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‘I wish I could. It would make this all a hell of a lot easier.’

A chuckle escaped unbidden. ‘Right?’

Silence ensued, but it was a comforting quiet as we held onto one another like our lives depended on it. With each moment that passed I felt the fissure between us stitching together, a scar forming as we healed the rift between us. Our relationship would never be the same as it was before, we were too different from those people to continue where we’d left off, but there was hope and trust and something pure between us that made me believe we were going to be okay.

I felt silly now, thinking back on how I’d been avoiding her. Dorian was right. Artemis was still Arty, just a lot more feminine now than before. With multiple lovers as well, apparently.

‘So… you and Cadmus. Is that like, a thing now?’ I asked, ending our moment.

She laughed as she untangled her arms from around me, a faint blush painting her cheeks. ‘Yeah, that’s definitely a thing now.’

I coughed to try and cover up my laughter, but it was a useless endeavour.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Liar. Tell me.’

‘It’s just…Cadmus?In arelationship?I can’t see it.’

She chuckled. ‘Yeah, it was a bit of a shock to me, too, but he’s actually really sweet when he wants to be. He gets all shy sometimes, too. It’s adorable.’

I shook my head in disbelief. ‘How did you go to a blushing virgin to fucking two men at the same time?’

She shrugged but her lips pulled back in a lopsided smirk. ‘I’m not complaining.’

I gave her a playful shove that almost knocked her onto the floor, just like how I’d pushed over Dorian earlier this morning and she gave me a wide-eyed look.

‘You’re stronger.’

I sighed, my earlier worries coming back to me in a flood of uncertainty. ‘Yeah. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to pull you.’

‘Oh?’

‘It’s just… will I ever be able to get back to where I was at before? I’ve lost so much muscle mass…’

She snorted a laugh and tried to cover it up by throwing her hand over her mouth. ‘You worried about your figure, Reece?’

‘Shut up,’ I gave a weak chuckle. ‘I’m serious. I’ve never been a skinny guy and I worked hard for those muscles. I can’t find any weights that will help. They’re all too light now.’

She held out her arm and flexed, showing me the bulging bicep outlined beneath her jumpsuit. ‘Does it look like I’m struggling with that?’

Hope lit up within me as I eyed the physical representation of her strength. ‘No.’

‘You don’t have to worry about that, Reece. Weights aren’t completely pointless. The nanites give you a boost, the grafts in your bones will make them withstand stronger pressure, but your muscles still work like regular muscles. They need a proper workout to keep them in shape.’

I let out an exaggerated sigh and fell back on the bed, spreading my arms wide as I let the relief run through me. ‘Thank fuck for that.’

‘You’ll need to keep on top of it, though. Missing a workout means losing any progress even quicker than usual.’

‘I don’t care. As long as I’m not doomed to be a twig for the rest of my life, I’m happy.’

‘We can work out together if you want. Maybe we should make it a part of our training sessions.’

‘Sure. We can call it Cyborg Zumba.’

She let out a bark of laughter and smacked my stomach. ‘Never.’