Make Me Soar (Monster Match season two)

Chapter One

L ife sucked.

“Perry! Grab the beers from the fridge!”

Yanking the fridge door open and grunting from the effort—Dennis really needed to get it fixed—Perry Chapman grabbed four beers, then used his hip to shut it, followed by his foot. Walking into the living room, Perry handed the beers out, then sat on the only seat available and watched Dennis Wakeman shuffle the cards. Tonight was poker night, and Perry knew he had luck on his side. Sipping his beer, Perry sighed. The end of another hard week and he needed some downtime. Beer and friends were a damn good way of doing that.

“What’s the bet this week?” Aled Bancroft asked, his long blond hair sliding over his shoulders. His blue eyes twinkled, and he leaned forward on the chair, watching Dennis deal out the cards, his beer dangling between his spread legs.

“Whoever loses has to create a profile on the Monster Match app and go on a date.” Judd Grey grinned, waggling his black eyebrows as he rubbed his hands together. “I can’t wait to see who loses this! It’s going to be so much fun!”

“It could be you, Judd.” Perry arched his eyebrows. “It’ll be fun watching you go on that date.”

Shrugging, Judd took a mouthful of beer. “Doesn’t bother me.” Grinning, he added, “Any hole’s a goal!”

“Jesus, Judd.” Perry shook his head. How Judd managed to get any date was beyond him with a mouth like that, or maybe that was the reason. Judd always had a woman on his arm.

“Right. Poker, guys! The last person to win three games is the overall loser and has to go on a date with a monster.” Dennis laughed. “It won’t be me!”

Perry grinned. “And it won’t be me, either. I’ll enjoy watching whoever it is out of you three going on their first monster date.”

“I hope she has three tits!” Aled cupped his chest, pretending to fondle imaginary breasts as he made kissy faces.

“You need to stop reading those comics.” Dennis picked up his cards and moved them around, no expression on his face. He put two cards face down, then picked up another two. “Game on guys. Let’s do this.”

The first four games went well with Judd winning two and Dennis and Aled winning a game each. Perry wasn’t concerned. He’d lost the few opening games before, then come from behind to win overall, and that happened again when he won the next game they played.

“So, me, Aled, and Perry have all won a game each and Judd is up by two. One more game and Judd drops out.” Dennis scowled, then blanked his face as he shuffled the cards.

Judd grinned then stood. “Another beer?” They all nodded, and Judd disappeared into the kitchen. A minute later, he returned with four beers and passed them out as Dennis dealt another hand. Judd—the lucky bastard—won that one and cheered as he dropped out.

Dennis dealt the next hand for him, Aled and Perry and Perry watched, sipping his beer. He wasn’t concerned yet. They were all on one win each, so it could go either way. Perry looked at the cards he’d been dealt and managed to keep his wince to himself. He had a mixed bag of nothing and wasn’t surprised when Dennis won that round.

Perry and Aled won the next two games, so they all had won two games each. Perry rubbed his hands together, then picked up his cards, moving them around before dropping three and picking up the same number. It made no difference at all, and he wasn’t at surprised when Aled whooped and dropped down three kings. Dennis groaned and ran a hand over his face while Perry pursed his lips. This looked bad, but Perry was optimistic. He would win this and then he’d smile as Dennis went on his date.

Dennis grinned. “Just us two, Perryman, and I’m going to win.”

Rolling his eyes, Perry made a gimme sign with his hands. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Dennis dealt the cards, and Perry sighed with relief. Two Queens and two fours. Not bad at all. Dennis dropped two cards and picked up two. Perry dropped a one, then picked up a one. Snorting, he shook his head and waited for Dennis to show his hand.

“Two Queens and two fives.”

“Fuck,” Perry grunted, then showed his hand. Fuck. Just fuck. “Two Queens and two fours.”

Dennis whooped, then laughed as he shook his head. “That was too fucking close.” He picked up the cards and put them all together, then placed the pack on the table. Wiping a hand over his face, he grinned. “Thank fuck I didn’t lose.”

