Page 9 of Snowed in with my Alien Boss

“Shit!” she swore. She rarely did that, at work anyway. “I thought I turned that off. Ah, fuck it.” She grabbed the device and answered the comm, accepting it as an audio communication only, and the sound of her sire’s voice came through immediately.

“Where the fuck are you, girl?” There was the sound of other male voices in the background.

“Somewhere safe, and I’m not coming back to the apartment. So good luck trying to sell me off to clear your debt.”

What the fuck did she mean by that?Selling her off? Red filled Grogen’s vision.

“How do you—I mean, what are you talking about?”

“Please. I heard everything, asswipe. First of all, this is Reka 5. You can’t just sell people here. Second, even if you could, I’m not yours to sell.”

“I-it… It was only supposed to be temporary,” her father stammered. “And you’re my daughter. I raised you. Gave everything for you. You owe it to me to bail me out.”

“The fuck I do!” Abby yelled back.

Grogen had never seen her this worked up, and rightly so. He let out a feral growl and snatched the comm out of Abby’s hand.

Chapter 7: Abby

Holy shit! Grogen was terrifying when he was angry.

She didn’t know what had prompted her to pick up that call and confront her father right in front of her boss. Maybe it was the Rhean spirits. Maybe it was because she’d had enough. Possibly a combination of both. Regardless, it had felt good telling him her plans to move out and saddle the bum with rent she knew he couldn’t afford.

Also, at the back of her mind, she knew that if Grogen was aware of this deal her dad had made, she’d be safer in case the loan shark really did think he owned her. She was totally embarrassed that this was even happening, and she couldn’t believe she was related to the ass on the other end of the line, but she had learned long ago to stop making excuses for him.

For the moment, she thought Grogen was going to yell into the comm at her father. He sure looked ready to pummel the bastard’s head in. But he just ended the comm and turned the device off.

“You will not waste any more time speaking to him,” he said. He still looked very angry.

“You’re right,” she agreed. “Let’s just enjoy ourselves.” She reached for the bottle of Rhean spirits and her glass. “But I think I should dilute it again this time and just take a tiny sip.”

Chugging it down neat earlier had been a mistake. The Rhean spirits had hit harder than she’d thought.

She poured herself a small amount, watered it down, then refilled Grogen's heavy-bottomed tumbler. She had seen enough drunk men in her life to know that Grogen wasn’t anywhere near losing control. His aggressive reaction had been purely at finding out what her father had done. Most of the Talleans at Reka 5 were completely against selling and owning intelligent life. Many of them had escaped slavery at the hands of the Dominion, just like her. From what she knew of Grogen, he’d been a mercenary and had spent his prime taking jobs fighting on this side of the equation.

“So tell me,” she said, trying to direct the conversation away from her problems, “why do you go up to the cabin every year if you don’t enjoy yourself?” She handed him his glass.

A dark look crossed his features, making him look even surlier than usual. At one point this would’ve frightened her, but Abby had a new view of her boss now. She’d seen him get truly violent only once, and that had been to protect his shop and employees from armed thugs who had been trying to steal a particularly expensive vehicle they’d been working on. All the other times, he was a lot of growl and very little bite, and saved his teeth for when it counted.

She let the alcohol make her brave and cuddled up next to him, hoping to encourage him to talk. She took a careful sip of her drink and waited.

After a long moment, he replied. “I wasn’t in a good place when I first came here. I had lost a close friend to the Dominion. He was the last of my crew, and my crew had been like family to me—the only family I ever had since I lost my sire and mother.

“That first winter solstice alone was hard. I couldn’t handle all the happy people spending time with friends and family. I was envious of their happiness and angry that I’d lost so much, and that I had no friends or family to celebrate with.” He stared down at his hands. “So—I ran. Jumped the colony fences, found a little spot in the woods, and stayed there until the festivities were over. I’ve been doing it ever since, except now I actually go through the gates and bring provisions.”

Okay, that was kind of sad. No wonder he got grumpy this time of year. It must suck to feel this alone. But that was years ago, and he had friends now. Right? He didn’t need to hide alone in his cabin anymore. Besides, the big celebration was a huge colony-wide event that was a mix of both Tallean and human traditions. She hadn’t known many people her first year either, but she still had fun.

“So, you’re telling me that you’ve been here all this time, and you haven’t once attended the festivities?”

Grogen took a sip of his drink. He was drinking more slowly now, pacing himself. “I never had anyone to go with.”

“You don’t need to go with anyone, silly. You can go by yourself.”

He made a face that made her chuckle. She was feeling warm and giddy, and she decided to throw caution to the wind. They’d already shared a kiss, so it was going to be awkward when they got back to work anyway. What was one more thing? It would beat being the third wheel with Jenny and Ckarus.

“Okay, what if you went with me this year, then? I don’t have a date either.”

And there it was: she’d specifically called it a date so he couldn’t misunderstand. This way, if he wasn’t interested, he could let her know. Because right now, she was confused as fuck. She’d always thought he only tolerated her because she was good for his business, but after the sizzling kiss they’d shared, she wasn’t so sure. She’d gone from having a silly workplace crush to straight up wanting to climb him like a tree.

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