Page 36 of Love Below Zero

36

DAYLIGHT

JAMES - ONE YEAR LATER

Sticky note stuck to the fridge:

Remember to buy almond milk. Love you!

For some reason, my house is always full of people. I don’t mind it that much when it’s just Rebecca and Jules, but over the last few days, more and more people arrived for Rebecca’s book launch. Mr Spock and I are currently hiding out in the study, pretending we have very important work to do. Really we’re just watching those dancing fruit videos. Rebecca puts them on to keep Mr Spock entertained, but I find them quite soothing.

Now the black void is curled in my lap, eyes fixed on the screen.

I worried the cat wouldn’t like me. From what Rebecca had said, he could be quite mercurial. But when Mac brought him over the day after I picked up Rebecca from the airport, he marched straight to me, sniffed me once, and crawled into my lap for a cuddle.

Rebecca was furious with me for over a week, claiming I stole her cat. Mr Spock just recognised a kindred spirit.

A loud crash comes from somewhere in the house, and before I can get up to go and check, Jules storms into the study, her face pinched. She stops short when she spots us.

“Huh, so that’s where you’ve been hiding.”

I lower the volume on the dancing fruit.

“You alright?”

She crosses and uncrosses her arms, then paces the length of the room.

“Fine. So totally fine.”

Even I can see she’s not fine. And I can make a very informed guess as to why she’s not alright.

“Eli’s here?”

Jules stops pacing, slumping down into one of the brown leather seats in front of my desk. Our house in Oxford is small, but that didn’t stop Rebecca from inviting all of our friends over for pre-drinks before her book launch. She moved in a couple of weeks ago. I thought it would be an adjustment, living with another person. Especially when that person tends to leave their socks all over the floor and becomes a hobbit for days on end when writing. But it wasn’t. Having Rebecca here feels natural. Like she’s always been here. We fell into step rather quickly. She writes, and I lecture at the university and work on research papers. On sunny afternoons we go to the park across the road with Mr Spock and read. Life after Mars is so simple, yet even in my wildest fantasies I couldn’t have guessed how we would end up.

Now we’re playing host to our friends, which is another strange concept for me. For so long my only friend was Jules, and she’s still my best friend, but now there are more people in our little circle. They are annoying, but I don’t mind as much.

“He just arrived,” Jules says, blowing out a breath. “He looks just as fucking good as always.”

“Should I be hiding the knives?”

She laughs. “No, I can behave myself. I just wasn’t ready for it. I’ve been mentally psyching myself up for weeks, and the moment he steps through the door, I lose all my nerve. I’m pathetic.”

“You’re not pathetic. It’s difficult. I would have complicated feelings if my ex showed up.” Mr Spock purrs in my lap, and I scratch the top of his head.

“That’s different,” she says softly. “You don’t feel anything for Sara anymore.”

I remove the cat from my lap, placing him in the seat I just vacated. I round the table, sitting down in the chair next to her.

“I didn’t realise Jules, I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have invited him.”

She shakes her head, and I reach out to hold her hand. I can only imagine the heartache she must feel.

“No, no. I can’t avoid him forever. I’ll just have to endure.” She sniffs, squeezing my hand before letting go.

I’m about to say something comforting when Rebecca breezes through the doors. Her hair has grown out again, hanging in long straight tendrils down her back. She’s wearing a black dress that leaves very little to the imagination, showing off her generous curves. My mouth is suddenly very dry.

“Thought you might need this.” She holds out a glass of red wine to Jules, who takes it from her and promptly drinks the whole thing. I raise my brows at her.

“Thanks. I’m going to get a refill. I’ll be fine.” She waves me off before striding purposefully out of the study. Rebecca’s gaze follows her, then settles back on me.

“That’s going to be interesting.”

“Indeed.” I stand, closing the space between us. “You look incredible.”

She looks down at herself, assessing her outfit, before looking back up at me. Her dark eyes sparkle.

