Page 24 of Dealing With Drak

He scratches his chin, thinking about it. “I do not think so. I will hide a small sensor on the door so that the ship gets notified if anything touches your home.”

My heart jumps around in a funny beat. “You can do that?”

“I can,” he replies happily. “They are a small technology, but I believe they are effective even on Urth. I do not have any spy cams?—”

“Aprixians know the word spy?” I cut in.

“It translates,” he explains with a shrug. “But I do not have recording devices to see what sets off the sensor. I will put it at hu-nim level so any small creatures will not trigger it.”

Smart. Really fucking smart.

“Thank you,” I say quietly. “You’re a lot of help, and I probably don’t tell you enough.” I’m a bit ashamed of it, but there’s nothing I can do to fix the past.

I’ll just have to try and be more pleasant…

“You are welcome, An-nana,” Drak replies, smiling wide. “I enjoy helping you. You are my friend.”

I freeze, breath stalling in my lungs. “I am?”

“Of course.” He nods adamantly. “The best of friends.”

Does he really see us that way?

I’m nowhere near as kind as his fellow Aprixians are. Those are good friends. How can he consider me to be one of his best friends when I’m so awful to him?

“You have terrible taste in friends,” I blurt out, insecurity creeping in.

His head shakes, and he crowds me, leaning down to lift my chin with a single finger. Our eyes meet, our mouths sharing the same air. “I have the best taste, An-nana.”

My gaze flicks to his lips, a small part of me longing to lean forward and—No! Absolutely not. Not happening.

I step back, cornering myself against the fridge.

“I’m sorry that I tried to kill you when we first met.”

There, I said it.

Drak chuckles, the sound light and airy. “No, you are not.”

Nose scrunching, I look up at him with a scowl. “Yes, I am.”

Again, he laughs. “If you are sorry, then you should not be. You were only protecting your sisters. I would have done the same thing had I found strange males in my home. Well, I would have broken their necks if the weapon I had could not slay them. And if their necks did not snap, I would pull their spines from their bodies?—”

“Jesus,” I exclaim.

“—and hang their bones like a warning on my front door,” he finishes.

“Drak,” I try, only to be cut off.

“Do not feel guilty for protecting yourself and the ones you love, An-nana. Your fierce nature and your ability to do what must be done is admire-able.”

He butchers the pronunciation of the word, but I know what he’s trying to say.

“O-okay,” I stammer, carefully slipping past his large frame. “Let’s just go. I want to get a good start to the day.”

Drak chuckles to himself, trailing behind me as I sling my bag over my shoulders and head for the door. When we get outside, I watch as he sets up a sensor as small as a housefly, clicking it into place and pairing it with the ship remote somehow.

This time when he picks me up to put me into the vehicle, I avoid his eyes. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to look at him for too long anymore. Not when his face is becoming less irritating and more handsome by the second.

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