Page 24 of Bound By Stars
Weslie glares up at them, saying something I can’t hear, and then pulls herself back up onto the edge of the pool.
He squats, shoving her back down.
I slam through the door.
Chapter Ten
Jupiter
Thirty-four days to Mars
“Let’s make sure you’ve cleaned off all that toxic dust.” Reaching down, Hale dunks Weslie back underwater.
“Let her go!” My voice reverberates off the water and walls, filling the room. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
His audience shrieks with laughter, aside from Meridian, who flips her light brown hair, crosses her arms, and smirks, glaring down her nose as Weslie breaks the surface, gasping for air again. I can see all the reasons she’s my ex, but none to explain how we ever dated. Andi always said I was attracted to black holes out of curiosity, always expecting more than the inevitable darkness and desolation.
Hale raises his hands in mock surrender with wide eyes that don’t match his sneer. His gaze shifts back to Weslie, panting with her elbows wrapped over the edge of the pool, and he shoves her under again.
“You’re going to drown her!” I race toward their end of the pool. I’ve always known my cousin can be horrible, but I never expected him to take it this far.
The rest of them go quiet.
He holds my gaze, gripping her hair and holding her underwater. Weslie’s hands slap the surface, pawing at the side of the pool, but she can’t get away.
I can practically feel the burning of lungs desperate for oxygen. I know that visceral fear. I lived it. And I’m here now because, despite everything I represent, Weslie saved me. “I mean it, Hale. Let her go.”
He stands and brushes his hands together like he’s dusting them off. The crew behind him bursts into laughter again, like it’s the funniest bit in the universe. But the girl from the French habitat with the shaved head watches the water, chewing on her bottom lip and taking half a step away from the pack. Her shoulders relax when Weslie breaks the surface, gasping and coughing.
“What the hell was that all about?” I don’t stop until we’re nearly chest to chest. “Since when do you torture people for fun?”
“She hardly counts as people.”
Hot rage floods my veins. I pivot, barreling into him at full force. Dropping my shoulder and thrusting upward, I drive him off the edge and he lets out a grunt as the breath leaves his lungs. The sound of his back slapping the surface of the water reverberates off the walls.
I pull Weslie out.
She’s still panting, violently shivering.
Ripping a towel out of Meridian’s hands, I wrap it around Weslie’s shoulders and rub her upper arms. I push back the hair matted to her face, and she raises her eyes to mine. “Are you okay?”
She looks so lost with her usual guard down.
In the span of a millisecond, relief turns to rage. She brushes my hands away and shoves past me out the door to the hall.
I glare at Hale as he climbs the ladder. “Don’t you so much as fucking look at her again.”
There’s a spark of fear in his eyes before he narrows them. “I was kidding around. She’s fine.”
“You better pray that’s true,” I call back over my shoulder. She’s pissed off, but I still have to make sure Weslie’s okay.
“You’ve lost your Earther-loving mind!” Hale yells.
In the open doorway, I stare at him across the blue water. “Mess with her again and you’ll regret it.” My words drip with venom and the power that every single person in the room knows I hold over him. I hate playing this card, but he’s gone too far this time. I turn my back, marching away with more confidence than I feel as the door slides shut behind me, cutting off Hale’s string of choice words.
Weslie is gone, but there’s a trail of wet footprints on the carpeted floor to my left. I jog along it. Her feet dried enough to stop leaving tracks around the next turn, but she’s just ahead, the towel drooping at her back as she peeks around the next bend. Voices carry down the hall. There must be a crowd.
“There are stairs back this way if you don’t want to be seen running around in a bathing suit.”
