It’s not so bad, really, waking up on a weird planet, climbing out of bed, walking across the cold, hard floor to the window, and looking out at an unfamiliar landscape. It’s really not that different from following your favorite band on tour all over America, actually. You just never know what new sight you’ll see from your window.
What’s really great about the whole situation is returning to bed and climbing back under the covers for a while, cuddled up close to the warm, sleeping form of your alien pop star prince boyfriend.
And can I say? I like it. I like cuddling with my alien pop star boyfriend, even when his hair is a complete mess, his mouth is hanging partly open, and he’s violently tossed and turned in his sleep for the last handful of hours.
“Daisy,” Griffin mutters, without opening his eyes. He hooks a leg over my hip and hugs himself closer to me, our faces almost touching. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Since yesterday. Your days are weird, you know? They’re shorter than ours.”
Griffin yawns, a wide-mouthed yawn, but still doesn’t open his eyes. “Mmmm. Has my father visited or asked after me or anything?”
I consider what I should tell him, and settle on the truth. “He wanted to talk to me yesterday and I… well, I sort of bossed him around a little.”
“You did what?” Griffin opens one eye and peers at me.
“Well, he was talking about my fertility, and I lost it on him. I’m sorry. But he did say I could stay for a while, if I want.”
Griffin sits up, dragging his pale hands across his face and rubbing his eyes vigorously with his palms. “No one talks back to my father, you know.”
“I guess I’m no one?”
“Well, he’ll either hate you or love you for it. He respects when someone’s decisive, but he really, really loathes it when anyone argues with him.” He peeks at me between splayed fingers. “Did I really sleep that long?”
“You did.”
“They must have transported me over here at some point,” he says with a heavy sigh. “I hate these medical rooms.”
“It’s not as bad as the hospitals back on Earth,” I say. “Less watercolor paintings of fences, for one thing. And you have a window!” I point at the window. “Speaking of windows, when do I get a tour of your planet?”
Griffin narrows his eyes and closes the distance between us, pushing me down and straddling my hips. “My planet is very, very big, Daisy,” he says. “You make it sound like I could just show you the whole thing in a day…”
Is he making some kind of suggestive joke? Well, I can keep up with that kind of banter. Really! “You sound very defensive about the size of your planet,” I say, in as sexy and sultry of a voice as I can manage with an alien leaned over me. “Maybe I just need another look at it, to decide how big it is for myself…”
Griffin frowns down at me like I’m a complete idiot. “Another look? You’ve never been here before, Daisy.”
Oh. So he was talking about his planet. Oops.
“I wonder where Devon is,” Griffin says then, climbing off the bed and stalking to the door. “Think he’s busy with Kammie?”
“They’ve been pretty much joined at the hip since we arrived, yeah, but he stayed with you for several hours while you slept.”
Griffin throws open the door to our room and disappears from view before I’ve even had a chance to climb off the bed. I hurry after him, determined not to get lost. Most of the aliens can speak English if I try to communicate with them, which Dev says is because they gave us a lot of the building blocks for English when they visited Earth back in the medieval times. Plus, they have vastly superior communication skills that allow them to pick up languages almost instantly.
You’d think Griffin has a built-in homing device where Dev is concerned, because he finds him in under a minute, launching himself into his best friend’s arms for an enthusiastic hug. They speak quietly in their language, and Griffin kisses the side of Devon’s head before hugging him again, even tighter this time.
Kammie, who’d been standing with Dev before Griffin pounced, waves at me with a heavy-lidded satisfaction of someone who has already had a very good morning. Her red hair hangs loose around her face for once, and it’s dotted here and there by little white flowers.
She pulls me into a hug. “Have you been outside yet? Dev and I took a walk this morning, talked for ages. I like it here. Once I’ve got my record player and books, I think I’ll stay. And you know? Dev and I talked about coffee grounds. They might really help the soil…”
Leave it to Kammie to settle right in and find a home for herself wherever she goes. Judging by the color in her cheeks, her chemistry with Dev has only gotten better and better, which just makes me feel incredibly proud of myself for accidentally introducing them, and also incredibly happy for my friend. She’s kissed her fair share of frogs, leading up to Devon.
“Griffin’s dad wants the boys to give a speech,” she says. “I tried to give Devon some tips about speech-making, but then I remembered I’m not very good at it.”
“Um, no. You’re horrible at it, judging by what happened the night after I moved to New York.” We both laugh at that and I close my eyes, laying my head against her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”
“Oh, come now, you know I belong in outer space! Besides, I promised that if you moved to the big city, I’d keep an eye on you, remember? That wasn’t limited to staying in the city.”
Griffin clears his throat quite dramatically to signal that we need to stop hugging and go back to paying attention to him. “I have to speak in front of everyone,” he says, raising his chin. “And Daisy, you’re going to join me.”
“Am I?”
“Yes. You’re as much responsible for things turning out alright as I am.” He casts me one of his famous imperious glances. “And I don’t like speaking in front of people alone.”
“Dev’s joining you, I thought.”
“Yes, and so are you.”
Of course.
“Well, I’d really like some clothes,” I say, motioning at the uniform I woke up in the day before. “And I’d still like to know how I got in this outfit.”
“The medical team changed you out of your dress.” He looks apologetic suddenly. “I’m sorry you don’t have any of your nice clothes.”
I shrug. “I’d just like something that fits…”
“Of course.” Griffin twirls on one heel, somehow still quite impressive even in his light gray hospital clothes, which resemble pajamas. He leaves us for all of thirty seconds, and then reappears with a purple-eyed alien woman. “Daisy, Sor will help you find some clothes. I’ll meet you in the room we spent the night in, and we’ll go up for the speech.”
“Now? You’re not going to practice or something first?”
“He said he wanted us to speak to everyone as soon as Griffin woke up,” Dev says, and I can hear some tension in his voice as he slips his arm around Griffin’s shoulders and leans in close to say something to him. They walk away together, and I’m escorted off by Sor for fresh clothes.
Dating an Alien Pop Star Page 33