Chapter 1

ONE

Earth, 2256

E yeing the trousers hanging over the back of the chair, Felix caught a fold of fabric between thumb and forefinger and rubbed experimentally. Soft, really soft. He could barely feel the embedded smart fiber that would prevent wear and tear. Edging his thumb toward the outside of the leg, he looked for a seam and discovered it was one of the turned in kind he couldn't pick at. He'd have to do something else with his hands if he wore these trousers to the graduation party. No pockets, either. Who the fuck wore pants with no pockets?

Zed would, and he'd look tall, dark and handsome. Next to him, Felix would look scrawny. And with his blond curls, wide hazel eyes, delicate nose and full mouth he would always look boyish. He could really use a good scar or something.

The door to his quarters clicked softly. Clad only in a towel from a recent trip to the shower, Felix backed into the corner and assumed a defensive posture—arms raised, weight balanced on the balls of his feet. It was late in the day for a last minute prank, but he wouldn't put it past someone to try. The door swished open and a familiar shadow slipped inside the room.

Felix dropped his stance. "How the fuck did you hack the code? It took me twenty-four Standard hours to write that one."

Marnie held up her wallet and grinned. The holo playing above the fold flashed off her exotic features, lighting her dark eyes and making the line of her bangs more severe. "You based it on the same sequence you used for the janitorial closet in second year."

"I turned that code inside out."

"Not enough times."

"Damn it."

She reached up to ruffle his damp curls. "There, there. If you'd used an old fashioned padlock, I'd have been stumped." Marnie couldn't pick anything "dumb" to save her life. She was resourceful, though.

Ducking out of her reach, Felix smacked a wall panel and reached inside his closet for underwear and socks. He dropped his towel and donned both while Marnie stared through him. He wasn't offended by her lack of interest in his private parts. Girls didn't do it for him and he didn't do it for Marnie. She and Ryan had hooked up the year before and, by all measures, were set to be partnered for life. But he did recognize the blankness of her expression.

"Stop thinking so hard," he said. "You'll short something in your perfect brain."

"How would you get around a padlock if you didn't have any tools on hand?" she asked.

"I'd go find some tools."

"Say you can't, just for the sake of this exercise." Marnie always did shit like this—asked him to think. Mostly, Felix enjoyed it.

"I'd try force, first," he said. "A kick to the mechanism. Then I'd go look for some tools."

"But what if?—"

"We're going to be late for the party if you keep what-ifing. What are you doing here, anyway?"

She was already dressed in something long, flowy and purple. She looked good, if not exactly Marnie-like. He was used to seeing her in uniform.

"I brought you something." Marnie held up a shirt. More grey fabric, but less dark than the trousers, and sort of shiny. It looked like one of Zed's shirts. All swank and soft and costly. Felix chewed on his lips, a habit he'd formed to give himself time to think before he blurted out the first words that came to mind.

"I know gifts embarrass you, Flick"—his friends all called him by the same nickname his sister had given him when she was a toddler. Sometimes it made him self-conscious, but usually it made him feel as if he was with family—"but I also know how important tonight is and I wanted you to feel good about what you were wearing. Zed's going to take one look?—"

"I was thinking I'd just wear my uniform." Felix was stupidly proud of the new ribbons on the breast pocket, even though he knew they would mean absolutely nothing after today. He'd no longer be a student who had excelled, despite humble beginnings—top of his class in five out of eight disciplines. He'd be a raw cadet on his way to specialist training.

And he'd be alone.

Marnie's brows disappeared into her bangs. "What? No, you can't do that. We're all getting dressed up."

Felix reached into the closet for his uniform pants and pulled them on, buying some more time to think. "And I don't think I'm going to say anything to Zed."

"Don't make me kick your ass."

"What good will it do? This is the last time I'm going to see him for months. Maybe even years. Or ever." Felix's heart thumped up and down hard enough to bruise all attending parts. "Besides, he and Emma make a good couple."

"Zed isn't in love with Emma."

"You don't need to be in love with someone to…" Felix let the rest of his statement fizzle on his tongue. He knew Zed wasn't in love with Emma, despite the fact they had everything in common, including a career path that would take them to specialist training together.

"I swear, Felix." He really did prefer Flick. "If you don't tell Zed how you feel tonight, I'll do it for you."

All of his blood rushed to his socked feet. "You wouldn't."

"Don't try me."

"Marnie…"

"And no whining, it doesn't suit you."

Irritated, Felix reached for his shirt.

Marnie yanked it from his hands. "It will be too late tomorrow. Do you really want to go through life with that what-if unanswered?"

"He's my best friend. That's enough."

Cuddling both his uniform shirt and the new one to her chest, she shook her head. "No, it's not. I can see it in your face every time you look at him."

"Fuck."

"He feels the same way. I've seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is watching." She probably considered all this covert watching good practice for a career in Mil-Int. "I don't think he's figured out what it all means, but you men never know what to do with your feelings. That's why you have us."

Marnie had been the one to approach Ryan. It had been obvious since first year he was completely and irretrievably smitten, though. She said she'd only waited as long as she had because their schooling was important. Secretly, Felix thought she was more cautious than she let on, which was why this push to get him to confess his heart to his best friend of nearly ten years confused the hell out of him. Because if it went wrong, he could lose Zed. What if Zed didn't like guys? What if Felix wanting to kiss him made everything weird? Smaller things could destroy a friendship.

