Page 43 of Bound By Stars
“I think she mentioned something about tonight, but honestly”—she lets out a quick, breathy laugh—“at a certain point, I have to tune her out. My brain can only hold so much new information at a time. What is it?”
“I think it’d be more fun if it was a surprise.”
She rolls her eyes. “I hate surprises.”
“That doesn’t shock me at all. I’ll pick you up after dinner.”
She twists her mouth, glaring at me dubiously, but by her eyes, I know she’s intrigued enough to come along.
“Bring a jacket!” I back out the door and run down the hall.
Chapter Eighteen
Weslie
Twenty-five days to Mars
There’s a knock at my bedroom door, and I leap to my feet. With my hand hovering over the door release, I pause and count out five seconds in my head. Enough time to seem like I wasn’t perched on the edge of my bed waiting. I’m not a fan of surprises, but Jupiter isn’t as terrible to spend time with as I expected. Plus, the everyday routine of ship life is getting old. Fast. On five, I press the button.
The door slides open to Jupiter bracing himself on the edge of the doorway, panting like he sprinted here from the farthest end of the ship. He unfastens the second button of his shirt, checking over his shoulder. The neck of his compression suit peeks out from underneath. Even with a sheen of sweat on his forehead and dressed up like an elitist penguin, he looks good.
I drop my gaze to his polished black shoes. “Is there a ball or something because if that’s the surprise, I think I’m coming down with something.”
“My readings indicate you are in perfect health, Weslie,” ILSA says from behind me.
Does she realize that she’s my bot? That I built her? She could have my back once in a while. At least she didn’t announce my increased heart rate when I opened the door.
He slips off the bow tie hanging around his collar, balls it up, and slides it into his pocket. “Nothing…like that…promise…couldn’t risk”—he takes a deep breath—“going back to my room to change. Do you have a coat?”
I grab my jacket off the bed.
He slides back his sleeve to check his comm. “We have to hurry.”
We take a stairwell at the back of the ship and pass through plain gray halls past engine rooms and cargo bays. He seems unsure of every other turn but makes up his mind quickly like he’s following loosely memorized directions.
Ahead, Asha, Tar, Curran, and Skye are gathered around an open hatch, every one of them zipped into insulated jackets.
“You made it!” Asha wraps her arms around me.
I pat her shoulder and eye the hatch.
Tar takes in Jupiter’s evening attire, wincing. “You’re going to freeze.”
“No time to change. It’ll be worth it.”
I step away from the opening in the floor. “Be honest, is this a trap? Are you all evacuating me into space?”
“There’s an idea.” The familiar voice sends an icy chill up my back before I even meet Meridian’s cold stare.
I knew there was a good reason I should have stayed in my unit.
She strolls toward us dressed in a puffy maroon jacket with Hale at her side.
Asha crosses her arms. “You weren’t invited.”
“We were last time. Figured it was open-ended.” Hale zips his jacket to his throat.
Meridian stops and points her thumbs back toward the way they came, her eyes burrowing into Asha. “We could always go back up and tell your dad that you’re all floating around the docking bay playing a game.”
