Chapter 19
ALEC
Monday hadn’t come fast enough. Friday, my shift ran from one to nine, so I was there when the guy from the elevator came in with his mate for a game and informal dinner.
I felt really stupid for having crushed on him all week, thinking that the couple of times he popped in during the shifts I was there helping cover midmorning and lunch time bowlers, that he was there hoping to see me, that he’d felt the same instant attraction I had.
He’d waved at me, wiggling his fingers flirtatiously, or so I’d thought, and then left a few minutes later when he realized I had no time to stop and chat and he didn’t have anyone to bowl with.
Watching just how crappy his mate was at bowling, it all became crystal clear.
He’d come up here to work because he was newly mated and they must have just returned from their honeymoon or whatever.
I felt silly, thinking a hot guy like that would be into me.
I was twenty-three and looked it, thankfully not baby faced, while he was at least thirty.
Which was admittedly why I’d felt that rush of attraction, no doubt about it.
He was exactly my type, older but not old enough to be my dad, his golden brown hair neatly cut short with just enough length to the top to reveal its waves while providing potential grip, a plush lower lip that invited nibbles, a clear cut jaw line with crisp cheekbones, and arctic blue eyes all in one slim but not scrawny six foot package.
To add insult to injury, his mate was not only hotter than most of the other ridiculously sexy Mylos but also friendly.
Did he not realize how flirtatious he came across?
Especially when they came in again Saturday and stayed for four hours, nearly half my shift, and kept coming up for drink refills instead of using the vending machine.
Not to mention, more than once, I caught them sneaking glances at me, watching me work instead of paying full attention to the game they were playing.
Though as bad as that Kit guy was, Carl didn’t need to play his very best.
Well, at least my gaydar was still working, I guess, and it was Monday, which was my day off as I’d worked the weekend, so Monday and Tuesday were my free days. Winchell was working, so I had the whole day to veg out and go exploring the ship tomorrow.
“Xero, please put on Pokémon season one, Japanese with English subtitles. It may be listed as Pocket Monsters,” I instructed, sitting down on the sofa with a bowl of Fruit Loops.
“Here you go!” came Xero’s cheerful voice, the part of the wall directly opposite the sofa doing that weird thing where it became a TV screen.
“Good morning to you.” I frowned at the still image of the opening credits.
“Seeing as you slept in until nearly eleven, and your account indicates you haven’t yet checked your messages, I feel I should tell you that you are to report to Sickbay aboard the mothership promptly at one. ”
“I was going to check them after I ate and had a shower,” I informed him.
“It’s wise to check messages before eight-thirty in case any are time sensitive. You can always nap later,” he chided.
“It’s my day off, so I thought I was good to go!”
“Generally yes, but you still have various in-processing tasks that need completing, specifically your mate matching test.”
Oh. Thank God for that. For a moment, I was afraid that the medical exam I’d undergone the day of my arrival had detected my unruly blood pressure and the meds I took for it, and despite my paperwork being clear about it when I signed on, that they were going to let me go from the training program.
Which, now that I wasn’t freaking out a little, I realized was silly, as there were several disabled veterans in the program.
“Okay, um, what time do I need to go catch a flight over?”
“You can catch the shuttle at 11:45, 12:15, or 12:45, but I would not recommend the last one as it barely gives you enough time to get there and find your way on a different class of ship.”
It was ten minutes past eleven now, and I was not going to gulp down my cereal like a little kid running late for the school bus.
Nor was I going without a shower, so the 12:15 it was.
I could watch episode one while eating, put my dishes into the recycler, jump in the shower, get dressed, and have Xero light my way to the shuttle bay.
“Play this episode and then turn it off, please.”
“Understood.”
Check my messages before 8:30 indeed. Though I got his point.
While it was my day off from the bowling alley, I did have outstanding training sessions and the mate match thing due to be scheduled, and they could very well be on days I would have otherwise been off.
I just hoped that any class time I had on days I wasn’t scheduled to work led to me getting my work schedule altered so I still had days off that week.
I made a mental note to ask Xero about that later.
I could read my contract to find out, but asking was easier.
My bowl of cereal was soon empty, as was the glass of banana milk. I found myself getting antsy, despite knowing that the episode was nearly finished and I had time to shower, change, and get to the shuttle bay.
“Damn it,” I muttered. “Xero, stop the program. I’ll rewatch it this afternoon when I get back.”
“Okie dokie, smoky!” The screen vanished, and I hurried to take the dishes to the kitchen, quickly putting them in the replicator, pressing the button that recycled them back into base atoms for reuse later.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” I said, giving myself a pep talk as I walked to the bathroom. “The odds are millions, if not billions to one, I’ll even get matched. But, wow, if I did, they’d be my perfect other half.”
I began fantasizing about what my Mylos mate might look like as I stepped into the shower, then when that Kit guy’s likeness invaded my fantasy, I quickly reminded myself he might be a Dragonii, and I could end up completing my training while living and working on a colony world.
I knew what Dragonii looked like, and they were as sexy as the Mylos, only with their scales always on display and a tail.
A tail, which no doubt could be used during sexy times to do very naughty but extremely nice things.
Too bad my imagination was failing to give me even a vague notion of what my dream Dragonii mate might look like.
“Ugh!” I quickly rinsed off and stepped out, rubbing myself dry roughly before stalking over to my closet.
Even though the odds were against me being matched, I still wanted to look my best in case I won the Mate Lottery.
No way did I want my mate’s first look at me being in a worn to the point of threadbare softness T-shirt and baggy sweats or worn out jeans.
I didn’t want to look too overdressed either.
I quickly settled on the navy blue combat trousers and a white button down shirt with baby blue and pink thin lines in a sort of plaid pattern, which I paired with the pair of black Vans I kept for best. Then I quickly combed my hair, noting how the dark brown strands were now past my collar.
I needed to decide if I was going to get it cut or let it grow out, but that was something to mull over later.
Grabbing my data pad in case I needed it, I hurried out the door.
“Xero,” I called out. “Show me the way to the shuttle bay, pretty please.”
My watch began playing the theme tune to Sesame Street even as the corridor lit up to show me the way.
“Very funny!”
“Good luck!” Was all Xero had to say to that.
“Thanks. I think I really do hope to be matched.” Then I wouldn’t fall into more silly instant crushes, as my perfect fit would already be mine.
“Sending positive vibes, then, out to the Universe.”