Page 7 of Catfished By the Alien Pirate

“Yes, I can. I don’t know why you doubt me.”

“Well, do that,” I replied.

“You need to give me control again,” the computer said. I hit the buttons for autopilot. After the ship took over, I grabbed my bag. I had to fix the camouflage device if I wanted to leave the ship. I patched the wires and parts that were broken on the key component. The main controls were in the base box which communicated with a band worn on the arm. It created a visual so that the wearer looked like another being depending on what was programmed into the base box. As long as I didn’t let people get too close to my horns, they wouldn’t realize they were seeing a projected image. In the future, I hoped to use nanobots to help replicate extra appendages, but first I needed to fix the problems with the current device. After I stole the information from L’tyr, it shorted out in front of a camera bot, leading to my almost-capture. Luckily, I was pretty confident that it would work well with the human visage that I had originally programmed into it. Chex made me include the OlyzI’s image like that probably affected how well it kept its visual. As I closed the device and put the band back on my arm, I tapped the control box. My skin shimmered to a tan color.

“How long til we land?”

“Hold your yrenxes.”

I groaned. This insufferable computer.

“By the way, you realize you are injured, correct?”

“Do you have any med kits here?”

“I don’t know what you flesh beings do with your stuff. I am not your minder.”

Chapter 4

Chloe

His door slammed shut, and I stepped out of his car. What was his name again? Ryder? Tucker? Finn? I didn’t remember. How did I ask him that? He grabbed my hand as he tugged me to my door. I pulled my keys out of my purse. As they jingled through the crisp evening air, he pulled me close to his body. His lips crashed into mine as he pressed me into the door. Ryder-Tucker-Flynn’s hand palmed my breast. Did I really want this? A creeping feeling of dread eased up my body. Was this guy a jerk the entire time we were out? Maybe. I still don’t remember his name. I pulled away.

“Actually, I . . . I don’t think I can do this tonight,” I whispered.

A flash of anger crossed his face as he stepped back. “What do you mean?”

I blinked as I swallowed. He might be one of those entitled assholes too. “I am not feeling so great. Felt a bit of cramps a little while ago,” I said.

He paced on my porch. “So I took you out for nothing?”

“Maybe next time.”Lie.Not with him.

He stepped off my porch. “You man-hating bitch.”

I swallowed. “Unless you got a blood kink going on, I think we’re done for the night.”

He rolled his eyes and stormed off to his car. The engine roared to life as he sped away from the house. Biting my lip, I watched the headlights fade into the distance.

“He wasn’t good enough for you,” a gravelly voice said to my left. I jumped back and hit the door. The knob jammed into my back. My breath caught in my throat as Ric stepped out of the darkness of my porch. He was tall, like a tree. Muscles covered his entire body. His brown hair was pulled back into messy French braids down his head. Something was weird on top of his head, like the pixel glitch of a filter. But this was real life, not a video call, and it was dark outside. One arm had a black brace covering one of his muscled biceps. Tattoos littered his arm. White bandages covered his other arm. His clothes were tight and showed every muscle wrapping around his body. Ric was on my porch. In real life. He didn’t tell me he’d be here.

I bit my lip as I righted myself, my hand rubbing my back. “Ric? What are you doing here?”

He looked at the ground as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I . . . remember that mission?” he asked.

I pursed my lips as I nodded.

“It went south. You were the closest person I know. Can I crash here for a few days until I can fix my . . . transportation?”

“I shouldn’t say yes. But Andy says you’re good people. And this is still her house. Does she know you are here?” I turned as I jammed the key into the lock.

“Can you not tell her? Potentially the . . .”

“The mission. The super top secret mission. Yeah, I gotchu,” I muttered as I slammed the door open. I chucked my heels at the small shoe pile by the door. I pointed at his boots at the door. “Boots off.”

He shuffled his boots off as I turned and walked to the kitchen. “You hungry?” I asked. I pulled out eggs and sausage from the fridge, then grabbed the bread off the top of the counter. His shuffling steps joined me in the kitchen.

“You didn’t even wait for me to answer,” he said as he sat at the table on the far side of the kitchen.

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