Perry groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. “Shit. I need another drink before I do this.” Perry smiled as the others laughed at him, then they all discussed who Perry could have a date with. “As long as she isn’t too freaky looking, I’ll be fine, and the bet is for one date and nothing more.”

“On her world, remember? Through the portal, you go!”

“Thanks, Judd. Really, thanks,” Perry muttered. Of course, they’d all laugh at him losing but he’d have done the same if one of them had lost. Yeah, he’d have been laughing his ass off. “Shit.”

Judd laughed again, along with Aled and Dennis. “You’ll be fine,” he assured Perry.

“I’ve never been off world before. What if I end up in some strange place?”

“You know we have safe zones in these off world places. You stay in them, and you’ll be fine. Pop over, have your date, then come back and we can all have a drink while you tell us all about it.” Judd nodded as if he agreed with what he’d said. “It’ll be fine, man. I mean, what can go wrong? You’ll be in a safe zone, and we have agreements in place. You’ll be there an hour. Two hours max.”

“I know.” Perry sighed. “I’m just…” Blowing out a breath, he shook his head.

“Nervous,” Aled finished for him. “I would be too and so would those two, no matter what they say. And I’ve been off world, so I can say you’ll be fine. Stick to the safe zone and nothing will happen. Go outside of those and you’re fucked.”

“Gee thanks. I’ll remember that. No going outside of the safe zones or you’ll be eaten alive.” Perry grunted and sipped his beer. He knew he’d be needing another one before the night was through, especially when he created his profile in the app. Just thinking about it made Perry break out in a cold sweat, his heart skip a beat, and his hands shake.

“It really isn’t that bad.” Aled nudged Perry. “The first time is scary because it’s new, but once you’ve done it, you realize there was nothing to be scared about.”

“What was your first time like?” Perry asked. Anything Aled told him that would help to ease the nerves he felt, Perry appreciated.

“A guard takes your details before you leave so they’ll know you’ve gone off-world. Apparently, going through the portal feels different for everyone because we can interpret sensations differently. For me, as I stepped through, it felt like a mild electric shock. One friend said he felt nothing at all, and another said they felt like their skin was tingling.” Aled shrugged. “You’ll be fine. Remember when you fractured your arm and thought nothing of it? You have a high pain threshold, so you’ll probably feel nothing.”

“The safe zone looks like an ordinary human town, at least the area I was in did. I guess if you move around, then you’ll notice differences, but I wasn’t there long. You’ll be fine. Enjoy it, then come back and tell us all about it.”

“Have another beer, then you can download the app.” Dennis stood and stretched, then rubbed a hand over his short brown hair. “The pizza’s here as well, so let’s drink, eat, then get Perry a date.”

“I think I hate you,” Perry grumbled.

Judd giggled and grinned. “If it was one of us going, you’d be laughing your ass off too, so suck it up.”

Judd was right. Grimacing, Perry nodded. “Fine. Let’s eat, then I can get this bit over and done with.”

Perry dived into his meat feast, trying to ignore the way his stomach churned. His appetite had deserted him, but he was going to eat the pizza anyway because he needed some comfort food, and to him, that was pizza. Shoveling another slice in, he drank some beer, then wiped his hands on some paper towels. Pulling out his phone, he found the app, licked his lips, then downloaded it onto his phone.

While that happened, he ate more food and drank more beer until he felt a nice, pleasant buzz running through his system. He needed that for what he was about to do next. A date with a monster. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought he’d be going on a date with a monster. A fucking monster! It was like fantasy novel shit or something, but here he was, about to actually do it.

Perry liked women. As in human women. Women with curves and tits and a pussy, and he knew what he was doing with a woman. A human woman. He knew how to talk to a human woman. What the hell would he talk about with someone or something that had never stepped foot on his planet? Or maybe they had, and they could find some common ground. What the hell did he know? Shit.

Finishing his pizza and another beer, he patted his stomach as he leaned back on the sofa. Aled grinned at him and wriggled his eyebrows. “Fuck off,” Perry groused. “It’s not funny.”

“You’ll be fine. You’re making more out of this than you need to. They have security in place, and they have rules as well. Plus, the laws they have. You’ll be fine and who knows, this woman… er, female might be nice. You could end up having the night of your life. We might not see you for days!”

