Connor met me at the front door, which saved me from knocking and reintroducing myself to the staff.

“Astrid! Hi!” He held out his hand as if to shake, and then dropped it a moment later, clearly thinking better. Seeing his awkwardness was cute. It eased some of my own tension.

“Hey,” I said. “I thought we should talk.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” He stepped aside to let me in. “Want anything? Water? Soda?”

It had been months since I had a soda. My sweet tooth screamed yes, but the reasonable portion of my brain knew that was a bad idea. I didn’t want to get used to fancy treats again. “Water, please. If you don’t mind.”

He let me inside and poured me a glass from an actual fluted vase that sat on a nearby table. I took a seat on a ridiculously formal looking couch, while he chose a winged back chair.

He smiled at me, and I searched for something to say.

This was so awkward. I made myself take a sip of water. Then I spied something that made me smile. “I remember playing house with you under that writing desk,” I said, nodding to it.

He grinned. “I remember that. We got sheets from the linen closet and draped them over it, right?”

“Yup.” I tilted my head, thinking back. “Didn’t we try to make Asher the ‘baby’ in the family?”

“That’s right.”

“But he wouldn’t go for it,” I remembered. I hadn’t thought about this in years. “He pretended to be the dog, instead, and tore down the sheets.”

Connor chuckled, but the conversation between us died. We stared at each other, both looking for something to say, and not sure what.

“I was pretty sure I’d never see you again,” Connor said.

“When your dad took you out of school?”

He shook his head. “No, after last night. I never meant to insult you, Astrid.”

“You didn’t insult me. I was surprised—I still am surprised,” I admitted. “I didn’t think you ever saw me as anything but Asher’s annoying sister.”

He shifted, one leg crossing over the other. “You’re so much more than that. I’ve always thought you were smart and, well, gorgeous.”

I felt heat coming off my cheeks, and I wanted to return the compliment—Connor was pretty handsome, especially after he’d gained a few inches. It was just…

“I had no idea,” I repeated, quietly.

“Astrid…” he began and then stopped, shaking his head. He rose from his chair, crossed the space between us and sat down next to me. Then slowly, allowing me to pull back at any moment, took my hand. “I know you don’t feel the same way about me right now. If this stupid asteroid weren’t coming, I’d ask you out on a date at a coffee shop or something.”

I thought about ketchup and fries. “I would have said yes to that, no problem.”

The corners of his mouth firmed. “This isn’t fair to you, or to me, but the fact is that the asteroid is coming. I’ve checked, and the only way to get you and your family into the SAFEsite is if we’re close relatives. I just wanted to make sure you guys weren’t picked in the lottery first, before I threw all this at you.”

I stared at him, at a loss. Connor really was a great guy. What was wrong with me?

“So, this is her?”

Connor and I both startled, turning toward the new voice.

Connor’s father, Richard, stood in the archway that led from their formal dining room to the main hallway. It had been a few years since I’d seen him last—he’d lost all the hair on his head, and gained glasses. My memories of him from before was of a vaguely formal man who was uninterested in one of his son’s tagalong friends.

Now he looked at me as if I were a bug.

“Dad,” Connor said, “you remember Astrid?”

Richard gave me another hard look. I couldn’t quite read the expression behind his eyes, other than it was cool and calculating. “You’re the girl?”

Caught off guard, I blurted, “Yes, I am.”

He nodded once. “Then, since you’re here, I suppose your answer is yes? You’ll marry him?”

“Dad!” Connor barked. “I sprung this on her yesterday. She needs time to think.”

That was very true, and while I appreciated Connor sticking up for me, I wasn’t sure how I felt about him answering for me. It was a small but important distinction.

Richard, though, was unmoved. “Don’t be a romantic fool. This is as much of a business arrangement as it is a marriage. She wants to save her skin, and her father and brother.” He looked straight at me. “Don’t you, Astrid?”

The way he said my name made it sound dirty. But after all, wasn’t he speaking the truth?

I dropped my gaze. “Yes.”

“There now.” Richard sounded satisfied, but when I glanced up at him, his eyes were still cold. “That wasn’t so hard, and now we’re all on the same page. Connor, bring her into the library. Your fiancée has paperwork to sign.”

