Love on Strike by Cassandra Logan

Author:Cassandra Logan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cassandra Logan
Published: 2023-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Abel felt like he was experiencing a complete turnaround with Lily’s personality, but he realized that this was how she would have acted if he’d kept his mouth shut and just listened to her when she’d first given him clothing advice. She was a steady stream of upbeat chatter intermixed with the occasional sarcastic remark that had even him trying not to smile.

“I knew I could get you to smile.”

“I don’t smile.”

“Then what do you call what your mouth did just then?”

“I was chewing my food.”

“I know what you were doing, Abel. You were smiling. You thought my comment on the art on the walls was funny. Admit it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Somehow, against all reason, Abel was enjoying himself, and to make sure he didn’t ruin the moment he shoved a large piece of meat into his mouth so that it would be a while before he could talk again. Lily laughed at him, and he could feel his lips trying to tug upward again.

When had he, the lab experiment that only wanted to be left alone, turned into the man who just wanted to keep hearing Lily talk?

Abel decided not to think about it. He was going to embrace his new reality and figure it out later. An alert came across his HUD from the Galactic Princess, letting him know that they would be docking at Nian and if anyone wanted to disembark, they needed to sign up. The same alert came across Lily’s comm, and her chatter immediately stopped.

“Did you want to go?”

“To Nian? I don’t know.”

“Isn’t it where you’re from?”

Lily wrinkled her nose, but she didn’t glare at him, so he waited.

“My parents grew up on Nian, but I’ve never been before.”

He waited, too afraid that he’d say something wrong and wondering if by not talking he was making the wrong choice. Frowning, Abel unconsciously reached up and started petting the pomp that was still on his shoulder.

“I think yes, I do want to go. Ideally, my first visit to Nian would be longer than a few hours, but maybe a quick glance is a better way to start things off.”

Abel nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Does it?” Lily laughed. Her eyes were a bit too wide, and her hands were hidden in her lap.

“Are you all right?”

The words felt like they’d been forcibly pulled out of his mouth with some sharp medical implement. They were foreign and wrong on his lips, but also, somehow, the right thing to say.

Lily rewarded him with a grateful look, and Abel felt his chest swell slightly.

“Not really. I don’t want to go alone, but Raven is clearly unavailable, and I doubt Aggie will want to go. She’s been to Nian several times already.”

“It’s not going to hurt if you ask her.”

Lily’s eyes narrowed, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring off into the distance. Finally her head nodded firmly, and she turned her gaze to him, a confident smile on her lips as she said, “You’re right.

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