where he’d placed it across my waist, and brought his wrist to his face.

Then he rattled off a string of curse words I didn’t know he knew, startling the living hell out of me as he bolted upright and scrambled off of the couch.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I overslept,” he said. “I’m late for bridge duty! Never have I—” He paused, looking at me as if he’d just realized I was there. “Oh my God.”

“What? What?” I suddenly felt self-conscious, as if we’d done something bad. We hadn’t.

A lazy smile crept over his face. “I fell asleep.”

I gasped, ecstatic. “You did? When?”

“Shortly after you did, I think.”

“And you slept all night?”

“I woke up for an hour or so with the intention of leaving the room, but I couldn’t—In any case, I must’ve fallen asleep again before I could decide.”

“That’s wonderful!” I gave him a wicked smirk. “I think we found the cure.”

He scoffed, instantly embarrassed. “I have to—I must—” He cleared his throat. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“I’ll stop by the bridge.”

“Please don’t.” He paused at the bridge-side door. “Not—Not that I don’t want you there. It’s that… I fear I’ll be too distracted. God knows I’m distracted enough.” He left the room before I could protest, but the truth was, I understood where he was coming from.

With a sigh, I collapsed back onto the couch. Wow. Was this going to make everything better, or worse? I wasn’t sure of anything, but what I did know was that I felt lighter than air. Sure, this was probably the most typical, most predictable, most unreliable feeling a girl could have, but I didn’t care.

Now, the real challenge: getting it the hell together.

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