Chapter 25 : Shooting Range

Theodora's POV

Shame mottled my face. I can't believe Javier walked in on me and Mads. Fuck, how embarrassing. We were walking down a moonlit path, away from the homestead, down to a creek behind the barn I'd use for target practice when my dad first gave me his colt.

I was sixteen and while most teenage girls on Gaea wanted a rover, I got a six-shooter. Nearly an antique that I took pride in shining and fixing so it would shoot. My dad told me it was one of the few things left from our earth's ancestors and he had been waiting to give it to me.

Now that six-shooter was a key part of my identity. Something I poured my time and energy into master. I glanced over at Javier, his bulky shoulders, the line in his forehead.

"Javier…" I started, unsure where to take the conversation.

"How long have you and Mads been together?" he asked. "Were you together when you came onto me on Ilios?"

Right to it then. "No. Mads and I have history, sure, but we broke it off before I met you," I