"Just tell him, okay? Yes, this might be the last time you're going to see him for a year or more. But love is patient, and if it's meant to be between you guys, then it will be—wherever you are, whatever you're doing. Wouldn't you be happier boarding that shuttle tomorrow knowing he's in your heart?"

No, because he'd had Zed in his heart for near on six years already and it wasn't enough.

"I'm not giving you a shirt until you promise you'll say something."

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

Hauling in a breath, Felix held it until his head spun lightly and the edges of his vision darkened. Then he let it out. "Fine, I'll say something."

"And you'll wear something other than your uniform tonight?"

"I'll wear the fancy-ass pants and shirt." He breathed in and out again, more quickly, and began unfastening his uniform pants. When Marnie didn't move, he said, "Thank you?"

She leaned into the closet to hang his plain, safe uniform shirt away. "You're welcome." The side of her face was just visible, and the fact her lips fought a smile.

"You sure Mom's not upset about me wanting to go out tonight?" Zed turned his attention from his closet to his oldest brother, Brennan, who had settled back into the cheap, student-quarters couch tucked against the wall of his dorm room. At twenty-five, Brennan looked every inch the young corporate executive, in his well-tailored suit and perfectly groomed hair. Zed grinned at Brennan's slight grimace—he could probably feel the sofa's springs digging into his butt, which was why Zed didn't sit there often—then looked back into his closet for just the right shirt.

"Did she tell you it wasn't a problem?"

"Yeah."

"Then it's not a problem," Brennan said. " Someone's feeling guilty."

Zed rolled his eyes and pulled out a deep blue shirt with a silvery sheen. Yeah, this would do. "I know she originally wanted to have dinner?—"

Brennan chuckled. "Zed, relax. She knows this is going to be the last night with your friends for a while. Us, you'll come visit on leave, right? But everyone else…"

Everyone else would be scattered out among the stars, at training and then on their first assignments. It hit him hard at that moment that tonight was it . This was the last time they'd all be together at once. He'd have Emma with him, and she was awesome—a great friend who posed a great challenge, marks-wise—but her presence wouldn't quite make up for leaving his other friends behind.

Leaving Flick behind.

Don't think about that.

"Scary, huh?"

Zed looked up from the shirt clutched in his hands to see Brennan looking at him with a sort-of sad, sort-of proud expression. From somewhere, Zed summoned a weak chuckle. "Yeah."

"I can't even imagine." His low tone, the understanding in Brennan's words, they all illustrated that his oldest brother got it, even if he hadn't lived the same thing himself. "You know, there have been days I've wished you would change your mind and come work for Dad."

That was an old… well, not argument, really, but a discussion he'd had more than once with both his parents and his brother. "Bren?—"

"And then you go and graduate, second in your class, standing up on stage looking just… fucking amazing in your uniform, with Mom crying and Dad just about ready to burst, he's so proud, and I realize… that's you. You were never meant to sit behind an Anatolius Industries desk and you knew that, ever since you were a kid." He shook his head, but it was a gesture of amazement, not denial. "You're probably more certain of your place in the galaxy than Maddox and I will ever be."

Zed swallowed hard, concentrating on conquering the lump in his throat and not breaking down, thank you very much. He didn't want to head to dinner with red, puffy eyes. "So you came here to make me embarrass myself, huh?"

Brennan snorted. "No, that's just an added bonus." Shifting on the couch, he pulled out his wallet and fiddled with the holographic interface. "There."

Zed's wallet beeped and he retrieved it from where he'd placed it on the bed as he got changed. "What'd you send—oh, damn, Brennan." He stared at the interface, his chest tight.

His brother had forwarded him a message from the administration of Shepard Academy, thanking the Anatolius family for their contribution and confirming that a permanent full scholarship would be implemented for disadvantaged kids—like Flick—who'd never see inside the doors of the school otherwise. Zed had always suspected Flick's scholarship hadn't been official—not that his father would ever admit to paying Flick's tuition. He knew how Flick would react to that news.

"Dad's real proud of him, too, you know," Brennan said quietly.

"Yeah, I know." God, his jaw ached from all these stupid emotions. "Look, you can't name it after him though, okay? He'll lose his shit."

"But—"

"Trust me. If he sees this, he's going to know that the scholarship he won was bogus, and that will just piss him off."

Brennan chuckled. "That sounds like Flick."

Zed nodded. "Tell Dad—tell him thanks."

"Tell him yourself tomorrow. We're still on for breakfast, right?" Brennan levered himself up from the uncomfortable sofa and straightened his clothes. "You need to give Mom a last opportunity to hug and kiss and be mushy."

"I know. And yes, I wouldn't miss it. Now will you go and let me get dressed?"

Brennan strode over to Zed and slung an arm around his neck, pulling him in tight. "Have fun tonight. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Damn it, Bren, that means I'll be home by nine."

Brennan flicked his fingers against Zed's forehead. "Asshole."

Zed turned and grabbed his brother in a bear hug. "Love you."

Brennan made a tsking noise. "Save the mush for tomorrow."