“So did I mishear over the communicator, or did you send your girlfriend off on a super-sexy secret mission with her ex-boyfriend?”

“We’re fighting a war here, Nine, it’s not a joke,” John replies sternly. After a moment’s awkward pause, a begrudging smile breaks on his face. “Also, shut up. It’s not super sexy. What does that even mean?”

“Wow, you really need my guidance,” Nine says. He throws his arm around John’s shoulders and leads him towards the house. “Come on. I’ll explain what sexy is.”

“I know what it—ugh, why am I even discussing this with you?” John shoves Nine in frustration, but Nine just holds on tighter. “Get off me, idiot.”

“Come on, Johnny, you need my affection now more than ever.”

I roll my eyes as the guys walk towards the house, having their little bro moment. That leaves me alone with Sam, standing a few feet away, looking at me intently. I can see him trying to figure out what to say, or more likely working up the nerve to say it. The guy’s probably been chewing on this moment for hours, working on his amazing speech to the girl he wasn’t sure he’d ever see again.

“Hey,” is what he settles on at last.

“Hey back,” I reply, and before he can get another word out, I wrap my arms around him and kiss him hard enough that I probably knock the wind out of him. Sam seems stunned at first but kisses back after a moment, trying to match my intensity. I grab him by the front of the shirt and pull him so that we’re pressed up against the side of the Skimmer—not exactly the most romantic place in the world, but I’ll take it. I grab Sam’s hands and put them on my hips, then clutch the sides of his face and run my fingers up through his hair, all this desperate energy pouring out of me and into this kiss.

After a couple of minutes, Sam breaks away from me, breathless. “Six, whoa, what is going on?”

The look on Sam’s face isn’t what I was expecting. Yes, there’s flushed bewilderment, but mixed in with that surprise is an undercurrent of concern. It makes me look away.

“I just really wanted to do that,” I reply, telling him the truth. “I didn’t know if I’d get another chance.”

I press my face against the side of Sam’s neck and feel his heartbeat against my cheek. I’ve spent the last few days putting on a strong front, trying to keep it together with Marina and Nine both on the verge of falling apart. Finally, at least while we’re out here in the dark, I can let myself go a little bit. Sam has me around the waist, so I sink against him, let him hold me up and take a shuddering breath against his neck.

“It can just end so quickly . . . ,” I whisper, leaning back to get a look at him. “I didn’t want to not have done that, you know? I don’t care if it complicates things.”