Page 14 of Matched to the Alien King
A male crewmember on the sand laughed—too loud, too lascivious.
Slowly, I stood and stared him right the fuxx down, which shut him right the fuxx up.
He paled twenty shades lighter and sealed his mouth shut. Knowing he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice, I sank back into my hoverseat again.
Seeming to miss that exchange, Pete took a step forward, his focus all on Nera, and turned suddenly serious. “Others said they just wanted to give you a hug because of… Well, because of your past.”
Nera stared blankly at him, but the slightest tic of her jaw gave her away. I’d memorized her expressions and her reactions to things, even in the short time I’d known her, and that was her trying her hardest not to flinch. That was her not showing the slightest chink in the walls she’d so carefully erected around herself.
“What do you say to that?” Pete asked her softly.
“Well, Pete,” she said without missing a beat, “I’m not much of a hugger, but I appreciate the sentiment.”
He smiled at her, a genuine one with a little bit of sadness pinching the corners of his mouth. Then he walked away from her and didn’t say anything. A rare moment of silence from him, and I wondered what exactly was going on behind those Aviators.
The rest of the crew just stared at him, confused.
Finally, he leaped back around, the TV show host in him on complete display once again. “Beth, that means you’ve been voted offAlien Love Island. I’m so sorry, but pack your bags. A ship’s waiting. It’s a shame to see you go.”
“What?” She blinked rapidly as though this were some great shock.
“You have to go, hon,” Pete told her with a jerk of his head toward the stairs.
“Oh. Okay.”
A crewmember came to escort her off the platform.
“But will there be tacos?” she asked him.
Nera must’ve read her lips because she gave her a thumbs-up. “Oh, always. That’s not even something to worry about.”
The girl grinned and nodded.
As soon as she was off camera, Pete wiggled his thick eyebrows above his Aviators so much that they became sentient and continued wiggling on their own. “I’m not done with the shocks though. No, siree. I have shocks for daaaayys. Someone keep those keys away from me because it’s about to get all electric in here.”
My royal diplomacy training swallowed up my groan. Polite titters came from some of the contestants at that epic fail of a Benjamin Franklin joke.
Sighing loudly, Nera leaned forward and buried her head in her hands. “Oh mygod, Pete.”
A slow grimace peeled back Pete’s lips as he shot her an irritated look she couldn’t see. “Kindly edit this part out, thanks.”
I laughed. It just tripped out, and I wasn’t even sorry.
Pete shook himself and flashed his megawatt smile again. “One contestant went home early. Two just got voted off. In typicalAlien Love Islandtradition, surprises await. Which is why we’ll find out how our audience matched you with in the third episode. And which is also why we’re bringing three new contestants onto the show right now!”
Two bikini-clad Lioness aliens and yet another half-naked human male with glasses paraded onto the platform then, jiggling and laughing and bouncing with excitement.
I didn’t even catch their names. Neither did Nera who still sat with her head between her knees. Had she fallen asleep?
Yet again, I chuckled, drawing the attention of the Killian.
“Careful, King Maxx,” he muttered over Pete’s introductions with a raised brow. “You laugh any more, and someone might call you happy.”
But Iwashappy. As happy as anyone could be while kidnapped and forced onto a reality TV show with the occasional assassination attempt.
Because I was with Nera. The woman who held the parts of my hearts I didn’t even know were missing.
Finally, someone yelled, “Cut! That’s a wrap on episode two, folks.”
