Love Galaxy (The Intergalactic Dating Show #1)

Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

Briar

“ K illan.” Sorin sounds surprised as his older brother’s face appears on the tablet. “Where is Roan?”

“Busy,” is all Killan says in answer, evidently his usual charmingly grumpy self.

“Are the other Females there?” Sorin seems to expect no less of his brother and ignores his rudeness as if unbothered by it. “Briar wishes to speak with them.”

“I do!” I straighten and release Sorin’s shoulders so I can more fully face the tablet. Although I can’t see my own face, I presume Killan can see both Sorin and I, for his scowl deepens.

“Lydia,” he grumbles. The picture changes, and for a moment we’re staring at the blank ceiling. There’s muffled conversation, maybe two people arguing. It’s hard to hear. And then the screen focuses on Lydia’s face as she takes the tablet from Killan.

“Hey?” Her greeting sounds a little like a question, as if she’s concerned about the reason for the call. “You’re all wet.”

“Hi!” I grin. “I’m so pleased to see you, again.”

Sorin stands, easily lifting me in his four arms, and then he sets me in the empty chair. “I will leave you to talk.” He raises a hand in greeting to Lydia and walks into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

I want to follow so I can tell him how amazing he is. Equally, I want to ask Lydia a million questions about what’s been happening since Sorin and I were sent away, and I kind of want to tell her about everything Sorin and I have gotten up to. I honestly didn’t realize how much I missed having a girl friend to talk to until I saw Lydia, and now tears are threatening.

“What’s wrong?” Lydia demands, the lines around her mouth hardening. “What’s he done?” Her arms flex, and I notice for the first time how ripped she is. She for sure lifted weights back on Earth. I imagine her trying to take on Sorin. Even she wouldn’t be strong enough, not when the Ril’os have at least two feet of height on us and are nearly twice as thick. Still, Sorin is such a gentleman, he wouldn’t fight back. So, yeah, Lydia would definitely win.

“No.” I’m laughing. Or maybe I’m crying. Fuck knows. “Everything’s good. We’ve been swimming.” And much more. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too,” she says. “I’ve been talking with Killan and Roan, trying to learn everything I can about LOVE GALAXY. Roan is the only brother who seems to have watched any of the previous seasons, and he had no idea we were going to be abducted when he signed up to do the show.”

“Sorin was pretty pissed when he found out too.” I squirm on my chair, suddenly uncomfortable as I realize how little thought I’ve lately given to returning home. The more time I spend with Sorin, the more heartbroken I’m going to be if I’ve got to leave.

Do you have to leave? I silently ask myself. You could admit Mr. Smith was right and marry Sorin. Marry Sorin. Those two words run around and around my head. Could I stay here on Ril II for the rest of my life, with only Sorin and his two brothers for company?

There are no shops here. No cinemas or theatres. No restaurants or cafes or bars or takeout. No iced lattes or hot chocolates. No libraries or parks or trees. No hospitals. No dogs. Fucking hell, no dogs!

Lydia glances over her shoulder to where a camera’s clipped to the kitchen counter and pointing straight at her. “Harlee and I tried sneaking onto Smith’s ship when he wasn’t around,” she admits to me in a whisper. “To see if we could take a look at the control room, we couldn’t get the door to open. It’s like Smith said. There is some kind of invisible lock that will only open for him.”

“That’s surely not his real name. John Smith.” I feel weird calling him John , like he’s a regular guy. At least the name Mr. Smith has the potential to make him sound like the villain he is.

Now it’s my turn to glance at the closest camera. That Mr. Smith hasn’t tried disrupting this conversation is concerning. Either he’s currently distracted or he has already decided not to include this footage of Lydia and I talking in a LOVE GALAXY episode.

Or, more concerning, he wants us to be having this conversation.

“Nooo.” Lydia stretches the word out, clearly thinking. “I wonder why he doesn’t want anyone knowing who he is. Killan and I—” she frowns as she says his name—“tried looking him up. There’s this search engine; I guess it’s a bit like Google. But we couldn’t find anything about Smith. The show is being produced by a company called Reality Investments, but when we tried finding out more about them we found nothing on their website about who owns the company or who’s profiting off the show. It’s almost like they’re a shell company. Which reminds me. Have you seen the trailer for our season yet?”

“I didn’t realize it was out.” It never occurred to me I could watch myself, probably because the idea gives me the creeps. I’d much rather watch algae grow. I put my feet on the chair and draw my knees to my chest. “Do you think he’s going to show the audience how he abducted us, or will that bit get left out of the show?”

“There wasn’t anything about Earth in the ads,” Lydia says. “I bet he’ll leave out the fact we were abducted. What he did can hardly be legal.”

“It’s not. Sorin told me. Apparently there’s this intergalactic organization that acts like a police force and tries to stop people from being abducted.”

“What a great job they’re doing.” Her voice rings with sarcasm. “Smith isn’t acting like someone afraid of getting into trouble with the law.”

