“Are you a virgin?”

I jerked in surprise at the phlebotomist’s question. Luckily, she had already inserted the needle into the crook of my arm. Blood pressure was doing what it was supposed to do, and my body was busy filling up the vial.

Thank goodness Connor hadn’t followed me into this room for the blood draw. He’d offered, but I just wanted a moment alone to collect myself.

I leveled a glare at the woman. “How is any of that your god damned business?”

The phlebotomist looked to be in her late thirties, though she could have been younger. She had dark bags of exhaustion under her eyes, and her hair was limp as if she hadn’t had time to wash it recently. She matched my glare with one of her own.

“It’s my job to form a baseline of your medical history, young lady. And if you think this question is invasive, you’re in for a surprise when you have your first child.”

I dropped my gaze. It was easy to be angry at her when I couldn’t at Richard or Connor. “Yes, I’m a virgin.”

She nodded. “It will be a good idea to remain one as long as possible. You do not want to be worrying about a baby when the asteroid is about to hit. We’ll discuss options about your expectations for pregnancy once we’re sealed in the SAFEsite.”

I grimaced. Seemed like she was in ‘club SAFEsite’, too, though I bet no one had told her that I was supposed to get married soon. After my marriage night, I wouldn’t be a virgin anymore. Because I’d be with Connor. That’s what you did with your husband…who would be Connor.

… I was still wrapping my head around that.

Or, maybe the woman did know what was going on because she added, “But just in case, I’ll be sending you home with a care package. Condoms, Plan B, and some pamphlets. I’ll also include my phone number. I’m not a doctor, but if you want to start monthly birth control, call me. I’ll get you a prescription.”

I nodded, not looking her in the eye. “Richard said, um, after the long winter’s over…” I swallowed. I had never thought seriously about getting pregnant. That had always seemed way far off in the future. Now, it would be a reality. “Will we be expected to have a lot of children?”

“Yes,” she replied evenly, reaching over to press on my arm before removing the needle and vial, then applying the cotton ball over the tiny hole. “All viable women will be expected to do our part to continue the human race.” She caught my gaze with her own and held it. “We’re lucky.”

Lucky enough to live to be broodmares.

I pushed that cynical thought away and forced a smile. “I know.”

* * *

Connor offered to walk me back home, afterward. The blood test and documents had taken longer than I expected because I was surprised to see that night had fallen. Asher was probably home by now and would have a cow about me being gone again. Made sense to accept Connor’s offer.

The air outside was chill with evening fog rolling off the ocean, or maybe the cold had just taken root inside me. Either way, Connor noticed I was shivering and offered his jacket. Really, he was a considerate guy, but being comfortable was not my top concern.

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“So when is it going to happen?” I blurted. “The wedding, I mean.”

“Whenever you want, but it has to be before we go to the SAFEsite. Um, it can’t be anything huge.” He looked down. “It’ll probably be at the courthouse, but if you want a religious ceremony, we might—”

“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t care about that.”

“So, it’ll be at the courthouse then, but we have to get your dad’s permission first because you’re under eighteen.”

I rolled my eyes. “I haven’t seen him since the lottery.”

“Seriously?”

“You know what he’s like. He’s off saving the world.”

Connor had a torn expression on his face, like he wanted to criticize my dad for not being there, but was also aware he was about to be his father-in-law.

I smiled, knowing the feeling. It was hard to fault someone for their dedication to help other people, but damn it, sometimes I needed my father at home, too.

It was nice to discover that Connor and I thought along the same lines.

This could work, I told myself. Really.

“We should go out on a date,” I said. “As many as we can…before.”

“This doesn’t count as one?” he teased.

“Well, the bloodwork was super romantic…”

He grinned. “I can fix that.” And then he slid an arm around my waist, bringing me closer as we walked.

I leaned into him. Connor stood at the perfect height for me to rest my head on his shoulder if I wanted. This close I caught his scent—some kind of woodsy cologne. Although Connor wasn’t the traditional outdoors type, it fit him.

We stopped outside the small fence separating the road from my front yard.

Connor turned and the warm point of contact between us went cold.

“Astrid.” He tilted my chin up and looked down at me, shy and so, so caring at the same time. “Can I?”

My answer came out as a breathless whisper. “Yes.”

And that was how I got the second kiss of my life, standing out there in the cold fog with my husband-to-be.

“Oh, so this is what you’ve been up to.”

Asher’s sardonic voice shattered the moment into a million pieces. We both turned to see him leaning against the open garage door, arms crossed.

“Asher!” I snapped. “Mind your own business.”

“Yeah, no. Not when my best friend is canoodling my little sister.”

“Little—!” I was younger by a total of twenty-one freakin’ minutes.

“Don’t tell me that was your first kiss?” Asher shook his head at Connor. “Weak, dude.”

Connor made a point of pulling me closer. “Can you give us a minute?”

“Sure, but you should know that Dad finally came home. He’s crashed out in his bedroom, so don’t plan on taking this inside.” He turned and walked back through the garage door, closing it after himself.

I opened my mouth to yell at Asher that we weren’t taking anything inside, thank you very much. Then my mind caught up.

Dad was home. He had no idea that any of this had happened. I had to tell him. Should I bring Connor along? How was I going to break the news about all the paperwork and the blood tests and stuff? Crap.

I turned to Connor. “I should speak to him about you know, everything.”

Connor nodded. “Do you want me to go with you? I could answer any questions—”

“No,” I said quickly. “I think…I think it’ll be best if you’re out of range.” Literally.

He looked concerned, which proved he wasn’t an idiot. “Okay, but look, if you need anything—I know grocery stores are running empty, but my dad has all sorts of supplies.”

“We’re fine for now. Dad gets MREs from the base.” Some of them could even be pretty good if you added hot sauce. “I have school tomorrow, but afterwards…do you want to go out on a date?”

He smiled. “You really want to do that?”

“Of course. I know we’re…” I thought I had been okay with it, but I still choked on the words, “getting married, but shouldn’t we do normal couple things while we can?”

His smile broadened. “I like that, but I’m stuck helping my dad out with the SAFEsites. I’m actually flying to the east coast tomorrow to supervise a critical installation. I won’t be back until Friday. We can go out then.”

Three days. That would give my dad time to cool off.

“Okay,” I said with a nod. “Friday, then.”

Should I kiss him goodbye? Did I even want to? Asher had gone back into the house, but could be watching from the window like a total overprotective stalker.

Before I could decide, Connor snapped his fingers. “Oh, right! I almost forgot.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew the diamond ring, then hesitated. “Do you want to try it on? I should know if I need to get it resized.”

“Yeah, might as well.” I held my breath as he slipped it on. It was a gorgeous ring, but it made my hand look a lot older somehow.

Because I was going to be a married woman.

I resisted the urge to rip the ring off and toss it away. Instead, I curled my fingers in.

“I can’t wear this to school,” I said. “People would ask questions, but…thanks.”

Thanks. Wow, could I be any more romantic?

“It looks good on you.” Then he decided the whole kissing thing for me by leaning down to brush his lips lightly against my cheek. “Good night, Astrid.”