“How do you guys already know?”
“Well, Pam and Joanne saw you two kissing outside Rosie’s office. Then she told Casi, who told Karen, who told Jessica, who told Tina, who told me,” Maya says, ticking off the names on her fingers.
“Did you take a ride on his pogo stick?” Chelsea asks with a wicked grin.
“Oh my god! I’m not telling you those details!” I bellow.
“Come on!” Chelsea whines. “You gotta tell us every detail. In exchange, I’ll tell you about this thing L’Tarne does with his tongue. He flicks it like –” Sara’s hand over Chelsea’s mouth cuts off whatever naughty thing we were about to learn about her sex life. I’m a little intrigued by the idea of a flicking tongue, so maybe I’ll search Chelsea out later.
I fold my arms under my boobs, giving my friends my signature ‘I’m not putting up with your bullshit’ stance. It does not have its intended effect. They all stare at me with big gleaming eyes, barely able to contain their excitement.
I crumble like a weakling in the face of their enthusiasm. I have a feeling that if I don’t at least give them a little something, they’ll resort to torture to get me to confess. Plus, I really want to tell someone about what happened with L’Corte.
“Yeah, I kissed L’Corte. We were in the storage room on the first floor, and one thing just led to another.”
I can’t help my grin when my friends start whooping and cheering. Silly bunch of bitches.
Maya steps closer to me with a thoughtful look on her face.
“What?” I ask defensively.
“So… you guys just kissed? Nothing else?”
I can feel a blush bloom across my cheeks, and Maya’s perceptive eyes don’t miss it because her jaw drops open in shock. I open my mouth to try to tell a fib, but nothing comes out. If I had thought the screaming and cheering was loud before, it was nothing compared to the noise they start making now. You’d think their favorite team scored a goal or something. Well, I did score, I suppose, I think with a giggle.
“We’re having dinner tonight,” I confess to more cheers.
Someone hands me a vanilla latte as the group starts chattering among themselves. Taking a sip of my drink, I smack my lips happily and look around at my friends. I feel so lucky to have found such an incredible group. I have to blink moisture from my eyes as I remember that some of them will be leaving soon. I need to make the most of what time we have left together.
“What are you going to wear tonight?” someone calls out to me.
“Something that will leave him worshipping at my feet.”
As everyone laughs and makes jokes around me, I notice Sara standing next to Maya, quietly enjoying our silliness. I catch her eye and nod my head to meet me outside the kitchen. With a look of worry, Sara follows me out towards the lounge while I try to figure out how to tell her about Vorto.
Chapter 12
L’Corte
Ican’t wipe the grin off my face as I exit the Requisitions Office. I was able to get everything ordered and ready, including my surprise for our date tonight. I can feel the ridiculous look on my face, but I can’t seem to stop the overly smug smile from spreading. I have often looked at the besotted males on this ship with a bit of derision. Now here I am, feeling like I could sing and dance in the hallways like I’m in one of those idiotic musicals some of the bride volunteers love. I scoffed at the ridiculous films at the time, but here I am with a skip in my step as I head toward the elevators.
Scanning my schedule for the day on my tablet, I see that I have some spare time. I’ve been wondering what is happening with Vorto. I have time to head down and see if he’s given my people any information we can use against the Ostiums in the upcoming confrontation.
A flash of movement up ahead catches my eye. One of the two female fighter pilots on this ship runs towards me, waving her arms frantically to get my attention. Many of the males of my species were quite enamored with the idea of a female warrior. She has likely been inundated with admiring attention from my fellow Cerasteans. I have made sure to stay away rather than participate in that nonsense. My attention has been wholly focused on a different female anyhow. I had hardly spared a thought for the pilots before this moment.
“You! Hey you! You have to stop him,” the woman demands.
“What?” I ask dumbly.
“Harrison is freaking out and trying to get onto the elevator to attack someone. I don’t know what the fuck happened, but he’s losing his mind,” she yells, turning on her heels to race back to this Harrison person, I assume.
The surprise of this female’s appearance has me hesitating for a brief moment. In that short timespan, she gets a head start to where she needs me to be. She is moving quickly, so I race to catch up to her. Running behind her, I can now hear the sounds of a scuffle up ahead before I even turn the corner.
As I near the juncture in the hall, I hear a feminine voice yell out, “Hey asshole, take the ‘roid rage down a notch!” I would know that voice anywhere. I’m not even surprised that Trinh is in the middle of a ruckus. At this point, I would be more surprised if she wasn’t.
I hear a male voice bellowing, “Get off me! I’m going to fucking kill him. He’s dead!”
Rounding the corner, I see several other humans, all males, gripping a struggling man with black hair. He is clawing at his captors, who have him pulled down to his knees and are practically piled on top of him as he fights to escape. I can spot a small group of bride volunteers hovering in the doorway to the galley. I’m just glad one of them is keeping the group inside the room and away from trouble.
