Page 80 of I'm Not Your Pet

Soft?

It looked comfortable.

My hands clenched into fists and I tore my gaze away—trying not to be floored by how goddamn pretty that dress was. And how much I wanted it.

I came from an average-sized city. It wasn’t big enough for true crime, but wasn’t small enough to avoid it. Our home had sat between the train tracks and a drug store that got robbed at least four times a year. There were cops that patrolled the block. And the gate that guarded our community—that my father claimed was a symbol of wealth—had only been in place because they wanted to avoid break-ins.

We’d had a nice house, but that had hardly mattered.

For fuck’s sake, my high school had only had one working water fountain. They’d claimed they would fix the others—but they’d sat with “out of order” signs the entire time I’d been in school.

Harvard was supposed to be my way out of that life.

And yet here I was…somewhere far more extraordinary.

Somewhere that shouldn’t bereal, but somehow was.

As I stood there, staring at the wonders around me, I felt something inside me settle.

Was it awful of me to be grateful I’d been taken? I know,I know.I shouldn’t thank A&R for their abduction. Shouldn’t thank them for dropping me off on F’ukYuu when they decided I wasn’t smart enough for my original purpose.

But I kinda wanted to anyway.

I’d never seen anything more spectacular in all of my life.

And without their interference I never would’ve been here. Never would’ve met Roark—or Ushuu, or Mala, or seen the things I was about to see.

There were so many options, I couldn’t possibly guess what Roark had had in mind for this little outing, so I didn’t stress myself out trying. Instead, I people-watched for a few minutes longer.Alien-watched?

If I’d thought the population down at the docks was eclectic, this was a goddamn zoo.

So many shops. So many creatures. All going about their day with their arms laden with shopping bags and the titter of a multitude of languages clogging the air like tinkling bells.

“Do you like it?” Ushuu asked. To his credit, he and Mala had been more than patient as I processed our surroundings.

There was a white flash and I blinked away spots as I turned to look at the older shark-man only to discover his communicator was pointed straight at me. Like he had just taken apicture. The device was round rather than rectangular, but it didn’t take a genius to recognize it for what it was. It was funny, back on Earth we’d called them cellphones but here they functioned on an intergalactic level, so I guess it made sense they had a different name.

The Manager had one of those too, not that I’d ever gotten close enough to admire it.

For a second, I had the oddest intrusive thought—of me with a rock, smashing The Manager’s communicator like a monkey shelling a nut so that I could get at the tech inside.

I bit back a smile, watching Ushuu curiously to figure out why he’d just photographed me.

Ushuu tapped something on his screen, and I practically salivated as I observed the device up close. I hadn’t seen Roark use one the entire time we’d been together, though I figured hehad to have one for work somewhere, didn’t he? He had a tablet. That was similar—though it didn’t do phone calls.

I wanted both.

Badly.

So I could pick them apart and see how they worked.

Also, maybe then I could send Roark pictures myself. It took me a second, but I figured out what Ushuu must be doing. He was nosy and sweet, and I had a feeling my own big pink monster would get a kick out of the stunned expression I’d been making since he couldn’t be here to see it himself.

Roark was sweet like that.

And for some reason, he seemed to like me. A lot.

Liked to see me giggle and smile.

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