“You don’t look too bad yourself, Professor.”

My blood runs hot every time she calls me that. I don’t want to unpack why it turns me on. We’ve been taking things slow, and Rebecca lets me set the pace. Right now though, I’m seconds away from kicking everyone out so I can peel that dress off her.

She steps into me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Keep looking at me like that and we’re going to be in trouble.”

“I’m already in trouble, love.” I lean in to capture her mouth in a searing kiss, my hands sliding down her body, taking in every inch of her. A small moan escapes from her lips as my hands dig into her ass, pushing her flush against me. The sound sends a jolt through me.

“We have guests ...” she sighs, but her hands tangle in my hair, tugging on it in that way I like. “And we need to make sure Jules and Eli don’t kill each other.”

As if to emphasise her point, another loud crash comes from the kitchen.

Reluctantly, I let her go. We’ll celebrate her most recent release with our friends, and later tonight we will celebrate alone .

“Lead the way, love.”

“Writing a book isn’t easy. You’d think it gets easier every time you do it, but actually it just gets harder. And so far, this has been the hardest book of my life.” Rebecca stands in the living room, a glass of champagne in her hand. Our friends fill every available seat, their attention on her. Joanna and Jules are squished together on one of the love seats. Eli is on his third beer. Frances and her husband, Henry, are perched on the couch. MacKenzie is on the floor, her back pressed to Joanna’s legs.

The four of them—Joanna, MacKenzie, Jules, and Rebecca—have become fast friends over the last year. Jules is still in London, but she often collaborates with me at the university. MacKenzie followed Rebecca to Oxford, and Joanna is still at NASA in Houston. There is a lot of FaceTiming involved, but they seem to make it work.

“And I couldn’t have done it without any of you.” Rebecca’s gaze lands on me. “Thank you for your unwavering support and enthusiasm. For forcing me to write even when I really didn’t want to.”

Joanna raises her glass. “You’re welcome!”

Rebecca scoffs, but her smile only widens.

“That’s why this book is dedicated to you all. I truly hope I did it justice.”

Rebecca wouldn’t let any of us have advanced reader copies. She wanted to put the final book in our hands. I can tell she’s nervous about it, but I have no doubts. I’ve seen people crying online about how heartbreaking this book is, and truthfully, I can’t wait. She taught me to look at sci- fi through a new perspective, one that I am enjoying immensely.

“So we can finally read it now?” Eli asks. “I’m dying to find out if there’s a handsome Italian man in this one.”

“It takes place in another galaxy. Italy doesn’t exist,” Jules points out.

“Becky will invent a new Italy for me, right?” He’s pointedly not looking at Julia, his eyes on Rebecca instead.

“You’re seriously overestimating your value here, Gallo.” She smirks, sitting back down next to me. I immediately wrap an arm around her waist, tugging her close.

“Are we getting another video soon, James?” Frances asks, sipping her champagne.

My YouTube channel is now a more inclusive space. I made it my mission to champion underrepresented books and authors. I’m excited about posting videos again, and Rebecca and I have even done a few videos together on the channel.

The news of our romance on the Mars mission received mixed reactions. Mostly positive, but there are a few negative comments here and there. You can never please everyone on the internet. We talked about it, and the study, openly. We have nothing to hide anymore.

“Maybe—if the book is good.” I shrug.

Rebecca pinches my side and I yelp, glaring at her. She smiles back sweetly.

MacKenzie hands us each a copy of Rebecca’s new book, and I immediately flip to the first page.

For the Operation Below Zero crew. I would go to Mars with you any day.

For Mac, who never stopped believing in me .

For James, who showed me that I was enough.

I look back up at her. Her bottom lip is caught between her teeth, her expression worried. The rest of the room is preoccupied with their copies of the book, so I reach out and tug her lip free before kissing her softly.

“What do you think?” she asks.

“I think you’re incredible. And that you are enough. You have always been enough.”

Her eyes are watery, but her lips curve up in a lopsided smile.

