Page 59 of Saved By the Alien Hybrid
“I love this place.” She stretched her legs out in front of her. “It smells like the water park.”
“Water park?” He seemed content to let her change the subject, game enough to let the confusion of their strange relationship fall away for a while.
She leaned into it, grinning at him as she nodded. “It’s a place that humans go for fun. Lots of chemically treated water, with waterfalls, slides, and fake rivers. It’s notreallya fancy sort of place, but it seemed like the height of luxury to me as a child. My mom could never afford to take me, and she never had time anyway, but my best friend’s mom always made sure I came with when her family went. They’re some of my best memories. When I smelled this place earlier… I don’t know. It took me back.”
He sniffed at the air, and the skeptical look on his face made it clear he did not understand.
She laughed. “It’s cool if you don’t get it. A lot of humans would think I’m weird, too.”
“I do not think you’re weird.” She knew the word didn’t translate by the awkward way he repeated it. “I think you are perfect.”
The flush in her face deepened. She sat up, rubbing the back of her neck. “You say stuff like that way too casually,” she muttered.
“Is it wrong?”
“No, I guess not, it’s just…” She blew out a breath. “If you were a human guy, I’d accuse you of love bombing me, and I’d ghost you. But the way you say everything is just so… completely guileless.”
“Guileless? Do you think me foolish?”
“Not foolish,” she said. “Maybe a little naïve, but I’m afraid I find it kind of charming.”
His gaze sharpened. “You find me charming?”
Why did he look so calculating over such a small compliment?
“Maybe,” she replied elusively.
His tail thumped against the bottom of the table, rattling the empty dishes, and he quickly reached out to catch it in his fist. “Apologies.” He cleared his throat awkwardly.
She just grinned at him, exhaustion weighing down her eyelids.
“You are tired.”
“Yes.” She sagged against the cushions. “It’s been a lot. I… I feel guilty for resting. For all of it. Eating, laughing… letting you touch me.”
His ears perked, and he sat forward. “I have made you feel guilt?”
“No, Ren. You made me feel good,reallygood. It’s just… Thea’s up on some spaceship having god knows what done to her, half the crew are still missing, and the others are waiting for me to return with good news that I don’t have.”
“Is that why you pulled away? Your guilt?”
“Mostly,” she murmured, worrying the fringed edge of a velvety pillow.
The relief that sagged his shoulders compounded her guilt.
“I can’t give you what you’re looking for,” she said. The words were hard to get out, but they had to be said.
His eyes searched hers. “Why not?”
She bit her bottom lip and shook her head, afraid to tell him she was cursed, that she would bring tragedy down on his head, that she wasn’t sure she could bear the weight of one more life, one more failure. Rentir would try to talk her out of it, would convince her that it would all be okay. Cordelia would want to believe him. She would cave like a house of cards, desperate to accept the comfort and kindness he offered so readily.
“I just can’t,” she said.
To her dismay, her declaration did the opposite of what she’d intended. He didn’t look defeated, ready to give up on throwing his heart at a woman he’d only known for a matter of days.
No… he looked determined.
CHAPTER 26
