Page 23 of My Christmas Alien Mate

"Are you getting hungry?" she asked and pulled me toward a vendor.

Now that she mentioned it, I realized I was getting hungry. The different aromas in the air made my mouth water, even though I couldn't place them.

"Here, how about a hot dog? It'll warm our tummies. Oh, hi, Chris, are you one of the elves this year?"

Curiously, I eyed the female Amber had called Chris, who seemed about her age. She was dressed in a green and red dress, with a black belt, and striped, ridiculous-looking tight pants. Her cheeks were overly red, making me wonder if she was cold.

The most curious thing about her though were her long pointy ears. The only other species I had ever seen with ears like that were the Eneclates, but their skin was green and scaly. If this female was an Eneclate, her disguise wasn't very good. But then I noticed more people dressed similarly to Chris, with pointy ears, and when one took them off, I realized they were only some kind of accessory.

"Who is your friend?" Chris asked, eyeing me up and down.

"Oh, this is Galexor," Amber offered. "He and I are… friends from college. He's visiting for the holidays."

"Galexor, that's an unusual name. I like it. Hi!"

"Galexor, this is Chris, an old friend from school," Amber introduced.

"Hi," I replied. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She gave me a once over, and when she thought I wasn't looking, her eyes widened at Amber and she mouthed,wow, before she turned more solemn. "It must be lonely without your grandpa. I'm glad you invited afriend," Chris said, putting a strange emphasis on the word friend.

"Hi, Amber, I haven't seen you in ages," another female exclaimed in a shrill, loud voice. A group of males and females looking about the same age as Amber and Chris approached us.

"I've been thinking about you all alone in that cabin of yours," the same female continued. "I'm glad to see you invited afriend." She put the same emphasis on friend as Chris had and her eyes moved meaningfully to our still clasped hands.

"Hey. Yeah, it got kind of… lonely, so I invited Galexor. Galexor, this is Kasey, Alex, Robert, Stacy, and Maggie."

The group nodded at me, and I nodded back, trying to figure out who was who, but giving up as the only one of them I could identify by name, Kasey, continued. "I've been meaning to come by. I'm sorry. I wanted to invite you to our Christmas party. You and Galexor are, of course, both welcome."

"Thank you, Kasey, that means a lot," Amber said, but her tone didn't match her words.

"My dad said the bank is taking your place. That sucks, man," one of the males said, bobbing his head up and down.

While I tried to make sense of his words, one of the other females chimed in, "Yeah, they shouldn't be allowed to do that. That cabin has been in your family for what? Generations?"

I could tell that Amber was getting embarrassed, but thankfully Chris interrupted, "Here are your hot dogs. That's six fifty."

Six fifty, I figured meant six dollars and fifty cents according to what Amber had explained to me about the Earthling's money system, and I pulled out a twenty.

"Keep the change," I added with a grin because I had also learned it was customary to tip.

Chris's eyes lit up. I must have overtipped her. "Thank you."

Amber gave me a look, making me aware of what I had already realized, but I didn't care. The jeweler gave me a thousand five hundred dollars for my diamond, and I was happy with that. More so when I could make somebody else happy with it.

"Here, grab some water, on the house," Chris handed us two bottles.

"Thanks, Chris. We'll see you all later." Amber pulled my hand, obviously eager to get away from the group.

"Your friends?" I asked when we were out of earshot and found an empty bench, which turned out to be a small feat with all the people around.

"We went to school together," Amber said and bit into her hotdog, indicating she didn't want to talk about it.

I followed suit and took a bite too. The hotdog was a bit too chewy for my taste, but I liked the red stuff Amber asked Chris to put all over our food.

"So, you got some clothes. Is there anything else you want to shop for?" Amber asked between bites.

I would have liked to buy a few of the picture frames I saw in one of the stores earlier, but I could tell that Amber was getting eager to leave. So I shrugged. "We can come back another day."

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