“Hey, lovebirds,” Joanna calls. “Stop making out and let me take a picture of you.”

Rebecca flips the bird at her, but we turn back to the conversation, holding the book between us as Joanna snaps a picture. When she sends it to me later that night, it immediately becomes my new favourite picture of Rebecca. I’ll never get tired of simply looking at her. The way she moves through the world continues to amaze me.

And right now she’s in her element. The fourth Traverse Galaxy book released at midnight, and we all made our way to Blackwell’s for the launch. Rebecca is magnetic. I watch as she answers the interview questions with ease, making jokes with the audience and telling stories about Operation Below Zero. She takes her time to talk to every single person who has their book signed, and she poses for dozens of photos. She’s kind and gracious, and I’m in awe of her.

Soon the line dwindles, the bookstore emptying out. I grab the books I brought with me, standing at the back of the queue. When I reach Rebecca, she looks up at me, a tired smile on her face.

“What are you doing? ”

“I’d like to have my books signed, please.” I place the stack of special editions I got at last year’s convention in front of her. The fourth book in my matching set arrived a few weeks ago, thanks to MacKenzie pulling a few strings for me.

She raises a brow at me. “I thought these were already signed?” She reaches for the first one, flipping it open.

“No, you were sick that day and couldn’t sign them. I never got the signed bookplate, so it’s about time I get what I actually paid for.”

“I could have signed them for you at home ...” she trails off as she stares at the blue sticky note I stuck to the title page.

You set my phasers to stunning.

She laughs, signing the page before doodling hearts all over it. “ Star Trek pickup lines? That’s the cheesiest thing you’ve ever done.”

“I’m just getting started, love.” I flip open the second book to the title page, handing it to her. A blue sticky note greets her.

Are you Scotty? Because you can beam me up any time.

She snorts a laugh, signing the second book. “It’s only going to go downhill from here, right?”

“Afraid so.” I hand her the third book and she opens it, going straight for the sticky note.

Thank god I’m not a red shirt, because you’re drop dead gorgeous!

PS: Want to breach warp cores later?

I admit the last one might be a little crass, but the laugh I get from her is more than worth it.

“You’re horrible. These pickup lines are horrible. Remind me why we’re together again?” She throws the cap of her pen at me and I sidestep it, leaning over the table to kiss her. I’m never going to get tired of doing that.

“Because you love me and my bad pickup lines?”

“That entirely depends on this last one,” she murmurs against my lips before reaching for the fourth book. My heart rate picks up and I have to loosen my tie a bit. She can say no, which won’t be the worst thing ever. But I think we’re ready for the next step. I want to take the next step with her.

She opens the book. This sticky note is orange, not blue, with a small photo attached.

Rebecca, I’m so incredibly proud of you. You are such a wonder, and it is such a privilege to call you mine. I love you, more than the stars in the observable universe.

Will you adopt a cat with me? I think Mr Spock needs a Captain Kirk.

The photo is of an orange tabby cat at our local pet shelter. I went in there last week to buy treats for Mr Spock, and the little guy meowed at me constantly until I finally picked him up. Like with Rebecca, it took me two seconds to fall in love.

I never considered myself an animal person, but Mr Spock changed my mind. It’s one of those things I never even thought about doing, adopting a pet with someone. It was for other people, normal people.

But Rebecca changed that all for me.

“Yes,” she breathes, her eyes still on the sticky note and the photo. “When can we pick him up?”

My heart gives several loud thumps. She said yes.

“First thing tomorrow.” My throat feels tight and my voice comes out a little hoarse. She signs the book before snapping the cover shut and getting to her feet. She reaches for me, wrapping a hand around my tie before pulling me toward her across the table.

Her lips find mine in a kiss that probably isn’t appropriate for a bookstore. I don’t care one bit.

“I love you, James Reid.”

I tangle a hand in her hair, pulling her close.

“I love you too, Rebecca Baxter. Now let’s go home.”