Picking up his phone, Perry opened the app. “So, I need to create a profile, then I wait?”

“Pretty much. Let’s do this, lover boy!” Dennis burst out laughing when Perry flipped him off. “I can’t wait to see who you get matched up with.” Dennis waggled his eyebrows, then laughed again when Perry flipped him off with fingers on both hands.

“I’m overcome with excitement. Yay! I’m so excited, you bunch of fuckers.”

“Hey! You laughed your ass off when I had to strip naked and run through the park in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.” Aled used his beer to point at Perry. “Your turn now.”

“Okay! I’ll create my profile now.”

He spent a couple of minutes filling the required details, took a photo of him trying not to grimace or looking like he was about to shit himself, and uploaded it, then waited. He had fingers and toes crossed that he wasn’t matched with anyone, then he could get out of it. Wouldn’t be his fault if no alien monster female found him attractive. Some of those monsters were at least a foot taller than his own six feet. Imagine being with a female monster and she had to look down at you?

Perry slowly closed his eyes and breathed. He needed to relax. “How long before we say this is over?” Opening his eyes, he glanced at the other men. “What if in, say, twenty-four hours I don’t have a match? Can we call this bet over and done with?”

Judd shrugged. “I think that’s fair. We can’t leave it open-ended.” Judd grinned then added, “and who’d want to date your ugly ass?”

“Right, so this time tomorrow, we call it quits.” The other three nodded. “Awesome.” Only twenty-four hours until freedom. He could cope with that. Just about. Maybe. He’d have everything crossed and even pray to God that there was no match. He needed there to be no match because—

“Your phone beeped.” Dennis leaned forward. “Have you had a match already? Holy shit! Let’s see if you have.”

Perry’s chest tightened, his stomach like lead, and he picked up his phone, unlocking it. The notification showed the app, and he groaned as he picked it. The app opened and there it was, a match. A female monster had clicked his profile and liked it. “Fuck.”

“Bring her details up. I want to see her.” Dennis leaned over Perry, trying to see his phone screen.

Perry clicked on the profile and stared, then stared some more because... “She’s a female?” He couldn’t tell. The features were androgynous. He squinted and looked closer but still couldn’t decide.

“Er…I guess?” Dennis took Perry’s phone and peered at the screen. “Says it’s a female, so yeah?”

“I guess you’ll find out. Message her.” Judd stared at Perry’s phone, his eyebrows drawn together. “Say something like ‘Hi! How are you?’ Keep it simple.”

Perry typed what Judd suggested, then waited. Five minutes later, he heard the beep telling him he’d received a reply. With shaky hands, Perry blew out a breath, then read out the response. “‘Hi! I’m good. How are you? Would you like to come to my world?’ That’s quick.”

“Type back that you’d love to go to her place,” Dennis suggested, the others nodding in agreement.

Perry did, then sat waiting, his leg bouncing. “She’s replying.” He read the message out again. “‘I would like you to come here. When are you free?’”

“Tell her whenever you are. Let me know when and we can meet.” Judd pointed at Perry’s phone. “Go on.”

Perry did then waited again. “Shit.”

“I didn’t think it would happen this fast,” Dennis murmured, his green eyes wide. “Did you guys?”

“No. I thought tomorrow at the earliest.” Judd shrugged.

“Fuck, man.” Aled grinned. “I think this is exciting.”

“It’s not you having to date… er, something?” Perry once again looked at the photo. “I think I can see some, er, femaleness?” Maybe he could, or was he imagining it?

More messages, and Perry sat staring at his phone. “Next Friday. Shit. This is real. This is really happening.” Perry took several deep breaths, feeling his heart rate pick up.

“It is. You have a date with a monster!” Dennis cackled. “Woohoo!”

“Yeah. Woo fucking hoo,” Perry grunted. Great. He had no idea what he was going to do or what to say. this could be the worst thing that had ever happened to him. What the hell was he going to do? They’d agreed to meet in a restaurant. Would it even serve human food and drink, or was he going to have to try some weird alien dish?

Life sucked. Life really sucked.