“Yes, I do,” Yiri said, still stern. “Now be my good little wife and promise me you won’t be sad anymore.”
“I’ll do my best,” I said, but I couldn’t help the smile pulling at my lips.
“That’s better,” he purred. “Call me if you’re feeling sad again,” he said seriously.
I snorted. “And get myself in trouble?”
“You’ll be in real trouble if I find out you suffered and didn’t call me,” he warned. “So you’ll do what you’re told, won’t you,Aneah?”
“Yes, sir.”
He nodded. “Be good, wife.”
Someone plopped heavily onto the couch beside me as soon as Yiri disconnected.
“Daaaamnnn, girl,” said a petite blonde about my age. “I thought my guy was a smooth talker. Do they send these boys to school to make our panties dissolve?”
I laughed. “If so, Yiri was top of his class.”
“I’ll say,” she agreed. “I’m Brynna. What’s your name?”
“Cora,” I said, extending my hand to shake. “Nice to meet you.”
“This is wild, right?” Brynna asked. “I mean, a few years ago, what would you have done if someone said you’d leave the solar system and marry an alien?”
“Laughed my ass off,” I said.
“Right?” She shook her head in amazement. “But here we are. About to jettison ourselves across space and time to be housewives to a couple of blue guys. Well, Thrin’s blue, at least. Maybe yours isn’t. But he’s probably gorgeous, right? Unless we’re being catfished.”
“Please don’t say that,” I said. “I’m already nervous.”
“Yeah, I heard.” She patted my arm gently. “I can sympathize. I don’t have much going for me here, either. But that’s why this is great, right? We get a do-over in a place where we’re a hot commodity.”
“Yeah,” I said, Yiri’s words still echoing in my mind. “It’s a good thing.”
“Damn straight it is,” Brynna said, brightly. “Now show me this sweet talker of yours. I need to put a face with that voice.”
I pulled a picture of Yiri up on my phone and showed her, feeling an odd little pang of jealousy when she was extra appreciative.
“Okay, I’d love to be in trouble with him,” she said. “I’ve been such a bad girl. Punish me!”
“Show me your guy,” I said, pulling my phone back and tucking it away. “Thrin?”
“Yeah,” she said, searching her phone for a picture. “His family owns a bunch of resorts in Bion. He says we’ll travel likeall the time. A new planet or moon every week. What a life, right? Oh, here he is.”
She showed me a handsome, blue-skinned daernir with green-blue hair. He was built leaner than Yiri, and had novisible tattoos, but there was no denying his attractiveness. “Handsome,” I said. “We picked a couple of hotties.”
“Yep,” Brynna said. “It’s all rainbows and sunshine from here on out, kid. Don’t worry about a thing.”
Brynna was good company as more and more women arrived. She did all the talking, so I didn’t have to, making sure everyone was introduced and excitedlyoohingandahhingover everyone’s future husbands. By the time takeoff was announced, she had us all chatting and giggling uncontrollably. The liftoff was so smooth and silent that we didn’t even notice we were moving until the compound had shrunk away, the buildings looking like a model train scene beneath us.
We gathered at the window, me and a few others sitting on the floor because the height and motion made us dizzy. It only took a few moments to leave the Earth’s atmosphere completely, and we all sat silent through that final departure. And then… Earth was a dot. Almost like a star in the distance.
“I think I’m going to go to my room and vomit,” one of the girls said. A few others agreed, and I excused myself to call Yiri because with Earth disappearing into the void of space, I was feeling a little sad again. But also, a little hopeful.
CHAPTER 17
YIRI
