Page 27 of Secretly Abducted
"Same thing." I watch a school of silver fish spiral past. "He said goodbye was for the best."
"Fear makes people say things they don't mean," Tev'ra offers.
"Or maybe he meant it. Maybe he realized I'm too much, too pushy, too human."
"You are all of those things," Finn says, and I throw a pillow at him. "But that doesn't mean he doesn't want you."
"He literally had me removed from his dwelling."
"After you propositioned him before breakfast."
"It wasn't a proposition! It was a suggestion."
"Alex." Finn gives me his 'be serious' look. "You were playing with his waistband."
"Barely!"
"After knowing him for one day."
"Fine! I moved too fast. Happy?"
"The question is," Tev'ra interjects, "what will you do now?"
I sit up, draining my second drink. "Get drunk on alien booze and eat ice cream until I explode?"
"After that."
"I don't know. He was pretty clear about not wanting to see me again."
"He was clear about being frightened," Tev'ra corrects. "Very different things."
"You think I should try again?"
"I think you should give him time to process, then approach differently."
"Differently how?"
"Less physically forward, perhaps. Focus on connection rather than attraction."
"But the attraction is part of the connection!"
"For you. For someone who's been isolated for a decade, it might be terrifying."
I flop back again, staring at the water. A massive shadow passes nearby—probably one of those manta things.
"I came here to thank him," I say quietly. "That's all I meant to do. Thank him for saving my life. But then he was so sweet and awkward and gorgeous, and when he held my hand it felt... right. Like something clicking into place."
"That's lovely," Tev'ra says. "Did you tell him that?"
"I told him I wanted morning sex."
"Not quite the same message."
"I'm bad at slow," I admit. "I see something I want and I go for it."
"Vel'aan isn't something you can acquire through determination," Tev'ra says gently. "He's a person who needs time, patience, understanding."
"I can be patient."
