Varro looked away. “I did not mean to hurt her,” he said stiffly. “I was not ordered to apologize.” He paused. “I’m supposed to stay away from her.”

He was uncomfortable, but he seemed sincere. “Very well, here’s what you’re going to do. First, you’re going to tell her that you’re sorry, and you’re not going to weasel out of it. Tell her in Valovan if you have to, she’ll figure it out. Next, you’re going to give her an apology gift just like you would for another Valoff. Cookies are her favorite. Come on, I’ll show you the recipe. You’re lucky that we just restocked.”

I pulled up the snickerdoodle recipe on the galley terminal. “Do you know how to bake?”

Varro nodded, then added, “Are you sure food is an appropriate apology?”

“Do you have a better suggestion?”

“On Valovia, we usually either give something the recipient desires greatly or something valuable and difficult to part with.”

“Trust me, Kee loves cookies.” I pointed at the screen. “Bake the cookies, give them to her, sincerely apologize for hurting her, promise to do better, and then walk away. She may not forgive you immediately, and that’s her choice. Do not say something stupid like ‘I’m sorry you were insulted.’ Got it?”

He nodded again, looking a little mystified. Hopefully he’d figure it out as he went. And as long as he didn’t royally fuck it up, Kee would forgive him just for making the effort.

I left him to it and took the stairs down to the middle floor. The gym was blissfully empty, so I cranked up a playlist with a heavy beat and got to work. I’d designed my workout to go easy on my knees, with low impact cardio and a full body resistance routine. Even so, I usually felt at least some pain or tension.

Today, I had none.

I was on my last few reps on the rowing machine when Eli strolled in, looking bright and fresh in his loose shorts and tight tank. I could feel the sweat dripping down my face, and my shirt was plastered to my back. At least he would be just as grimy once his workout got started.

He turned down the music and said, “You’re up early.”

I grimaced. “Unfortunately.” I finished the set and paused to catch my breath.

“Want to train?” Eli asked with a head tilt toward the sparring mats.

“You just want an excuse to beat me up because I ruined your fun yesterday,” I said without heat.

Eli’s grin was sharp and quick. “Varro is fast as fuck,” he confided. “It was a good match.” The grin wiped away. “Too bad it was necessary.” Eli looked at me. “Did you know he’s making apology cookies?”