Exported [Book 3 in the Expiring Series]

37 Swaying

Colton~~

"You don't have to stay back there, you know." I shift in the lounge chair, sinking into the cushions. I've never been so comfortable keeping watch.

Grass crunches as Vienna comes closer, stopping beside the second lounge chair, her arms wrapped around herself.

"I thought you'd be asleep."

She shakes her head before dropping her gaze to the empty chair. I nod, and she eases down into it.

"I thought I would give Jonas and Iris some time to themselves."

"That's nice of you."

She props her shoulders on the armrests and looks at me. "Isn't that why you volunteered for first watch?"

I settle back farther into the seat. "I've been found out."

Her lips inch up.

"Stop that."

Her smile grows. "What?"

"Looking at me like I'm better than I am."

She tilts her chin up, resting the back of her head against the seat. "What do you think it's like to be on Amoria? To walk on a planet and know it's not Earth beneath your feet?"

The stars seem to wink as if they're taunting me to reach for them. "I suppose it's amazing for the first two days and then gets less and less remarkable as the days go by."

"Why haven't you been before?"

I shrug. "I suppose I'll be making trips there if I do end up having to marry an Amoris. I can't imagine marrying anyone back home."

"Colton." She turns toward me, both of her hands on one armrest. "You were sure Amoria would never let Jonas marry Iris. Did he say something to you?"

I look down. It's getting harder to look at her knowing that at any moment Jonas could give me the words that seal my fate. "No, but he did refer to her as his fiancée in front of Odette."

"You know I want Iris to be happy. I've always seen myself in her. She didn't belong in the Society either, and I wanted her to succeed." The chair creaks as she stands.

"Vienna, you belonged. Your family is in the Society's circle."

"You know what I mean." She pulls her phone from her pocket. "Don't worry. It's just for music. No one knows I have this." She scrolls through the device and holds her hand out. "Come on. Up."

I get out of the chair, wary.

She frowns at me. "If this is possibly the last night I can imagine you're mine . . ."

I place my hand over hers, and she threads her fingers through mine.

"Then we're going to do something I've always wanted to do." She taps her screen and drops her phone on the lounge chair. A punk rock song from the early 2000s begins to play.

"If we had been normal and gone to high school, we would have gone to this thing called a prom."

"I'm aware of what a prom is, Vienna. Why would you want to go to a dance where everyone has no idea how to dance to the music they play and instead sways awkwardly when we had balls? Masquerades?"

"Maybe I wanted to sway awkwardly with you." She clasps my other hand.

"We're supposed to be keeping watch."