Gemini gave Apodis an awkward smile as she limped toward the door, pausing before it whirred shut behind her.
“See you later,” she said, and he grinned, a sight which made butterflies take flight in her stomach.
“See you later.”
Oh, he was so fucking cute.
Zenith was already out the front door, so she hurried to follow, feeling as light as a feather despite her sore ankle.
“Do you like Apodis?” Zenith asked, his voice a low whisper as they sat behind a large rock.
The caerulian was peeking around the side while Gemini looked over the boulder, spying on two small bright pink birds with long yellow tails that were pecking at seeds on the ground. He was crouched low, as if ready to pounce at any moment, and she had to stifle a laugh as she considered his question.
“Of course I do. He seems really nice.”
“Apodis is a very nice male. And an excellent choice for a mate.”
There he was again with thematetalk. She still wasn’t entirely sure how Oslieth relationships worked, but they seemed pretty serious if everything Apodis had said about alphas and omegas was true. And in that case, she wasn’t sure exactly why Zenith was trying to hook her up with someone who wasn’t interested.
“I’m sure he is.”
Zenith turned to look up at her, his beady eyes narrowed into a serious gaze.
“I believe you would make a perfect mate for him. You are a kind and intelligent woman.”
The corner of her mouth quirked, and she felt her face heat, a smile tugging at her lips.
“Oh, stop. You’re being silly—” she started, but Zenith softly growled, silencing her.
“I never jest. He enjoys your company and will be very sad if you leave. He pretends that he likes it out here by himself, but I can see the truth.”
“He has you…”
“I know I make him happy, but not in a way a mate would. And he deserves it. He is a good Oslieth.”
“I’m going back to Earth after this job.”
“Must you? The cabin is certainly big enough for one more. You could work on your book here. Tend to Apodis’ failed garden.”
Now it was Gemini’s turn to narrow her eyes,Zenith’s suggestion completely absurd. Wasn’t it? She couldn’t just… not go back, could she?
She’d lose her job, for one, and she needed money to live. And she had her family, though it had been years since she’d seen them between work at NovaFlora and the fact that they lived on the opposite side of the planet. It wasn’t like she had any real dating prospects, not when she couldn’t seem to compete with the chatbots.
No, she was being ridiculous. She had just met Apodis, and there was no way in the galaxy that he wanted some stranger to live in his house. She’d seen the horror on his face when she’d rearranged all the pillows, but he was too polite to tell her how he really felt.
The idea of working on her book in the middle of the beautiful mistforest was certainly idyllic, but preposterous at the same time.
“I need to go back. I get paid well at my job.”
Zenith stared at her, unblinking.
“Apodis has a lot of money. You wouldn’t need to worry about that.”
Gemini sputtered a cough, and the two birds they’d been watching disappeared in a flurry of feathers. Was this caerulian telling her that Apodis would be her alien sugar daddy?
“I’m sure he does, but that’s his business, not mine.”
Zenith huffed, his fur on edge as he glaredat her.
