Page 25 of Avery

Before he leaves, I ask, "Do you want to watch that new Ilnan dating show tonight?"

Phial's face brightens immediately. "Yes, very much, yes." He moves over to the dashboard and disconnects his comm. "You get it downloaded, and I will fix the engine quickly."

He leaves the room, following Alik outside to fix whatever's wrong with the ship. I take a minute for myself, calming the raging emotions inside of me and working up the courage to go back out onto the ship when I'm covered in so much slick.

I think about Phial and how we're finally starting to get back to normal. That's what helps me work up the courage to leave the navigation pit with a soaked dress and scurry through the halls until I'm back in our room, waiting for him to join me.

twelve

Phial

"Why is she choosing him!" I ask way too loud, considering it's technically the middle of the night for all of us.

I'm on my back, with my body draped over the peak of the dome. My comm is in one hand, and my other is lying lazily above my head as I all but snarl at the poor decision-making skills being shown to me.

"Kizik has been the worst male the whole season."

Avery is inside the dome, snuggled up with blankets and pillows as she watches the show on the screen inside. One day, I'll be in the nest with her while we watch our shows, and maybe I will even get to hold her as I complain about who these females always end up choosing. Not that the males do any better when we watch shows where there is one male and many females.

"I'm pretty sure she just wants him because he has the bigger following on their planet's biggest social media site," Avery says.

I roll onto my stomach so I can see exactly where Avery is. I'm grateful she's back to keeping the dome transparent so we can interact more easily. She's kept it transparent for about a week now. Around the same time, we started watching the show together.

I hope she realizes that our relationship is the easiest. Our friendship is solid, and now she only needs to maybe want me as more than a friend. We can be perfect for one another. I don't push, though, because she hasn't brought up what happened in the navigation room or invited me back to the special physical room with her. I hope she will in her own time.

I crawl over to where she's lying until my face is right above hers so she can see my face when I voice my disapproval. "Linnil was the much better choice." I tap on my comm screen where I have the show frozen on a teary-eyed Linnil being escorted off the property where the show is held because he wasn't selected to be the female's love match. "What does it matter the social media following? He would've loved her and cherished her."

Avery looks up at me with her brows furrowed together. "You do realize that most of these shows aren't about love right?"

I make a disgusted face through the glass and roll back onto my back, my free hand going to my forehead. "If it's not about finding love then why even be on it?"

"Well, it's for our entertainment, first of all," Avery says.

Her voice is closer now, which means she might be sitting up. If I were to turn over, would our faces be as close as possible with the glass separating us? I really want there to be no glass, just our faces close, her head tilting up toward mine, her eyes closing, her cheeks turning pink. I frown at myself and make sure I don't roll over because I'm thinking things that aren't going to do me any good tonight.

"Yes, well, they entertained us all season by keeping Kizik on." I narrow my eyes at the comm screen like it's wronged me insome way. "What did you call him again? A douchebag? Why does there always have to be a douchebag in every season?"

"Because we need someone to create conflict and tension between the contestants," Avery groans.

This isn't the first time we've had this conversation. She looks at the shows through the lens that they're all fake, like the movies we watch sometimes. I still think they are real. They do choose the worst possible contestants to be on them, though.

"How many seasons of this are there?" she asks.

"I think twelve," I say, hitting play so we can watch Linnil say his final goodbyes.

Kizik and the Lhah embrace on the final platform, kissing one another like they actually have any feelings for one another. I frown the entire time, hating that once again, one of these shows has roped me in so thoroughly and disappointed me in the end.

The credits start rolling, and I roll over, plastering my face to the dome. "Are we starting the next season now?"

Avery throws her head back and laughs. So maybe I hate how the shows rope me in, keep me invested, and then end so terribly, but I can't stop myself from continuing to watch them. I could blame Avery since this is our favorite activity to do together.

For now.

But really, it's always me asking for just one more episode, just one more season. Maybe this one will be different. Avery goes along with it because she enjoys the drama, but I also think she likes sharing something with me that is just for us.

"I think we both need some sleep," Avery says as she clicks the comm screen off inside the dome.

I frown at it because I don't want to sleep yet. I want to spend more time with her, maybe talk to her, and see who the contestants are for the next season. Really, I'm a male with simple needs.

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