Page 14 of Hooked on the Otter Doctor
“Don’t be coy. Spill!”
“No, seriously, I showed up to class, and he was there with a whole lot of other Norlons and a couple humans from Canada, I think.”
“I don’t care about the Canadians, Tobias.”
“Well, I’m just saying that it wasn’t anything I did. I walked in, started the class like I always do, and Halaby… He sort of had a reaction. To my scent.”
“What were you wearing?”
“Just a sweater and?—”
“No, the cologne! What one?—”
“I wasn’t wearing anything like that. It’s justme, the scent ofme.”
Svein made a considering noise, and I could hear him writing. “So it’s true then, that they can sniff out their mate.”
“Totally true, yeah.”
“Then it’s all about exposure. A numbers game. Get yourself in front of as many as possible and see who reacts.” More scribbling noises. “What was his initial reaction?”
I was starting to sweat because Helli looked in at me with her eyebrows raised. She knew we were running out of harbor, and I just knew she’d come in and start asking questions. I’d have to stop and get the net dropped soon here and couldn’t do that while on the phone.
Oh, duh, that was my excuse to end this torture!
“Look, Svein, I need to go out on deck, so?—”
He groaned. “How am I supposed to find a Norlon mate, too, if you won’t tell me what to do?”
“You’ve already got it: literally get out there and meet them. And, believe me, you won’t miss when it happens.” Remembering that kiss in the hallway sent a shiver of desire through me and I blushed even more.
He huffed loudly over the line. “Fine.”
I groaned this time. “Seriously, I’d be thrilled if you found someone, too, so just wander around town.”
Svein made a grumbly noise but relented for the most part. “Alright, but I still want all the sticky details. Have fun not fishing,” he said perkily.
“Thanks so much,” I said, faking just as much pep before I ended the call.
I did hope Svein would find a mate with a Norlon—the Disney princess in me wanted everyone to get their happily ever after. But after everything he’d been through since his accident, I was especially invested in him having a happy future. Last year, Svein had been up on the mountain when he’d fallen into a crevasse and broken his back. He’d suffered from depression because he couldn’t walk and he hadn’t been able to see a way that he could continue to be the outdoorsman he’d been before.
And then a group of people had approached him to work with them on a project to get people with various disabilities more involved with outdoor activities. Svein said a renewed sense of purpose had helped him see that his life wasn’t over at all.
I still wanted him to find the love of his life, though. While some of the humans around here wouldn’t have anything to do with him because of their prejudices or ignorance, his hookup last night gave me hope that the Norlons weren’t like that. After all, the nanobots had given him additional sensation in “the fun bits” as he called it, so I had a feeling he was already in love with the Norlons in general.
“Who was that?” Helli asked as I came out on deck.
“Svein.”
She grinned. “I heard he hooked up with a wolf last night.”
“Aw, tell me he didn’t post photos,” I said, grimacing.
“No,” she laughed, “someone else did.”
“That’s worse!”
“Apparently, in his chair, he’s at the perfect height to su?—”
