Page 33 of Radiant Exception
Oh…fuck, bed…
But before I could go down that rabbit hole, my ears perked up as I thought I was hearing male voices singing from down the hall. And sure enough, when I made it to the mess, there were Ethan and Rion, sitting on top of the table, with a suspicious half-full bottle of clear liquid positioned between them.
“LARK!” Ethan hollered the moment he saw me lurking in the doorway.
My eyes widened at his exuberant greeting.
He scrambled off the table and grabbed me, pulling me back to Rion. “This woman saved our hides today, Ri.” Ethan’s words were slightly slurred.
Rion’s cheeks were bright pink—I assumed from what they’d been drinking. “Thank you.” He reached forward and grabbed my uninjured hand, shaking it up and down for much longer than socially acceptable, before I kindly pulled away.
“We’re going to drink to you, Chief.” Ethan half stumbled to the cabinet and pulled another glass before pouring out three servings for each of us.
“I’m good, and you both look like you’ve had enough,” I half-laughed.
Ethan sidled up right next to me, holding up the fresh glass he’d poured for me. “You’ll break my heart if you don’t share one drink with us.”
His breath was heavy with the scent of the alcohol, but this was the best interaction I’d had with him so far, and I hadn’t been terrible at holding my liquor while working covert ops, so I didn’t think that a double of whatever this was would cause too much of an issue.
“Fine,” I gave in. But the moment I got a whiff of the liquor as I pulled the glass up to my lips, I reared back. “This smells like ship fuel.” I glanced between the two of them, wide-eyed.
“We’ve named it starshine.” Ethan gave me a big toothy grin, slapping one of his big paws on Rion’s shoulder, causing a bit of the liquid to slosh out of his glass. “Ri’s been perfecting it since our maiden voyage. Don’t tell the cap.”
I had a feeling Vaughn already knew, but I saved that little tidbit.
I looked down at the glass. This was not going to be pleasant, but it was the best shot I had at ingratiating myself with them.
“Bottoms up.” I grimaced before swallowing every last drop of the horrid spirit in one go. I coughed and sputtered, but it all made it down.
“Now that’s my kinda girl!” Ethan crowed, nudging me with his shoulder in camaraderie.
The effects of Rion’s starshine were almost immediate. A burning warmth began to spread from my throat to my stomach and back up to my cheeks, which surely must have been blazing not a moment later.
“We should invite Natalie up here to join us.” Ethan grinned at Rion, clearly cajoling him.
“She’s sleeping; don’t bother her,” he insisted, his tone and expression immediately gone serious.
Ethan smirked, pleased he’d gotten the reaction he wanted. “When are you going to do something about her?” He leaned over the table on his elbows, toward Rion, showing his eagerness for a response.
Rion gulped. He was easy prey for Ethan. “I’m not. I mean—I don’t—we’re just friends. She’s my best friend,” he stuttered.
Maybe it was the starshine, but I couldn’t help but voice an audible “aww” at his sentiment. “Don’t listen to Ethan. If you and Natalie are meant to be”—and they definitely were—“it’ll happen when the timing is right.”
He gave me an appreciative nod.
Ethan wasn’t happy I’d taken his side. “If you’re not interested, maybe I’ll shoot my shot.”
I couldn’t help but let out a strangled laugh at his arrogance.
“What!?” He turned on me. “She’d be lucky to have me. I’ve gotten excellent feedback from every chick I’ve banged.”
Rion and I took the opportunity to break into a fit of laughter.
Ethan’s facade slipped for a moment before he was back to his regular bluster.
“You’re not Natalie’s type.” I smiled. “Better shoot your shot elsewhere.”
“Oh yeah? Then who’s her type?” He rolled his eyes.
