“Ah…” Harlee glances at Roan and shakes her head. “No, thanks. We’ve got plans.” Her blush is a dead giveaway. She says something else, but I don’t hear it over the noise I’m making. A moment later, I’m alone again.
I was alone even when they were standing right in front of me.
Resting my forehead on the cold counter, I close my eyes. Who am I kidding? I know what they all really think—that I should give up and accept this is my new life. They don’t actually believe there’s a way to find Earth.
If there were, Killan would’ve already found it.
But none of them are brave enough to admit as much to my face. They’re all going along with my delusions, placating me. As if they’re scared of how I’ll react to the truth.
Except for Chloe.
What the hell is she planning? Or did she say that stuff about coming up with a plan as a way of fishing for information I might have? Of course, I don’t have any information, but she mightn’t know that. I’m borrowing Killan’s tablet after all. She easily could’ve realized I was listening to information about Reality Investments and extrapolated that to mean I know something useful. She could’ve even been hiding on the stairs long before she made an appearance, listening too.
Nah.I straighten, dismissing the idea.
Unless…maybe Chloe knows something I don’t. Maybe she is coming up with an escape plan. Maybe she doesn’t need Killan’s tablet for research because she already knows all the important stuff, like where Earth is. Like where we can find a ship and a crew who’ll take us home. Like how we can get off Ril II.
It’s possible. She was Smith’s assistant, after all. She colluded with him to abduct Briar, Harlee, and me.
Yes, he left her behind when he abandoned us, but maybe he left her behind with valuable information.
The real question is: would she share her information with me if I asked? I doubt it. Not unless I had something she wanted that I could use as payment.
I’m heading down the stairs and into Killan's bedroom before I’ve consciously decided on my plan. All my stuff is shoved into a pink duffle bag because there isn’t a closet in which I can hang my clothes. In fact, Killan has hardly any furniture—a large bed and a nightstand—which is why my stuff is in here. Because there’s only one bed in his entire house, so we’ve got to share.
It’s as awkward as it sounds. Most nights he hides at the farm until I’ve fallen asleep. And he often leaves for work in themorning before I’ve woken. That suits me. It’s not like I want to sleep in his bed with him.
Our first night together, I tried getting comfortable on the floor, but it was hell on my back. Now, I sleep as far from Killan’s side of the bed as I can physically get.
I tip my duffle bag upside down, spilling its contents onto the floor, searching for something Chloe might want. All my clothes are pink. As all Harlee’s are blue, and all Briar’s are green. That crap idea was Smith’s; he color-coordinated us because he was concerned the LOVE GALAXY audience wouldn’t otherwise be able to tell three Humans apart from each other. Sure, Briar and I are both white, but Briar’s got bright red hair, and Harlee is half Chinese.
Aside from my pink clothes, I don’t own a lot—just the sort of stuff a production crew thinks a woman needs when filming reality TV. A hairbrush, makeup, two pairs of shoes, a towel, and a bikini set.
I can’t give Chloe my shoes. We’re not the same height and probably not the same shoe size. The makeup matches my complexion, not hers. Although of everything I own, the makeup is what I’d be happiest giving away. It’s not like I spend an hour every day putting on a full face when Killan is the only one I’m guaranteed to see.
That leaves my hairbrush and my clothes.
I end up grabbing a pair of panties I haven’t yet worn.
If Chloe wanted clean underwear these last few months, I’m guessing she’s had to wash and dry the ones she was wearing the day Smith left. A second pair will be a luxury in comparison and might be enough to get me off Ril II and out of Killan’s life for good.
Chapter Four
Lydia
Iraise my fist to knock on Chloe’s door right as new doubts assail me. By asking Chloe if she knows anything important, aren’t I handing my insecurities to her on a silver platter? Aren’t I proving to her that I do, in fact, care?
Desperate people are so incredibly easy to take advantage of, and Chloe is exactly the type of person who’d use someone’s emotions against them for her personal gain. I should know. Chloe taking advantage of my desperation is what got me into this mess in the first place.
I’d been so fucking determined to prove to everyone I’d been right to break my engagement that I willfully ignored all LOVE GALAXY’s red flags. I walked straight into the trap Smith and Chloe had prepared for me. And to add insult to injury, I might as well have gotten down on my hands and knees and pleaded with them to give me a chance—that’s how obvious I’d been.
I turn to leave, but I can’t convince myself to walk back up the stairs. Thinking about the empty kitchen and the ladder Icouldn’t climb and Harlee’s proposal has me doubting myself all over again.
For fuck’s sake.I never used to be this indecisive. I never used to be so bloody scared all the time.
What happened to the woman who’d been excited to start her own business? What happened to the woman who used to love taking a risk? Now, I’m lurking outside bedroom doors having existential crises.
I barge into Chloe’s room before I can change my mind again.