“Unless that’s why he’s keeping his identity a secret.” I imagine it’d be pretty easy to evade the authorities when nobody knows who you are, when you work for a shell company and when you can travel across multiple galaxies.

“I don’t buy it.” Lydia wrinkles her nose.

“I’m only guessing. TV is big business back on Earth, so imagine how much a successful show would make in outer space, across thousands of planets,” I speculate. “Do you know when the first episode is airing?”

Lydia shrugs. “Soon, I guess. Our faces are all over the internet—or whatever the alien equivalent of the internet is out here. I forget what it’s called.”

I wrap my arms around my knees. “That’s so creepy.” Bad enough, I’d thought, that my face was going to be all over Australian TV. Now we’re going to be watched by potentially millions or billions, or even trillions, of aliens across multiple galaxies.

Thinking about it makes my head swim.

“Agh!” The sound that comes out of my mouth when I spot Chloe in the background of Lydia’s call isn’t one I’d describe as ladylike.

Hearing me, Chloe changes direction, stepping closer to the tablet. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, too, Briar.” She practically spits my name, like a snake spitting venom. “Where’s your boyfriend?”

“His name is Sorin,” I correct her just so I can be as obtuse as possible. “And he’s in the other room.”

“Sick of you already.” She laughs.

“No.” I snap my mouth shut. Who the fuck cares what Chloe thinks?

My reaction makes her laugh louder.

“Why Humans and Ril’os?” I ask her. “What was the reason for picking us?” And I gesture between Lydia and me. I hate that it’s Chloe I’m coming to for answers, but when I’d ask Mr. Smith this same question, back when all six of the contestants had first confronted him about the abduction, his answer had been less than forthcoming. He’s been too busy reminding us that he’s the only one with a working spaceship.

“Yeah.” Lydia looks at Chloe. “I want to know, too. Why us?”

Chloe sighs, like us asking her a simple question and expecting an honest answer is the worst fucking thing that’s ever happened to her. “Because,” she says in a drawl, “do you remember those medical tests you took before being accepted?”

Lydia winces.

So do I. I’m not likely to forget. Blood tests, urine tests, sexual health tests—we did them all. Talk about invasive. I’d loathed every second but had been too desperate not to go through with them.

“We were checking for compatibility between Humans and a few other species. It so happens that Ril’os sperm acts in much the same way as Human sperm.”

“Gross!” Lydia claps a hand over her mouth.

“That’s why you brought us here? Sperm?” I ask, dubiously.

“Surprise pregnancies make for thrilling TV, even in outer space.” Chloe grins.

I’d very much like to hit somebody—that somebody obviously being Chloe. And Mr. Smith, too. What fucking losers they are, hoping we’d unknowingly get pregnant, for shits and giggles. Sorin and I haven’t had penetrative sex yet, thank God. But we very easily could have.

“Yeah, well, you realize you’re not going to get a pregnancy storyline now we know?” I’d have thought that was obvious.

“Don’t care.” She rolls her eyes. “We’re getting enough juicy footage regardless.”

“You’re a real bitch,” I tell her, throwing my words like stones.

Of course she doesn’t look hurt in the slightest by my insult. She collects a cup of water from the kitchen and waves bye, giving her perfectly curled, perfectly blonde hair a little flick in a way that seems to shout I’m so much better than you, losers.

“How can you stand her?” I ask Lydia, not caring if Chloe is still within earshot.

“I’ve seen people do crazier stuff for money.” Lydia shrugs, like she’s got bigger things to be worrying about. “You know what I think?” She lowers her voice until I’m straining to hear. “Harlee’s got a crush on Roan.” And she shudders, like the idea’s repulsive.

Well, this is awkward.

“This is a dating show. That’s kind of the point.” I know my answer is weak before Lydia gives me a you idiot look.

“Nobody back home signs up for these shows because they actually think they’ll fall in love,” she says. “It’s about all the Instagram followers.”

“You’d better tell her about the sperm thing.” I say, proud that my voice sounds normal.

Something about my expression, though, must tip her off because Lydia narrows her eyes. “What?” she demands.

“What?” I feign innocence, blinking.

“Tell me.” She pokes a finger at the screen. The image is so crisp I flinch; it’s almost like she’s in Sorin’s kitchen with me.

“It’s nothing serious. Nothing to worry about.”

“But?”

“But maybe I’ve got a bit of a crush on Sorin. A really tiny one.” I hold up my hand and pinch my forefinger and thumb close together, leaving a crack of space between them.

“Oh gods.” Lydia slumps down in her chair, staring up at the ceiling like she’s imploring the gods to grant her sanity. “Not you, too.”

Yes, me too. “I couldn’t help it.” This time, I hear the whining note in my voice. “And trust me, I tried really, really hard to help it. It happened despite my better judgement. Sorin’s really?—”

“Spare me the details.” Crossing her arms, she slouches even lower. “Look. I don’t care if you and Harlee decide to stay or whatever. That’s completely up to you, but as soon as our twenty days are up, I’m demanding Smith take me back to Earth. I want to get the fuck away from here.”