8 hours ago
She was ballsy, standing eye to eye and well within reach while declaring the inches between them a no contact zone. He kind of liked that about her.
“You can touch me,” he said dryly, that trademark sarcasm intact, “it’s not like I’ve got worms.” He snagged his shirt for a quick adjustment, putting himself back together the way a man does when he’s trying to look unruffled but failing beautifully.
His inner monologue was a riot of half‑formed strategies, but the surface of him, that charming veneer remained intact, like a well‑worn mask he’d polished just for the occasion.
“But we’ll raincheck it,” he said, and a smirk outright promised delayed gratification, withheld just long enough to feel like a dare rather than a denial.
Even as the words left his mouth, he was already calculating the next move, plotting the unseen angles of their uneasy alliance. His mind flicked to his real edge‑in‑the‑hole: those little alien gifts he wasn’t about to reveal to anyone, especially not someone as slippery and unpredictable as Bode. Let her think she had leverage. Let her play with fire. He’d already lit his own little secret aces up his sleeves. And he liked playing with fire himself.
He tilted his head, that grin folding into something sharper, more amused than annoyed.
“So, other than ‘Bode,’” he asked, voice light but curious, “what do I call you? Maybe next time I drop by Kallisti, I’ll ask for you by name.”
“You can touch me,” he said dryly, that trademark sarcasm intact, “it’s not like I’ve got worms.” He snagged his shirt for a quick adjustment, putting himself back together the way a man does when he’s trying to look unruffled but failing beautifully.
His inner monologue was a riot of half‑formed strategies, but the surface of him, that charming veneer remained intact, like a well‑worn mask he’d polished just for the occasion.
“But we’ll raincheck it,” he said, and a smirk outright promised delayed gratification, withheld just long enough to feel like a dare rather than a denial.
Even as the words left his mouth, he was already calculating the next move, plotting the unseen angles of their uneasy alliance. His mind flicked to his real edge‑in‑the‑hole: those little alien gifts he wasn’t about to reveal to anyone, especially not someone as slippery and unpredictable as Bode. Let her think she had leverage. Let her play with fire. He’d already lit his own little secret aces up his sleeves. And he liked playing with fire himself.
He tilted his head, that grin folding into something sharper, more amused than annoyed.
“So, other than ‘Bode,’” he asked, voice light but curious, “what do I call you? Maybe next time I drop by Kallisti, I’ll ask for you by name.”