"What?" Wren demanded.
"Hugged another person. Kissed another person. Done anything personal yet outside of hooking up. I'm waiting for the state to procure my proper match. I always wanted to try physical contact, but that's wrong according to the New State Guide for Growing Up According to Code."
"How do you get close to other people like your friends? We spend time together, don't you?" Wren asked.
"I'm sure pre-cohabitation in New State is different than underground. We share conversations online and share hook ups of various kinds over the computer. It gets intimate."
"You and another person can share hooking up?"
"Sure." Codey shrugged. "Why not?"
"It's not real," Wren concluded.
"No, it's not, but it feels real with an avatar."
"You were going to let me hook up last time. I want to return the favor. Sit." Wren pushed him toward the bed. "I can teach you to give a real hug."
Codex moved backward but didn't sit. Wren stood on her tiptoes to reach his shoulders. She pushed him onto the bed where he sat stiffly. She stood next to him.
"I've done this thousands of times in a hook-up," Codey complained.
"A hug is easy." She inched between his knees. "Put your hands around my back."
Codex did but kept as much space between their bodies as possible.
Wren laughed, and he drew back.
"Sorry," she said. "It's just weird that you never hugged anyone in real life before."
Codex lips sealed into a tight line.
Wren grabbed his hands, forced them behind her, squeezed further between his legs, and pressed her body against his. Placing her hands on his back, she squeezed.
Warmth radiated from under his shirt. He was thin but not fragile like many of the New Staters he encountered.
He enjoyed the feeling of being held until she didn't let go and her chest was in his face.. "How long do we do this for?"
"Sorry." She drew back, a blush climbing to her cheeks. "Are you okay?"
"I guess." He didn't want the experiment to end. "You want to try something else?"
She appeared skeptical. "Depends on what you have in mind."
"Stay still."
She squirmed on the bed like a fish out of water.
"What comes next?" He asked.
"I got this." Wren smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. A friendly kiss.
"What was that for?" Codey asked.
"A kiss." The blush deepened on her cheeks.
He couldn't help asking himself why he was doing this. He should stop, but something drove him forward. "It wasn't a kiss like the kind that happens in the hook-ups."
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"Never mind," Codey replied. "Maybe we should just stop this."
"No. Explain it to me. I want to understand the whole hook-up thing and how it's different."
"It just is. That didn't feel like hook-up passion. They show and teach us 'passion' in training for our first hook-up."
"They train you to hook up?" Wren's eyes turned owl-like before narrowing to slits.
Codey stood up at the edge of the bed. "Of course. How else are we going to compute what to do?" He began to pace the edges of his room. "Why else go to school?"
"Okay. Let's try it again. Your way."
He pushed thick blond hair off his shoulders. His tall frame towered over her petite one.
A smile touched his lips. "I'm glad you came back."
"Even if I'm the enemy?" Her stomach flip-flopped.
"You're the most excitement and enjoyment I've had in a long time. You're real. The interactions are real, not part of a hook-up. It makes a big difference."
"Maybe to you, but not to everyone in New State."
"Not to everyone," Codey stood and walked to the screen. "Do you want to conduct a different experiment?" He didn't wait for the answer. "If you hook up, we could interface and gather data from the outcome."
"Sit, will you? You're making me nervous." She plopped onto Codey's bed in the spot he'd vacated and leaned back on her elbows to appraise him.
Codex joined her, moving close, pushing chocolate hair out of Wren's eyes before putting his hands on either side of her as he straddled her body, trapping her under him.
She didn't move, and he was terrified and delighted.
The heat of his body radiated against her, melting any reserve he'd harbored. He stared, and when Wren bit her lip, Codex's smile widened, and his gaze focused on her mouth. Wren blushed.
"You do remember that you're supposed to lead here. I'm the inexperienced one," he joked.
"I spend most of my life focused on training and making my father proud. That leaves little time for dating and fun."
"Live dating. That must be interesting. Do you practice?"
"I practiced kissing one time with my best friend Mason, but that doesn't count. He preferred boys."
Codey caressed her cheek. He moved his thumb to her bottom lip, and Wren inhaled a startled breath. His heart pounded in his ears. Could Wren hear it?
She tilted her chin up and met his lips as they came close to hers. She smelled of clean cotton and lavender and tasted like mint. It was so drastically different than anything New State, but the sweetness of her lips drove thoughts away.
Inching closer, he deepened the circuit-breaking kiss between them, sparking a desire. When he drew back, Wren sighed. He hoped that was a good thing.
Trying to gauge her reaction, he wanted to tell her he had never felt this way before when hooked up, but words didn't form.
She wasn't helpful and remained silent, reminding him that Wren was a raider and trained with the raiders, who were often men, fought against them in practice, sweated on them, and even puked next to them when running full-out sprints for hours.
Wren was anything but feminine or romantic like the women on his interface. She could be violent and dangerous. Didn't she threaten him the first night they met, but Codey didn't care. At this moment, she could steal anything from New State she wanted, and he'd be fine with it as long as she liked him.
He met her eyes. Drawn in by her, buoyed by her arm intertwined with his, Codey couldn't resist a chance for more and closed the space between them. Her arms circled his neck, and her lips met his.
At first tentative and sweet, he soon wanted more. Codex groaned her name and moved his hand across her arm, sliding it to her stomach.
She pushed back.
Her retreat brought clarity to Codey's chaotic mind. What was he doing with a Grounder rebel? She would bring him death.
"We should stop." Part of him didn't want to.
"We should."
Codey ignored his own words, pushing the thought of death aside, and drew her close. He wanted her to call it off. She should draw back and take a breath, but instead, Wren wrapped her arms around him, tangling her fingers in his hair, kissing him back.
His hand ran over her thigh. He slid his fingers up and under the fabric of her worn sweater so he could trace the lines of her ribs.
He continued to kiss her. He felt her skin, smooth and hot, and thought He got a little crazy if she didn't move closer. He pushed himself against him, and she responded with another passionate kiss. He pressed her on the bed.
The watch on Wren's arm belched an alarm. Her mouth dropped open in a silent oh.
How could so much time have passed? Codey wondered.
"This is bad." She sprang off the bed. "I'm late. You're so not what I expected."
"I'm not what a lot of people expect, but you can't leave me like this. Hook ups never end like this."
"Welcome to reality." She smiled at him.
"I'm not sure I like it." He adjusted his clothes.
"You have to help me. I had another reason for coming here but got distracted. I need a tablet, smartphone, or portable computer and a change of clothes."
"Why?"
"No time to explain."
He acquiesced, grabbing an old six-inch tablet. She shoved it into her pack as Codey began to lead her out the door.
"We can get some of my mom's clothes in the automatic laundry, but they might be big for you."
"They'll do."
Codey stopped her in the doorframe of his room.
"What? We need to go."
"Not until I get a last kiss." His voice was husky and human, his smile unabashed.
Wren acquiesced but then pushed him into the hall.
Once downstairs in the laundry room, Codey shoved his mom's clothes into a small duffle and handed it to Wren.
"What do you need these for?" he asked.
"I came here to get your opinion on the archives and tell you about something the Grounders are attempting but never got the chance."
"I have to go. If I don't return to the raiders soon, they'll trigger the alarm to search for me. I don't have time to explain properly."
"Try."
"I can't. It's part of the plan being developed," she said.
"What plan? Is it dangerous? Will you be risking your life?" Codey's voice sounded wounded and human. "Nobody knows about us, right? My family wouldn't get in trouble?"
"I have to go. You'll understand soon."
Codey hoped she'd come back and explain.