Page 61 of Her Alien Neighbor

“Well, go win her back.”

I shake my head. Of course, he would make it sound simple. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“You have seen the movies, Axil. Woo her.”

That, I believe I can do.

CHAPTER 16

VANESSA

Sam pulls into the driveway, and we both sigh in unison. Neither one of us is looking forward to the reunion tonight, but there’s no turning back now. We spent the entire day shopping, and at least we now both have dresses we’ll look cute in. I grab mine from the backseat and lean in through the passenger window. “So you’re going to pick me up in three hours?” I ask, looking at the time on my phone.

“Yup, go shower and get dolled up,” she says, trying to give me an encouraging smile. “Tonight is just one night. Then it’ll be over, and we’ll never have to do this shit again.”

“Ugh, fine,” I grumble dramatically. “See you later.”

“Bye, Vanillaaaa,” she shouts as she backs out onto the street.

I go inside and make myself a peanut butter, jelly, and chip sandwich with baby carrots on the side, just to calm my nerves. Plus, I have no idea if there’s even going to be food at this reunion, and I can’t face my rapist and my ex-friends on an empty stomach. There’s only so much trauma a woman can handle.

I check the weather on my phone, and it says we’re supposed to get snow tonight, hopefully one of the last storms of the year, but it isn’t expected to start until around ten. I’m planning to be home and drinking wine in my pajamas by then, so that’s fine.

Taking a peek outside the back door, I can’t help but smile when I discover Axil’s latest gift. We still haven’t spoken or seen each other since the night I saw him in his natural form, and that was four days ago, merely six days after first meeting him. After he left me the bag of pink Starburst, I started finding other little gifts on the step just outside the door.

There was a teddy bear holding a giant heart, then there was the basket of freshly baked bread, and last night he left me a tray with a piping hot burrito, homemade salsa, and a stack of peanut butter cups for dessert. I came very close to texting him after my delectable feast, but then deleted everything I had written and decided against it entirely.

I still don’t know what to say.Thank you for the burrito! I’d like to continue having sex with you, and maybe we could go on a date, but I’m going to pass on the marriage thing for now. Cool?doesn’t seem like the kind of response that would sit well with Axil.

I don’t want to hurt him by ignoring his sweet gestures, but I also don’t want to give him false hope either. I’m trying to see this from his point of view, though it’s difficult since he’s an alien. I have no knowledge of his culture or how things were done on Sufoi, but it’s clear by his proposal that relationships move quickly, and I should know by now whether I want to be his mate-slash-wife.

So what does it say about me that I still don’t know? Does it mean I don’t love him? That we aren’t meant to be? Or is my reluctance perfectly reasonable because no one in their right mind would marry a man they met only six days prior? The latter feels right, but when I think about saying no to marrying him, there’s a chunk of my heart that feels like it’s breaking. Axil is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. If we were to go our separate ways, I know I’d never forget him, and I doubt I’d ever find anyone who makes me feel the way he does.

A dull headache blooms in the center of my forehead, and a cat nap seems like the ideal cure, especially since it will give me a break from thinking about this. I finish my snack and head to the bedroom, grab a throw blanket from the foot of the bed, and crawl underneath it as I sink into the mattress.

Kyan’s words from two days ago continue to play on a loop in my head.“You do not have to know if you love him right now. You just need to decide if you can live without him.”

When he came over to spread Aunt Franny’s ashes on the edge of the patio in the side yard, he finished reading his letter to her, and I just blurted out, “I don’t know what to do about Axil.”

He lifted his head, blinked at me several times, and asked, “What do you want to do?”

Then he told me all about Luka and Harper, and what falling in love looked like from Kyan’s perspective. He seems to take himself very seriously and has the air of a corporate douchebag, but that day, he was anything but. He was thoughtful, an attentive listener, and genuinely seemed to care how I felt without expecting an answer from me on whether I’d marry his brother.

I didn’t expect him to put me at ease the way he did. And considering how terrified they must be knowing a human knows their secret and could easily blab to the entire town about it, I’m surprised he was nice to me at all.

Turning on my side, I let my gaze go unfocused as I look out the window. All I can see is Axil’s shed, which he doesn’t appear to be in at the moment. I watch the bushes planted around the exterior rustle in the wind, slapping against the side of the shed. My eyes start to feel heavy, and just as I’m about to let them close, I notice a piece of plastic sticking out from behind one of the shutters of Axil’s shed. It looks entirely out of place, given how tidy Axil keeps his little woodworking hut. What’s it doing there?

Hauling myself up, I lean against the nightstand, trying to get a better look. Then I realize it’s not just plastic. It’s a plastic bag, maybe? Or a strip of plastic wrap, but there’s something white inside of it.

Shoving my bare feet into my sneakers, I throw on my puffy jacket and race to the back door. Looking around for wandering neighbor aliens, I deem the coast clear and jog over to Axil’s shed to get a better look. The shutter is just for decoration. It doesn’t actually move, so it’s a struggle to yank the plastic out from behind it. As quietly, but also as quickly, as I can, I wiggle the plastic out from behind the shutter, and sure enough, there’s an envelope inside with my name on it.

A letter!

All you have to do is open your eyes, sweetheart.

She was telling me exactly where the next clue was. Right in front of my face!

Your life begins now, just be brave enough to start. Be willing to put yourself together as well as fall apart.

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