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After I help Jovie back into her suit and zip mine up, I swim both of us back to the party. I’ll have to take some time in the future to teach her to swim.

That should be fun. Not sure how much swimming we’ll get done.

Back on the beach, I set her down and flash-dry myself, which always seems to make her laugh.

Jovie takes a towel from a nearby cart and wraps it around herself.

In a neighboring field, cameradrones hum, lifting a white fabric rectangle into the air. Another drone hovers overhead, behind the party, projecting a moving picture onto the screen. Speakers all around the beach play intro music.

Sitting down on our blanket, I settle Jovie into my lap.

She rests her head on my shoulder and nestles against me like we’ve been together forever. “Thank you for picking me. This has been the most exciting week of my life.”

I don’t pay attention to the movie. I can’t, not with Jovie falling asleep against me.

The other racers seem to find similar peace.

Their females describe the Terran movie and what the different things are.

A few couples make out. Some tents fill with sounds of pleasure.

But I have everything I want in my arms.

When the movie ends, they play another and another. At some point, Abr sends staff around with blankets, covering us if we request it. I take one and cover Jovie, then lay back and fight the pull of sleep.

I’ve got you, sir. Threat Level Alpha. No immediate concerns.

Thank you, Allele.

I’m not sure when sleep takes me, only that I hate that it does. I have never felt so happy. I don’t want the night to end. I want to remember every second and every breath of my beautiful mate.

But in the morning, we’re awoken to the sounds of staff setting up a breakfast buffet where we had the cake fight the night before.

“Must’ve spent all night cleaning,” I remark to one of them.

“I’m happy to clean up cake,” the woman says. “I’ve cleaned worse.”

Jovie rubs her eyes beside me and looks hungrily down the tables. “You and me both. Toilets in old warehouses are the worst.”

The woman laughs. “So true. Hope I find a guy like you next heat.”

“He is great,” Jovie pats my chest.

“You two might not have heard, but you stole the show with the cake fight. I hope you’re getting bonded today. I think everyone is rooting for you two.” She smiles and walks off.

As we fill up plates and enjoy breakfast on the beach, attendants remind us to vote for those we want to be matched with.

I vote for Jovie. She pops a strawberry in her mouth, then shows me her wristband with my name as she taps submit.

I draw her close and kiss her temple. “Guess I have to let you go so you can get ready.”

She smiles up at me. “It’s only for a little while.”

“Far too long for me.”

When she’s finished her food, she kisses me. “Remember, I’m just a tap away.”

As soon as she gets up and starts back toward the Abr complex, I call her.

Jovie laughs when she answers, and I think that is my new favorite music. “That didn’t take long.”

“What are you going to wear?” I ask her.

“Figured I’d just wing it.”

“No hints?”

“Depends on what they have. You going to wear a Royal outfit? I assume you have one.”

“Hell no. I want to start something new with you.”

“So we get to surprise each other?” she asks.

I get up as she opens the door and disappears inside the complex. “Yeah. Just watch your back, please.”

“If I see a portal, I will run the other way.”

“Good.”

Jovie makes a kissy sound and disconnects.

“Stars, Aura, you have fallen so far down the cutesy hole it’s making me sick.” Blaize is suddenly beside me in a pale gray armor I don’t quite recognize, with a badge on his chest that glints in the sunlight.

“Shut up. You cry over Terran movies all the time.”

Blaize cracks a grin. “I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine.”

“That will last five minutes.”

He waits for me to join him in walking back to the complex.

“So what’s with the outfit?” I finally ask.

“Eluni lightened the Rogue uniforms we had onboard and added the green stripe over the shoulder. Jorusk is quite the metal worker. Bends metal with his hands. He made the badge. Fieri came up with the belt design. And Talros did this.” He taps his badge, making it crackle and light up.

“It’s connected to my Storm. “It shows my true nature, my honor .”

They did all this while we played out here? “Any chance she can make it in a size larger?”

Blaize chuckles. “I think your fat ass will fit in what they’re working on. But we must get you back to be fitted.”

We return to Allele and find the ship in party mode with flashing lights and dance music with a country twang playing inside. “What in stars?”

Eluni walks out into the hallway, stops, and looks up. “It’s his fault!”

Talros rubs his arm where he stands in the medical bay, his brace lying on a bed. “I thought we could use a mood change. Too much?”

“I like it,” Allele admits. “It’s fun.”

I squint at Fieri in the pilot’s seat. He looks pissed. “As long as it gives that crotchety bastard an itch.”