Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 32810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
"Man, you humans really can't handle your alcohol."
Oh nooooo.
"What are you still doing here?" I blurt out, squinting up at Khex. He's still dressed in the same uniform from last night, the slick fabric slightly wrinkled. His hair's a little messy too, a few locks drifting around the top and one tiny bit sliding forward to graze at the bony plating on his brow. "You didn't go home?"
"And leave you like this?" He shakes his head and leans on the door jamb, crossing his arms over his chest. "You were pretty out of it last night. I stuck around to make sure you weren't going to need a medic or something."
I was drunk enough that he thought I was going to need a doctor? Great. I press the heel of my palm to my forehead. "That wine packs a real punch."
He laughs, the sound so loud that I wince. "I'll say. You were completely out of it."
I close my eyes again, wishing the floor would swallow me up. "I'm so sorry, Khex. I was just…not myself last night." I don't go into detail. I'm sure he can figure out exactly what I mean when I say that. The moment of me grabbing his cock plays through my head again in all its fuzzy glory and I bite back a whimper of distress. "Just not myself."
"I figured." Khex sounds far too cheerful. "But did you enjoy yourself at the party?"
I wave my hand back and forth, indicating that I did somewhat. "Some of those chicks are real mumblers."
"But Lucy was nice, don't you think? Rektar's a good guy but Lucy's a real catch. She's an absolute sweetheart and she can bake like nobody's business. I think all the custodians are half in love with her." He chuckles to himself.
That just makes me feel worse. Does that mean he's got a crush on Lucy, too? Is she more his type than I am? And I grabbed his dick? Ugh. I am the worst. I push myself off the floor, ignoring the protesting heave of my gut. "I need to feed the cattle—"
"You need to sit down," Khex says, his fingers going under my chin and lifting it so I look directly at him. "Your color is bad and you don't feel well. I want you to sit on the couch and then I'm going to bring you a glass of water. I already took care of your meat-stock."
"You…did?" I gape up at him. "You fed my cows?"
"Whatever you call them, yeah. The things in the barn." He shrugs. "I'm not completely helpless on a farm, you know. I learned a lot so I could teach one of the locals how things work." And he winks at me like the big, ridiculous, gorgeous alien man that he is.
I let him guide me over to my sofa, and I'm not surprised to see one of the spare blankets tossed over the cushions. Khex slept there last night, because I was a drunk, sloppy mess and he wanted to make sure I was all right. And then he got up and fed my cattle. And what did I do? I molested my only friend I have left on this planet. Heck, in this universe.
I have so many feelings over this.
Swallowing hard, I take the glass of water he hands me and sip it as I sit on the far end of the sofa. I want to bury my face in the rumpled cushions and see if they smell like him. If his faintly musky scent has clung to my furniture. After last night's fuck-up, that might be the only way I ever get to be that close to him again. I'm so ashamed of how I acted. And at the same time, I'm relieved, in a stupid sort of way.
Now I know how Khex feels about me.
He doesn't.
He didn't steal a kiss or even react to my advances. He made it perfectly clear they were unwanted, and he only tolerated them because I'm his buddy and he feels sorry for me. At least now I know where I stand—the friend zone.
So I just give him another awkward, horrible smile of apology. "I really can't say often enough how sorry I am about last night. I swear it was just the wine. You know I don't feel that way about you."
Khex just waves a hand in my direction. "Say no more. We're friends and we'll leave it at that."
CHAPTER 15
KHEX
Friends.
Just the word makes me want to spit.
Somehow I keep smiling. Somehow. It's either that or I start punching things in frustration. Ash is so damned mortified about what happened last night that I can't confess how I really feel. I want to tell her that now she's sober, she's welcome to break any hygiene law she wants upon my body. I want to tell her to give me a dozen kisses. Two dozen. A dozen dozen. I want to grab her and lick her all over and never let her go.