Page 55 of Alien Wants A Wife

“Do you think we don’t know what you and Roan were doing, hiding in the woods?” Chloe asks.

I jump, clutching my jumper firmly to my breasts. “What the fuck?” Looking around the bedroom, I double check I am, indeed, alone. Then I point at the closest camera. “Do you mind? I’m getting dressed!”

“So what?” She dismisses my concern, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

One-handed, I step into my panties and wiggle them up my legs, a job made harder by how wet my skin still is.

“You can’t drag him into the woods and ravish the virgin off-camera,” she continues. “That wasn’t part of our deal.”

“So LOVE GALAXY is a porno?”

There’s a pause while I try putting on my bra without giving the cameras an eyeful and while Chloe is presumably surprised by the force of my question. It’s definitely the most direct I’ve been with her since we met, but I really can’t stomach any more of her bullshit today.

“Don’t be that girl,” she snaps, breaking the silence. “You knew what you were getting into when you signed your contract.”

“No, I didn’t.” I lower my voice, not wanting Roan to overhead. “You literally drugged and abducted me!” I hiss.

“That’s old news. If you’re going to be successful in life, Harlee, you’ve got to stop obsessing about stuff that’s already happened. You can’t change it.”

“You can’t seriously be telling me to just get over?—”

“You’re still obsessing over your ex-boyfriend and now this. Boohoo. Nobody likes a crybaby.”

“What?” Her mention of Asher throws me for a number, and her insult feels like she looked inside of me and saw my biggest fear.

Don’t be that girl. Nobody likes that girl.

Nobody likes you.

I draw a deep breath, angrier than I’ve been in years. Certainly visibly angrier than I’ve let myself be in a very long time. I’m shaking again, and my face is burning. I’m so furious I can hardly think of what to say. All my possible responses are swirling around my head so fast they’re bumming into each other and tangling together into one giant mess that’s probably going to result in me spluttering indecipherably.

“D-Don’t—” I struggle to corral my emotions.

Chloe laughs.

“D-Don’t you dare bring Asher into this.”

But it’s like Chloe doesn’t hear me. Even though it cost me so much effort to shape my emotions into something resembling self-determination.

What she says instead is: “Zip it, Harlee. You’ve got no excuses for what you did today, hiding in the forest. Don’t hide like that again, or?—”

“Or what?” I demand.

“Or I’ll tell everybody about our deal. I’ll tell them about your betrayal and how fucking selfish you always are. And—” She pauses in that way of hers that makes it clear she knows exactly what she’s going to say next and is making you wait for dramatic effect. “If you don’t have the stomach to break Roan’s heart on camera, then I’ll do it for you. And it will be so much worse for him coming from me.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Roan

“Hey,” Lydia says, entering my kitchen. “You left this behind.” She raises the datapad she is holding, showing me, before setting it on the table.

“Thank you.”

“You alright?” Lydia frowns as she studies me, hands on her hips.

I look down at myself, searching for what has caught her attention.

“You look depressed,” she clarifies.

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