Page 4 of A Layperry's Heart
“Hi,” I say with a wide grin, lifting my hand in a little wave.
The purple, handsome alien grins back, flashing me the sight of his fanged teeth. Oh, I am such a sucker for a nice smile and this guy has the prettiest smile. His fangs are somehow sexy and adorable at the same time. He lifts his hand, mirroring my gesture.
“What’s up, buttercup?”
I sputter at the words, unable to keep myself from chuckling. His voice is deep and gravelly, making heat run down my spine.
“Buttercup? I’m not sure we’re at the pet names stage of our relationship quite yet, big guy,” I say, popping my hip out and leaning against the wall. I give him a grin.
His eyes widen. He says something in a language I don’t understand and I tilt my head to the side. “You don’t know much English, do you?”
He shakes his head. He points at something behind his ear and I see some sort of implant. I’m piecing things together, slowly but surely.
“That thing lets you understand what I’m saying?” He nods his head. “But you don’t know enough English to speak back?” He nods again. “Who taught you ‘what’s up, buttercup’?”
He fondly rolls his eyes before walking across the hall and knocking on the door there. We wait a moment before a man opens the door. He looks from the alien, then to me, then back at the alien.
“Yeah? Can I help you?”
The alien says something in his language, points at me, then points at the man in the door with a frown.
“Oh,” the guy says with a grin. Then he looks at me. “Sorry about that. I told Gendry that was how humans greet each other because I thought it was funny.”
Gendry. His name is Gendry. It somehow suits him. I like it.
Looking back at the human, I shrug. “It was kind of adorable. Such a big guy saying something so endearing when first meeting me.”
I watch Gendry’s cheeks turn bright purple and I am fascinated. Would that blush run lower? Could I get his chest to turn that same color? Is he eveninterestedin human men?
Okay, I might be getting ahead of myself here. Time to pull it back down before I do something to make this big, beautiful alien uncomfortable.
Gendry says something before tapping the human and gesturing towards me. The human sighs.
“He says sorry if he’s made you uncomfortable. He’s your new neighbor and he’s delighted to meet you.”
I can’t help but smile, a warmth filling my chest. “The pleasure is all mine,” I say with a wink. So much for pulling myself back. “I’m Aldo.”
“Christian,” the human says, gesturing towards himself and then he points at the alien. “And this is Gendry.”
“I didn’t realize we had new neighbors move in, but I’m so glad I ran into you. Welcome to the building,” I say before chuckling, doing my best to be nonchalant and like I wasn’t just hanging outside my apartment waiting to meet them. “Well, maybe I should say welcome to Earth.”
Gendry smiles at me, showing off the adorable little fangs again. He tucks his long purple hair behind his ear and I have the desire to play with it. I can’t truly be blamed since Iama hairdresser. He would look so cute with shaved sides and a braided top. Or an adorable man bun. Maybe we can work up to me doing his hair.
Gendry looks at Christian then at me. Then he blurts out, “I have to poop,” before running into Christian’s apartment.
Christian looks at me. He blinks a few times before he starts laughing his ass off. I can’t help but laugh as well at how ridiculous all of this is. Not only do I live beside an adorable, giant alien, but he also knows enough English to declare needing to poop.
“Sorry about that,” Christian says, wiping at his eyes. “I told him that meant ‘I need to use the bathroom’. I didn’t think he’d say that in front of cute guys he’s nervous around.”
“You think maybe he thinks I’m cute?” I pretend to tuck some hair behind my ear. “That’s very interesting information, Christian. Thank you.”
Christian bites his bottom lip. “Not a lot of people would call menice,” he starts to say, rolling his eyes. “But out of the little bit of kindness I have left in my heart, I think it would probably be nice for me to tell you that Gendry isn’t here to stay. After a year, he’s heading back to his planet.”
“Ah,” I say softly. “An exchange program of sorts.”
“Yeah. Exactly. So if I were you, I wouldn’t get too attached.”
“I would love to attach at the hip, if you know what I mean.”
