Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
“Maybe they should spend some time trying to understand us.” Liv crossed her arms over her chest.
“Honey, they’ve been studying us for ages.”
“They have?”
Jillian nodded and took another big bite of her pasta, making an ecstatic mmm sound before continuing. “I mean, think about it, they’re genetic traders. They want to know what they’re getting into before they propose a trade. Why do you think the ship is so easy to get around in? I mean, they could have made it a lot more difficult just by conforming to their own standards of comfort but they designed it to make the Earth brides comfortable.”
“Really?” Jillian thought back to her first night in Baird’s suite. Everything had seemed strange and frightening at the time but she had to admit she’d been able to tell what each room was used for. The kitchen even had a refrigerator and a stove of sorts. Who knew how Baird’s people cooked and stored food back on their home planet? For all she knew they buried it in a cold hole in the ground and seared it on lava rocks or something. She’d never considered that Baird might be living in an environment that was alien to him as well, in order to make her feel more comfortable. But now that she thought about it…
“Really,” Jillian said, breaking into her train of thought. “And since they’re so into learning about us, I figure the least we can do is give their culture a shot. Some things are easy to adapt to—I mean, I never want to live anywhere without a bathing pool again, you know? Other things are a little harder.”
“Like the uh, what did you call them?” Liv gestured at her plate.
“The Grieza worms,” Jillian said, taking another forkful. “Go on, try them, Livvy. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“Well…” Liv hesitated, feeling torn. On one hand, she was almost ashamed of herself. She’d been so determined to resist Baird that she’d been closing her eyes to his entire culture. Who would have thought that ditzy Jillian Holms would be more open minded than her? On the other hand, those were freaking worms on her plate. Lots of Earth cultures eat insects and other weird things, she reminded herself. Besides, I never expected to like sushi when I first tried it and now it’s one of my favorite foods. “All right,” she said at last. “Pass the poison sauce. I’m going to kill these suckers good and dead before I dig in.”
“That’s the spirit.” Jillian laughed and handed her the rectangular pitcher with the strange spiral spout. Liv took it and doused the pale orange pasta-worms on her plate liberally with the thin blue-green oil. When they were bright green and didn’t move when she poked them, she felt better. But only marginally. After all, she still had what amounted to a plateful of freshly killed raw worms. Grimly she wound some of the long thin strands around her fork and lifted the dripping mass to her mouth. Come on, she told herself. It can’t be worse than Baird’s first attempt at pizza! Closing her eyes tight, she shoved the worms in her mouth and began to chew.
At first she was so intent on not spitting out what she’d just put in her mouth that Liv couldn’t taste a thing. But after a moment the flavor exploded across her tongue and it was…Sweet. It’s actually sweet! The Grieza worms seemed to melt on her tongue, filling her mouth with a taste like the richest, most decadent chocolate she’d ever had. There were other flavors mixed in, a hint of something like mint and something else like citrus and raspberries and almonds but the main flavor was definitely chocolate.
“See, didn’t I tell you?” Jillian grinned at her delightedly. “It’s like Godiva died and went to heaven in your mouth, right?”
“It’s…pretty damn amazing,” Liv admitted, swallowing and reaching for another forkful. The taste was instantly addictive and she wanted more no matter where it came from. “Why didn’t you tell me they tasted like chocolate?” she demanded after she finished another forkful.
“It’s better if you find out for yourself.” Jillian dug into her own plateful of chocolate pasta-worms happily. “I didn’t believe it myself until my guys got me to try them. Now I can’t get enough of them. And you know the best part? They’re pure protein—no fat and really low calories. You can practically eat as much as you want and not gain an ounce.”
“Wow,” Liv mumbled around another mouthful. She knew she was being rude but she didn’t want to stop eating long enough to really talk. The weird looking Grieza worms were literally the best thing she’d ever put in her mouth. Go figure.
They ate in silence for a moment until both plates were completely clean. Unlike eating real chocolate, the Grieza worms tasted decadent but weren’t too rich too eat a lot of at one sitting. Though she was alarmingly full when her plate was clean, Liv thought she cheerfully could have asked for seconds. However, she didn’t want to be rude so she just smiled at Jillian. “Thanks for getting me to try that. It was amazing.”