“I’m not tired,” she grumbles. “I—”
A yawn cuts her off.
“Not tired at all,” I deadpan.
She narrows her eyes at me. “You’re mocking me.”
“I don’t mean to. I’m sorry.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t know if you mean it. Do you know what it means? It means that you won’t do what you apologize for and that you won’t do it again. You better never mock me again. In fact, you should just go. Leave. Didn’t I already tell you to leave?”
“You did.”
“Well, then? Go! Do I look like I’m joking?”
“No, you don’t. I just want to make sure you get to your place safely. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”
She glowers at me, but she allows me to walk beside her. Ava stumbles a bit and starts to fall. I catch her, and the anger in her eyes starts to fade a bit before returning. I release her quickly, and she rushes forward.
I follow her deeper into her area, and she collapses onto a mound of blankets. There’s a blanket off to the side, and I grab it. By the time I turn back to her, she’s already fallen asleep.
That anger is gone, and she looks so peaceful. It makes my heart hurt to recall the things she said, but I don’t think any of it is true. At least I hope not.
Carefully, I lay the blanket over her. As much as I hate it, I have to take care of my erection, and I can barely walk to leave the area. My balls hurt that much. I don't even think about anything, don't even daydream about Ava as I've done every morning, including this morning. I just need to get it done, and I spill my ejaculate all over the ground.
After I clean up, I return to Ava. She hasn’t moved a muscle, and I lie down beside her, wrapping an arm around her. A sigh escapes her lips, and I stiffen, but she settles against me. I marvel at how she fits perfectly in my embrace.
Her words come back to me, but all I’m choosing to focus on is that bit about her being enchanted by the alien explorer, about her being enchanted by me. If there’s any part of what she said that I hope is true, it’s that. That I can hold onto. That I can get behind.
I’ve already admitted to myself that I’m enchanted by her. If she truly is enchanted by me too, that would mean we have a chance. That’s all I want—a chance. Well, a chance to be with her, to experience life with her, to know what it’s like to truly throw myself into kissing her with everything I have. To be able to make love to her, to make more meals for her. Maybe go on more walks with no destinations in mind. To explore the world, Earth, space, other planets. To be free to be ourselves, to get to know every detail about each other, our bodies, our minds, our souls.
There are so many more questions I have for Ava, and if she would let me, I would track down that asshole who hurt her and kept her away from everyone else. Who knows? If he hadn’t hurt her, maybe she would have friends now. She might have an apartment or a house. It’s even possible that she could have a boyfriend or a husband.
Scratch that. Maybe I don’t want that.
My mom and dad both like to agree on one thing—that everything happens for a reason. They think that's a key component in a lot of the relationships between Earthlings and Novans, and maybe that's true for Earthlings and Kurians, too, because I stumbled on Ava for a reason. It wasn't by accident. I was supposed to meet her. Despite however many Earthlings there are on this huge planet, I was meant to find her.
She sighs in her sleep, and I squeeze her and kiss her hair. A feeling of contentment washes over me, and with a smile on my face, I fall asleep beside her.
16
Ava
I wake up and don’t know what the hell is going on. Someone’s arm is next to me. Their entire body is next to me, which, honestly, is a good thing because just waking up to an arm would be like something out of a horror movie.
Rix. It’s Rix who’s beside me, and he’s sleeping.
We slept together.
Of course, he doesn’t have a shirt on. He never does, and I can’t remember what happened. Did we…
I lift the blanket. Oh, man, am I seriously out of it because I didn’t realize until I looked that I’m wearing clothes. Bonus points—Rix is wearing pants.
What happened yesterday? I don’t remember. Rix showed up. We talked some. Oh, yeah. He made me food, and I flipped out on him. We talked, and then it all goes fuzzy. Did he apologize? What did we talk about? I can’t remember any of the specifics.
I curl up my legs and wrap my arms around them, resting my chin on my knees. As much as I want to think that I’m in control, I’m not. I really don’t have any control whatsoever. My life has been one giant mess, and I have no one to blame for that. If I really wanted to, I didn’t have to be alone. I could’ve gone to the government, could’ve gone to the base. I’m sure someone would’ve adopted me, or at the very least, I could’ve been put into an orphanage. Something, anything. A real education instead of through a window.
But then I never would’ve made the levitation device.
And I never would’ve met Rix.
I eye the alien. He’s sleeping with his mouth hanging open, but he’s not snoring. That’s good because I have a pounding headache for some reason.
As I watch him, Rix stirs and opens his eyes. He smiles at me and then flinches as if he expects to be hit or something.
“Hi,” I mumble.
“Good
