Page 18 of Love Galaxy

I force my mouth to open, trying to ease some of the tension in my clenched jaw. I have never hit Roan in all my life. But here, now, my hands are clenched into fists, and if he does not back away from Briar quickly, I fear I will lose hold of my sanity.

“I don’t think it matters,” Briar replies with a laugh. “Whichever hand you’re most comfortable with. Your dominanthand.” And she reaches toward my eldest brother. “It’s nice to meet you too, Killan.”

Her laughter is a beautiful sound.

Killan thrusts a clump of Nufaral into Briar’s extended hand. “The best Nufaral in all the universe, grown fresh on our farm. Delicious.”

“Thank you?” Briar stares down at the clump of dried algae, clearly unsure about what to do with it, and an awkward silence fills the kitchen.

“Wrap it up,” John Smith hisses, waving his two hands in the air to catch our attention. “Come on. Everyone else, shake hands. Banter. Banter. Laugh! Ha ha ha.” He mimes laughing while sounding anything but happy.

Setting down the dried Nufaral, Briar shakes the hands of the two Females, and the two Females shake hands with my brothers. And the ritual is over before I have forced myself to release my fists, let alone extended a hand to join in.

I suddenly do not care about positively advertising the farm. I do not care about maintaining my distant composure in front of the cameras. All I desperately want is for LOVE GALAXY to be genuine. I want my promised twenty days with Briar. And I want to spend that time exploring the possibility that we could be compatible Mates. Even if it means millions of people will watch our courtship.

“Scudding fek. Good enough.” John Smith waves a limp hand at his assistant to step forward. “Time for Chloe’s summing-up. Ready? Oh, and try to add some spice. These so-called contestants need all the help we can give them.”

“Absolutely.” Chloe flashes startlingly white teeth and raises her microphone. “Get ready to be blown away by this brand-new season of LOVE GALAXY. We’ve met the girls. We’ve met the boys. Who do we think they will choose?” The pitch of her lastword drops, and I cannot tell if she is asking us a question or posing a query to our potential future audience.

Not wanting to risk missing my only chance, as I missed my chance to shake Briar’s hand, as I missed catching Briar when she’d tripped down the steps, I move forward. Again, I forget about the table and bump into it. Again, its feet scrape against the flagstones, and everyone stares at me.

“Briar.” Resolutely ignoring the color shift of my scales, from green to blue, I look straight at the closest camera. “I choose Briar.”

Chapter Ten

Briar

“Cut! You can’t made demands like that,” Mr. Smith growls at Sorin. “That isn’t how LOVE GALAXY works.

“Are there rules?” I ask, highly skeptical.

“Yes. You must get to know all the Females before picking your Mate on the last day of filming,” Mr. Smith concludes.

“Was kidnapping three innocent women and hauling them to a new planet against their wills part of your so-called ‘rules’?”

“What?” Killan stands, and his chair topples over. As the tallest one in the room, he cuts an impressive figure. “What have you done?” he demands of Mr. Smith.

Welp, I guess I let that cat out of the bag.

Harlee flinches. Lydia is glancing between everyone, as if she’s trying to gauge reactions.

Roan’s mouth is open. Mr. Smith crosses his arms. Chloe takes a half step to the left, making sure her boss is between her and Killan. She doesn’t look scared, though, more like she doesn’t want to risk messing up her perfectly curled and styled hair.

Yesterday, I’d asked Sorin to keep our abduction a secret because I’d been in shock. Because I’d needed time to think. I’ve done nothing but think for a night and day now, and all that thinking has confirmed one fact: I’m furious.

I’d also wanted to speak with Harlee and Lydia in private to discover their feelings about our predicament, but Mr. Smith hasn’t allowed us that privilege, so I’m going to throw my shit to the wind in public instead.

Sorin is the only one who doesn’t react. Rather, he remains standing by the other end of the table, so still he might have been a statue, except I can see the slow rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

I choose Briar, he’d said, looking straight down the lens of the camera.

He can’t have meant romantically, could he?

No. Of course not. We only just met yesterday, and he knows I’m not here of my own free will. I brush the uncomfortable thought away, resolutely ignoring how wonderful it had felt to be cared and carried by Sorin when I’d been on the verge of collapsing.

He probably picked me because we’re allies against Mr. Smith.I choose Briarmust have been Sorin’s way of showing his support for me and my cause. Bless him.

I watch Sorin out of the corner of my eyes, trying to channel some of his stillness. I can aim my insults with better accuracy if I keep a cool head through my fury.

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