Chapter 16
"Neen, if he had tried to come through that door last night, I would have kicked him right in the tentacles," I said, stepping out of the walk-in closet and tossing another outfit on the bed next to me.
I liked silver for her, as it made her matchy-matchy with her Boy Toy.
"This thing is stuffed. I feel like I'm shopping at a mall boutique, not going through a closet.
The fact that the tail holes are sewn shut is a nice touch, but why are they all in our sizes? "
I turned and dove back into the closet, trying to hide the feeling of delight I knew was on my face. Why did stirring up trouble make me feel so happy?
"He keeps the tentacles inside of him, wrapped around his peen," Arnina said. "And I hear you, but I still feel like it would have been nice if he had followed me. I know it is silly, freaking out at a guy and then wanting him to follow you, but still."
I stuck my head back out and threw something ochre at Arnina.
"You screamed at him and burst into tears after he got you off," I pointed out. "If you said yes as many times as you insisted you did, that ain't on him to chase after you. Plus, I would have yanked those tentacles out and then kicked him."
"He's like a Norse god had a baby with... um..." she hesitated.
Oh, what a fun one.
"With the predator from Alien versus Predator and then cut off its hair and wrapped it around his-" I added.
"STOP!" She put up both her hands. "No! Oh no! My point is you couldn't get your hands on his tentacles, let alone kick him there without him stopping you. He is really strong."
"Wanna bet?" I grinned, my mischievous feeling swelling up in me.
Oh, that might have been too far.
Making a joke about me trying to seduce her alien boyfriend might be a bit too soon.
"Cut it out, seastar," she crossed her arms. "Why are you pushing on this? You know I have a thing with him. You literally saw us together. Even though this whole thing is literally out of our world, you know I would be upset if you actually meant what you were saying."
Anger flashed through me suddenly.
"How do you know I don't mean what I'm saying, Neen?" I demanded.
She needed to just spit it out.
She avoided my eyes, staring at the floor.
"I'm sorry," she said really quietly.
"For what?" I was not going to let her wiggle out of this.
She needed to acknowledge it, to say it out loud.
"I…"
A knock on the door interrupted her.
"Get the door," I said. "But we're not done here."
"I know," she said meekly. "I am really sorry, though."
"I know, Neen." I grinned at her, trying to shake off the bad vibes. "If I didn't know that, I wouldn't have asked you to go on that trip with me."
She gave a little sigh and didn't respond. Instead, she slid the door open to reveal her Boy Toy standing there.
She ducked under his arm.
"Time to start the day!" she called out to him as he turned to follow her. She was completely and utterly focused on him, just as he was on her. They went to go stand next to the giant window wall. I was a third wheel to the nth degree.
"I bet you have lots of things planned,” she cooed at him.
I took a big shuddering sigh.
I couldn't be here anymore with her.
I had tried to play it off, like her inability to fully put into words this sore spot between us was okay, that it was something that could wait for her to be ready, but it wasn't.
I had been waiting for her to acknowledge it for two years.
I had been waiting for her to say that she made a mistake.
That she should have trusted me over her brand new boyfriend.
She should have believed me.
It fucking hurt that she didn’t. Even after years of space in between us, the pain hadn’t gone away.
Neither had the desire for her to see me, believe me, and apologize.
Sorry was a good step, but there was a whole staircase of relationship repair ahead and she was just standing there looking up at it. No, she wasn't even looking at it.
She was looking at her brand new Boy Toy.
I didn't exactly blame her. This situation we were in was a lot. Glomming onto the hot guy who saved her and took care of her was understandable. That thought struck me. Maybe that was what I was feeling towards Zale. Maybe I was just gravitating towards him because he was taking care of me. Maybe we didn’t have a real connection.
I brushed those thoughts away.
No matter what it didn't mean it felt great for her to brush me off like that.
Maybe that was always the way she was; I just had a different idea of who she was in my head that I had held onto for years.
I needed to get out of here.
"I need a little space, so I'm going to explore today instead of doing whatever your lover boy has planned." I called out to Arnina as I left the room. I gave the fishbowl another longing glance.
I could go swimming later.
Now I just needed to get some space.
Zale was standing out near the archway that led to the shaft, looking at his wrist unit. He was tapping on a display that was holo projected above it. When I walked out of the room, he shut it down and turned to focus completely on me.
His outfit was a lot different from than the uniform he was wearing the other day.
His black leather trousers matched his fur and tail.
A silver vest covered his pecs and stretched in small strips over his abs, leaving an open space in the middle and on the sides.
Over the open sides and fronts were additional straps that held the silver fabric together.
It was skin-tight on the parts that covered his bare skin and loose where it fell over the fur that covered his back.
Silver rings circled the end of his tail, and the tips of his ears were dusted in silver.
His eyes fell on me, and he turned his entire body towards me.
Had he dressed up to see me?
I made a beeline straight for him.
"You and me, buddy, let's go up there," I said to him. "Let's go."
I didn’t care where we went.
It was time to go somewhere.
It was time to explore.
He sang something out to the Boy Toy and then followed me through the archway. As I walked over to the edge of the ledge, he came up behind me and scooped me up in his arms. I rested my head back against his chest as he leaped, carrying me up to the top without hesitating.
At the top, he set me down, and I smiled at him.
If Arnina was going to focus on her Boy Toy, maybe it was time I focused on myself.
"Take me somewhere," I said. "Anywhere."