Page 13 of Matched to the Alien King
I couldn’t wait to hold her again.
Pete asked me something else that I didn’t bother to listen to, and then he finally said, “Anyway, King Maxx, you’re staying. Congratulations. Let’s move on.Quickly.”
In second place, with considerably fewer votes than I had, was the Killian. Irritation sparked that he was staying, but if I was being completely honest with myself, a little relief did too.
Nera trusted him. I guess that meant I should by default, but no. Not even a little.
As soon as Pete finished grilling him, the Killian nodded at me. I gave him nothing in return. None of this meant I had to like him.
Once Pete counted down the first four places for the guys, it was pretty obvious which male was getting voted off the show.
“What?” one-eyed June shrieked from the other side of the platform. “You can’t go! I forbid it!”
With tears in his eyes, Josh, a human, surged up from his hoverchair, and they came together in the middle of the platform in a sobbing embrace. The camera drones pounced on the couple and showed the drama all over the viewscreen.
The whole thing felt very scripted and forced.
It was then I spotted the bottle of hot sauce underneath Josh’s seat, hence his splotchy, weepy face.
Wait, did that mean he knew he was getting voted off? But Nera didn’t know. Did that mean she was staying?
Finally, someone escorted Josh off the platform.
Now it was the females’ turn.
My stomach twisted itself into knots. My nerves unraveled. I didn’t know what to do with this feeling of no control. I hated it.
The female with the highest number of votes turned out to be Bling. I didn’t care about Bling or her feelings about the matter, so I zoned her out completely.
Second place went to tentacled Nacket.
Blah, blah, blah, get to what matters.
Then it was time to reveal third place. This was it. If it was Nera, she stayed. If it wasn’t, well…it didn’t really change anything. We would just have to find a way to be together.
And find a way off this planet.
“Now it’s down to Beth and Captain Nera,” Pete said in a hushed voice.
The camera drones swooped in on both of them.
Beth tapped her high heels against the platform and gnawed on the tips of her webbed hands. Nera sat perfectly still while staring at Pete’s mouth so as not to miss any of his next few words.
A really annoying pause followed, so long that I thought Pete had either fallen asleep with his eyes wide open or he was prepping for my fist through his face in slow motion. I curled my fingers for the second option when finally he tapped the viewscreen.
“Captain Nera Cotrobin!” Pete announced.
Thank. Fuxx. I heaved a long breath, my lungs burning as though I’d been holding it for quite some time.
“Coming in at four million votes.” He cocked his head at Nera. “How does that make you feel, Captain?”
“Um.” She sat back in her seat and crossed those long legs of hers while casually regarding Pete. “Hungry for tacos?”
Her style team standing nearby laughed. I did too, drawing shocked stares from almost everyone.
Nera shot me a gorgeous grin, straight through my hearts.
“Well, damn it, now I’m hungry for tacos too.” Pete shook his head hard as if to clear it of taco daydreams. “Now, Captain, I have to say that some of the viewers’ comments about you were all over the place. Some called you too dangerous to be on the show because you like to wave guns around, even when you’re nude.”
