36. Line
Vaughn looked up from the bed the moment the door snicked open. I was a little sad to see he’d taken down our fort, but we didn’t need Cassidy asking any questions about why a sheet was covering the bed nook.
Cassidy’s presence loomed behind me, and Vaughn’s gaze immediately darkened when it darted from me to my escort.
“We get into one fucking fight and of course you go running to him,” Vaughn cursed, standing up to use the intimidating factor of his large body against us. “You know precisely how to piss me off.”
“I’m not talking to you,” I snapped, pulling open the cabinet that held my spare clothes and the backpack I’d arrived with.
“You promised me there was nothing going on between the two of you,” Vaughn growled. “I’m a fool for believing you and giving you a second chance.”
“Ignore him.” Cassidy stepped closer, placing a hand at the small of my back while I stuffed my backpack.
“What are you doing?” I could hear Vaughn pacing toward us.
“You said you wanted space, so I’m giving you space.” I waved a tank top at him. “If I didn’t think it would endanger the crew to fly without an engineer, I’d get off at Ganymede and find another way back to Mars.” I stormed past Vaughn into the bathroom to start gathering my toiletries.
“Space?” Vaughn followed me. “You’re on a ship in the middle of fucking nowhere. Where do you think you’re gonna go?”
“It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s away from you!” I spat, pushing past him to return to the bedroom, but he snagged my arm along the way.
“You’re not leaving,” he snarled.
“Back off, Vaughn.” Cassidy was suddenly between us, shoving Vaughn away.
“It’s ‘Captain’ to you,” Vaughn sneered. “Stay the fuck out of this. Lark is my exception, not yours.”
“She’s not your anything, anymore.” Cassidy threw Vaughn a smug smile before picking up my packed bag, grabbing my hand, and hauling me out of the room.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Cassidy asked while unlocking an unused cabinet for me to store my things in.
Luckily, he was on opposite shifts from me, so I wouldn’t have to worry about the awkwardness of sharing the bed with him at the same time.
I sighed, taking a seat on the bed. “This whole thing has been a giant mistake.”
He turned to regard me, leaning against the cabinet door. “But it led you back to me, so it can’t be all bad.”
“I know.” I wiped away an errant tear. “Things were just so different before. Am I pathetic for thinking this was going to work?”
“No, you’re the same hopeless romantic I grew up with.” He smiled at me. “He’s careless, letting you get away.”
I huffed a laugh.
“I thought things got better after Vesta,” he offered.
“They did,” I told him. “But then the same things kept coming up over and over again. He harps on me about everything. I’m not tidy enough, I’m not happy enough, I’m not appreciative enough—nothing is good enough.” I vented the story Vaughn and I had rehearsed.
“He’s always asking me ‘What happened to the girl I met in training?’ like I’m not the same person I was then. And the fact that the guy I met was sweet and relaxed and warm doesn’t seem to matter.”
Cassidy’s eyebrows raised. “I’ve never seen Vaughn be any of those things.”
I sighed again, shaking my head in dismay.
“Do you really think things are over between you two?” he hedged, his voice too hopeful for his own good. “You’ve been pretty adamant about your feelings for him—defending him when he didn’t deserve it, like when he forced you to do that live repair on the engine.”
I’d expected Cassidy to have some doubt about my sudden change of mind, so I was prepared for how to respond.
“I think I defended him because I wanted to believe he was the man I thought he was,” I lied. “You know how protective I am.” I smiled up at Cassidy, subtly reminding him that I would be protective of him too, or at least I wanted him to think that I would be.
“You always look for the best in people.” He reached down and snagged my hand in his.
“Maybe I was too desperate to find my person, trying to fill the void that you left. The thought of getting to travel around the system on my own terms, instead of being dragged along with our parents, like we always talked about, sounded so exciting. But now it’s turned into a nightmare,” I relayed as I crossed the room to start unpacking my things.
Cassidy stepped away from the cabinet, but continued to watch me. “We could still do that…you and me…”
I looked up at him through my lashes. “I think I’d like that.”
His gaze darted down to my mouth, then back up to my eyes.
I’d told Vaughn I might need to get a little physical with Cassidy to accomplish our goal, but I would only do that if it was a last resort, and it was way too early for any of that.
I took a deep breath and placed my palm flat on his chest. “This is too fresh, but if you’d give me time…”
Cassidy nodded, seemingly in a daze.
“I’ll—umm—let you unpack.” He stepped back from me. “I need to get back to work anyway. But make yourself at home, okay?”
“Thank you, Cassidy.” I smiled, letting my hand drop, severing our connection.
Watching him leave, I repeated the countdown in my head: six days.