“Paperwork?” I repeated. Fiancée?

“Of course. You don’t think they’ll let just anyone into the SAFEsite, do you?”

Without waiting for a reply, Richard turned and left.

“I’m sorry about him,” Connor murmured the moment his father was out of hearing range. “He’s helping lead the team which is setting up the SAFEsites nationwide, and he’s overworked and stressed out. My mom says it what makes him such a brilliant engineer, but he doesn’t do people well.”

I let out a breath. “You think?”

“Astrid.” Connor squeezed my hand between his own. “Do you really mean it? You’ll come with me to the SAFEsite? You’ll marry me?”

I looked into his kind, earnest dark eyes. Could I grow to love him? This boy who had been my playmate, who could have picked anyone in the world to take with him to safety, but for some reason had chosen me?

Connor didn’t give me the same butterflies that I felt with Shane, but he would be good to me. I knew it in my bones. And I…I could be good to him.

“Yes,” I said.

* * *

Connor led me through the long hallway that ran the length of the mansion. Richard wasn’t kidding when he called the room at the end a library. It was a giant space with dark wood paneling, a stone fireplace, and shelves of books up to the ceiling. A huge, polished oak table dominated the middle.

Richard was already sitting at one end of the table with a thick stack of papers to the side. Seeing me, he pushed them my way. “Read these and sign.”

“Um.” I looked from Connor to Richard and back again. “Can I even do that? I’m seventeen.”

Richard leveled a chill share at me. “Are you looking to renege on your duties already?”

“What? No! I was just wondering.”

Richard continued to stare at me. Connor squeezed my shoulder in support.

Sighing, I gave in and took a seat.

I was half-afraid these were marriage certificate papers, but no. They were all about the SAFEsite. By initialing at the bottom of every page and signing my full name at the end, I was promising to follow the law while calling the SAFEsite my home. No murder, no stealing, nothing that would endanger the welfare of the other inhabitants.

A lot of the language was full of legal jargon I had no hope of understanding without a google search, but nothing stuck out at me as really weird.

…unless I counted Richard staring at me the whole time as if I was insulting him by reading what I was signing.

I had a few questions, which I directed at Connor. He, at least, was helpful.

“You signed this, too?”

“Yeah, and an additional background check they make all the specialists do before you can step foot in a SAFEsite,” Connor said with a reassuring smile. He sat next to me and tapped the papers into order as I signed and initialed. “They say the first pilgrims to the United States had to agree to sign a similar document. Of course, theirs was a lot shorter.”

“I bet.” My hand was cramping by the time I reached the last page. Seriously, I think applications for college loans were shorter.

Once I was done, Richard took the pile from Connor and reshuffled them back into order like his son hadn’t done a thorough enough job. “Good. Just a quick blood test and we’re all done here.”

That caught me up short. “A what now?”

Another cold look. “We’ll be living in an enclosed environment for years. It’s standard procedure to ensure the health of our future society.”

Oh man, I already knew my dad was going to flip out when he heard I’d signed legal documents without his presence. The blood test would be the icing on the cake.

“You want me to do that right now?” I squeaked.

Richard nodded. “I called a phlebotomist from the SAFEsite’s lab when you arrived. They’re waiting for you in the lower guest bedroom. Connor, if you would escort her?”

Connor took my hand, and I felt I didn’t have any other choice but to rise from my seat to follow.

“Don’t worry,” Connor said. “I had to do this part, too.”

He had kept his voice low, but Richard had obviously heard because he added, “As did I, even though I’m paying for a large portion of the site to be funded.” Richard fixed me with a look that was less cold, but still stern.

“Understand this: we’re in the business of saving what we can of the human species. After the long winter has passed, our main goal will be to repopulate the earth. It won’t be an easy life, and we will need the population to be free of disease and genetic defects.”

If I run screaming out of this house, my brother and dad will die, I reminded myself. I couldn’t think about children with Connor right now. I just couldn’t.

Besides, what was a little blood? I knew I was “free of disease” as Richard had so charmingly put it, and I was pretty sure there were no surprises lurking in my genetics either.

“I understand. It’s fine,” I lied.