I was surprised how calm Frank was in this situation. He said how beautiful Tina was and how jealous he was of me. He said he’d tried to introduce t...he idea of swinging to his wife several times over the years, and she wasn’t at all open to it. I assured him that I know how lucky I am and thanked him for the nice words. Tina rounded the corner in a black lace nightie I’d never seen before. She smiled at me and said she’d been saving this ‘naughty girl’ outfit for the right occasion. She walked. ‘Better, thanks.’ ‘I have dinner ready. Why don’t you two take a seat and I’ll get the stew,’ Maggie said. ‘You heard the lady, Nick. I smelled that stew as soon as I opened the door. It’s about time I get to eat some of it.’ Nick sat in the chair closest to him, looking relieved to be off his feet. Steve sat down just as Maggie returned with the pot of stew. ‘Man, I’m hungry,’ Steve said while reaching for the ladle. ‘Hold your bowl up here Nick, and tell me how much you want.’ From the look. The thousands of spheres exploded out of the pods and spread out in a wide pattern before falling. I was beyond the military starport when the spheres touched down and began ripping everything apart.I rolled and turned north towards the city center. I stayed low and streaked through the city as my team completed their missions and headed towards my destination. I retracted the canopy and flicked the auto pilot for the landing sequence. I hit the ejection button and the reversed grav tractor. “Thanks for coming,” I said, sounding as fake as Christmas.He didn’t buy it. He looked at me.“Why’d you call me so late?” His voice dipped low. It sounded like it could answer every question in the world. “Is everything okay with you, Taylor?”I’d missed him more than I could ever admit. His attention filled me entirely, melting away the cold loneliness. I looked at him. Light from a streetlamp came through the window, slanting a white glow across his face. I’d never wanted to kiss anyone as.