Craze left the deli, staring at the miniature depiction of his lost love. He hadn’t changed her avatar, so hearts tumbled from her lips. Part of him didn’t want to know what she had to say, but the part that did want to know won out.
“Baby,” Yerness drawled. “You really miffed with me?” Her long lashes fluttered, each blink like a tumbler full of rancid ale in his gut.
“Shouldn’t you be botherin’ Bast? You punched in the wrong tab code,” he said, gazing into store windows as he strolled down the street, acting as if he wasn’t interested in her call.
“Don’t be like that. It was the only way we could be closer.
It was marry Bast or creepy old Confo. The elders wouldn’t pair me with you. You don’t meet my requirements.”
She had known that when they met, ignoring his mid-level status in the end, toying with him all these months. His chest felt as if it sank. He rubbed at it. “How long you been aimin’ at my pa?”
“Don’t pout. It makes your lips all sexy. Wish I could kiss ‘em up ‘n make you feel better.”
The kittenish tones raked over his nerves, rendering them raw and ragged, bringing on a case of tight jaw until he growled. “How long you been anglin’ for Bast, Yerness? The whole time you with me?”
Her brow furrowed and the flirty smile flitted off her lips. “Noise of his rise was rumored in the council fifteen months ago. My uncle, one of the elders, gave me the list of potentials. I couldn’t get stuck with Confo, Craze. Just couldn’t.”
She shuddered, scrunching up her pretty face, but her helpless act wouldn’t work this time. His lips drew taut. “Your uncle ‘n his friends branded me a leecher.”
“Not forever, Baby. My uncle ‘n Bast promise they’ll get it lifted before the year is out, then herald you as hero when you make your fortune.”
Those promises meant nothing. Bast and the council would do what was in their best interests like they always did. Craze didn’t hold out hope for any other result. Unless he let them in on the chocolate. No, none of them deserved the show of respect. They’d only take it as a sign that Craze was a mark to be tromped on and used. Like he’d been under Bast all these years. He didn’t want that. It was time to stand on his own, to rise above them and show them he was someone to take seriously. That included Yerness.
He didn’t get this call. Although he now understood Yerness’s motives in getting close to him, he didn’t get what her current one for contacting him was. “What do you want
from me?”
“We about to be family. Let’s not be angry with each other.”
What did she have to be angry with him about? He shook his head, stopping in front of a bright purple shop splattered with sparkles and splashes of cobalt blue, Must Have Gear for the Edge
. Coats, bags, and supplies were crammed everywhere inside in no order Craze could discern.
“It doesn’t matter,” he answered. “We not allowed to be in touch anyway. Bast said. The council said.”
“I know. Just wanted to call this once ‘n say how sorry I am. Tell me you sorry, too.”
She was something. Craze vowed not to let beauty play him like this ever again. “For what?”
“For not finding status ‘n fortune faster, so I could be yours instead.”
Craze sucked in a sharp breath. “I was on the list.”
“Not at the level I need, Baby. Try to understand. You let me down.”
He stepped inside the shop curious about what ‘must haves’ he didn’t have for travelling around the Edge. The prices were reasonable and the workmanship of the goods not as shoddy as Craze expected.
“Look, I’m busy,” he said.
She bit her lower lip in that adorable way, batting her eyelids, the long lashes sweeping over the lovely curve of her cheekbones. “Business already? I knew you’d do great. Just knew it. The sooner you make it, the sooner the council will renounce your leecher status. I can void my pairing with Bast ‘n—”
“No, Yerness. You can take a flyin’ leap off a space dock. I won’t want you when I’m rich. We done.”
He took their connection offline, deleting her avatar, blocking her code, grunting with a modicum of satisfaction. “Bitch.”
The racks of gear beckoned to him. Craze rifled through the coats, searching for a dark gray duster in his size. A display of hourglasses sifting black sand gave him an idea. He splurged his last coins on gum, sacks of rice, and a patrol siren.
