3. Clay
Chapter Three
CLAY
I fell back into bed with a smile on my face.
I'd been in a good mood since morning and even celebrated by going to the gym after work and then treating myself to dinner.
Yes, I was exhausted from getting up so early, my body wasn't used to it, but I was still riding the high from the look on Onasal Kort's face when he saw me sitting there this morning.
True, I had been momentarily irritated by his smart response, but after my annoyance had faded, I'd realized that I had won .
It was a small interaction, and I really shouldn't be trying to one-up my boss, but damn, it felt good.
Pulling out my phone, I went through my contacts, wanting to tell someone about it.
None of my friends would really get it and we weren't the type to call and chat anyway, usually we just texted to meet up when we needed a catch up. And the only other people who would get it were my work friends and Lloyd had already seen the whole interaction and rolled his eyes at me while Mila from the cubicle on the other side had giggled about the look on Mr. Kort’s face.
At least someone got it.
Sighing, I flipped into the Alien Mates app, seeing that I had a couple notifications. I was surprised. My notifications had more or less dried up since I'd switched my PFP to an artsy black and white photo looking out at the busy street from inside my favourite cafe downtown. The one that made me late every morning.
Oh yeah, I'd been in the middle of chatting with that Krylian last week and had completely forgotten.
I grimaced, realizing that I'd ghosted him in the middle of a conversation. His last two messages were hello?are you here?
Whoops. I felt a bit bad, but truthfully, the conversation hadn't been that interesting anyway... and I was a little apprehensive about quick hookups with aliens ever since the scaley one .
It had seemed like such a fun, adventurous thing to do at the time, but it turned out that not knowing what to expect between the legs was more than a little unnerving in the moment.
I'd shown up and got hot and heavy with the dude straight away even though his scales were a lot colder than I'd expected.Then, by the time our pants were down, and I was panting for it, I'd found out that it included what looked like teeth. Or at the very least fangs that circled the base. And yes, he'd used them to bite into my flesh while he was inside me.
A quick breakdown, followed by a not-so-quick emergency room visit had left me somewhat turned off of dating aliens.
Shivering, I swiped out of theKrylian's DM's which took me back to the main viewing page and another alien's face for me to swipe up or down to.
Despite myself, I found myself swiping.
I could admit that their exotic looks were often a turn-on for me. Maybe I should just ask for pics first , I mused.
My butt clenched in response, and I chuckled. It would be a while before I let anyone near my ass again.
But maybe I could take it slow. I could always just chat with someone first.
No sooner did I think it than a blank profile popped up for someone in my area.
The username made me smile considering what I'd just been thinking about.
MoreThanJustTheHorns didn't have a proper profile picture. Instead, he'd used a generic picture of the skyline.
Normally I wouldn't give someone the time of day if they didn't have a picture of themselves, but I was in no position to judge.
I clicked on his page and read the brief bio. Hm. He was just looking for friends. Worked for me. I was bored and wanted to chat with someone, so I swiped up for the sake of it.To my surprise, a moment later I got a match. He was online.
I went straight to the messages, already smiling.
More than the horns, huh? I guess that means you're pretty hot.
So much for not flirting right off the bat, but I couldn't help myself.
What makes you say that?
Only the good-looking ones want people to see their inner beauty first ;P
Then you must be a knockout considering your picture is just blurry cars driving by.
In the rain. It's artistic. Clearly.
There was a momentary pause in which I hoped I'd at least earned a smile.
Is that what you want people to know about you? That you're deep and artsy?
I arched a brow and snorted.
Hell no. I just liked that picture and it was the only one I could use from my phone roll that didn't scream 'come eat me'.
I chewed my thumb while I watched the dots on the bottom of the screen start then stop and then start again.
You don't like to be eaten?
I laughed at the question and then groaned. This was my whole damn problem. Flirting was fun.
Oh, I do...
I just need a break from all that.
I thought of Mr. Scales again and shuddered before adding, Like you, I just want to get to chat .
So, let's chat. Tell me about yourself.
I blanked.
I always blanked when people asked me about myself. There wasn't much to say.
I'm pretty boring. I work a 9 to 5. I don't go out much and I'm taking a break from dating.
You're not alone. My one and only friend thinks I need to get out more. All I do is work.
I shook my head in understanding.
In this city, you kind of have to if you want a roof over your head and a coffee every morning.
A couple of things were niggling at me as we chatted but since he seemed to be so open, I figured I may as well not hold back.
You seem really easy to get along with. No offense to the other aliens on this app but some of them are kind of clueless when it comes to humans. How is it you only have one friend?
I've been here since I was a kid. Went to human school and everything.
I raised a brow, surprised, reading as he went on.
I feel more human than anything at this point. I barely relate to my home planet anymore...
But I do find it really hard to make friends. Always have.
“Hm.”
Who would have thought? I didn't think I knew of any aliens who had been here for so long. He must have come to earth in one of the earliest waves. It sounded lonely.
In all honesty, I think it’s the horns.
I laughed at the unexpected joke even though it was clear he was just trying to diffuse the mood.
Or the sexy aura. You're not fooling me. You just keep intimidating everyone with those good looks.
He reacted with a crying laughing face.
More like grumpy aura. I've been told I should smile more.
I rolled my eyes.
I hate that BS. You should feel however you feel.
Oh, I do. But a smile here and there would probably help my secretary stop pissing her pants every time she comes into my office to talk to me.
I laughed.
Oooh, now I'm intrigued. You know I'm going to be up all night trying to figure out what you look like.
Not interesting enough to lose sleep over, I promise you.
Smiling, I settled down into my pillow realizing that no matter what he said, I wasn't going anywhere so long as Mr. Horns kept talking to me.
He was sweet.
Sweet enough that that syrupy feeling filled my chest and the smile fixed permanently onto my face.
Oh my god. I was developing a crush, and I didn't even know what the guy looked or sounded like.
I was ridiculous.
Oh well.
I'm intrigued. Tell me everything about you. Starting with your arrival on earth.
He reacted with another laughing face but didn't argue with my request.