by Magan Vernon
"Sure, why not?" I looked up from the book I was reading for mythology.
"Cool." Lucy slung her book bag over her shoulder. "How about I text you when we get out of class and we meet you at that sushi place downtown?"
"Sound good to me, and if Ace is busy, then I will definitely be there anyway."
"Sweet." She smiled and headed out the door.
***
"I still don't understand what sushi is and how your roommate would want to eat it if she doesn't eat meat, or dairy, or anything that is the best of all the food groups."
Ace and I walked through campus, swinging our intertwined hands back and forth.
"You can eat all the sushi you want, and I'm sure you will be fine. She won't judge whatever you decide to eat," I said while we rounded the corner and stood in front of the restaurant.
"Good." He briefly pressed his lips to my forehead, opened the door for me, and then followed me inside.
The restaurant looked like a vampire night club, complete with dark red and black walls, glossy fake leather booths and tile floor that sparkled in the dim lighting. I hoped some guy with fangs didn't pop out from behind one of the many gargoyle fountains.
"Hey, guys, over here!" Lucy and Riley were cuddled against each other in a booth not far from the door."
Ace and I slid across from them, the slippery seats giving us so little traction that I hit the stucco wall with a thud.
"Are you okay?" Ace asked, leaning over and inspecting the damage. There wasn't much to inspect, probably another bruise to add to my collection. I had become accident prone ever since my first run-in with aliens.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I rubbed my arm.
Ace placed his arm around me and slid me back across the booth to his side.
"Aw, you two are too cute," Riley gushed. "You may be my favorite non-gay couple."
"I'm honored." Ace smiled. I don't know if he realized she was being cute, or if he took it as something serious.
"So when is the big day anyway? I've wanted to ask ever since I saw the gorgeous ring on Alex's finger," Riley asked.
I looked up at Ace, blinking slowly.
He shrugged. "We haven't really talked about it that much. Hopefully, it will be sometime after Alex finishes her degree."
"You mean I have to wait at least another three years before I get to pick out my bridesmaid dress?" Lucy asked, putting her hands to her chest in mock shock.
"You didn't tell me you already picked bridesmaids." Ace looked at me with his brows furrowed.
I laughed, shaking my head. "My roommate likes to decide my future for me, and I guess she's already a bridesmaid."
"Oh." Ace let out a big sigh. "That's too bad because I was really hoping she would stand on my side as a groomsman."
"I’m up for groomsmen duties!" Riley shot her hand up in the air and Ace and I laughed, looking back at her.
"We can totally walk down the aisle together." Lucy grabbed Riley's hand, looking at her with a big smile on her face.
Riley intertwined their hands, bringing Lucy's hand to her lips and kissing her knuckles. "I'd walk anywhere as long as it was with you."
"Ew, keep your lesbo shit at home," A girl in a way-too-tight blue dress yelled from the bar across from us.
"Excuse me?" Riley peered over Lucy at the girl who was almost falling off her bar stool.
"You heard me." The girl took a swig of whatever brown liquid was in her glass and sat it down on the bar. "No one wants to see that."
Ace looked at me, his eyes dark and steely before he looked toward the woman. "Ma'am, I believe their relationship does not concern you."
"You're just saying that because you are a man and into that nasty stuff." A smirk crossed the woman's heavily painted lips.
Lucy shook her head, staring down at the table. "Maybe we should just go. No need to fight with someone because of us."
Ace reached his hand across the table and tilted Lucy's chin up so she looked at him. "No one should ever make you feel like your relationship is unnatural. You and Riley care about each other and no one should tell you how to feel otherwise."
Lucy smiled. "Thank you."
"And you—" Ace removed his hand from Lucy's chin and turned toward the lady. "—need to mind your own damn business. If you have a problem with two people dating, then obviously you need something better to concern your time with."
The lady kept yelling, but Ace turned away, taking my hand in his. "You don't know how long I've wanted to say that to someone."
I squeezed his hand, knowing he wasn't just talking about the yelling woman, or Lucy and Riley's relationship.
Chapter 21
After the lady wouldn't stop yelling, the owner came and kicked her out, leaving us without her shouting for the rest of the night. By the time we finished stuffing our face with sushi, a desert rain began to trickle in outside the window.
"I guess this means we'll have to stay a bit longer." Riley stared out the window.
"It doesn't look too bad out there," Ace said.
Lucy shook her head. "I think maybe we should wait until it passes."
"I think we can brave the rain. What do you say, Alex?" He tapped my shoulder and I turned away from the window to look at him.
I shrugged. "Why not?"
I thought it would just be a slight drizzle, but I didn't count on it to start to downpour as soon as we stepped out of the restaurant.
"Ah!" I shrieked. My clothes were instantly soaked as if I just jumped in a pool.
Ace took my hand, jumping over a puddle that had already formed in a pothole. "A little water never hurt anyone."
"Say that to the Wicked Witch of the West!" I yelled over the sound of rushing water.
He jumped over another forming puddle, prancing through the street like a little kid. It was the most carefree I'd ever seen him.
"But we aren't witches, my dear!"
We stood in the middle of the street while he spun us in a circle.
"You're crazy!" I yelled.
He stopped spinning and yanked me forward. I fell into him, almost knocking us over. He laughed and gave me a wet kiss on the forehead. "Crazy for you."
The rain dripped down his face; his hair matted against his forehead like a cute, wet puppy. I leaned in closer and kissed the raindrops off his lips. The desert rain melted against his skin and tickled my nose, but when I took in a deep breath the droplets got in my nostrils and I had to pull away to not choke.
"Come on, you. Let's get you inside before you melt." Ace took my hand in his, and we ran all the way from the restaurant back to my dorm.
The water dripped from our clothes and soaked the hallway like a big mop. We left a trail all the way through the lobby, the elevator, and down the hall to my room. I closed the door behind us, and Ace shook like a big dog, water dripping everywhere.
"Ah, Ace, you are going to soak everything!" I held my hands out.
He grinned, peering at me from underneath his wet bangs, which were plastered to his forehead.
"Let me get us something to change into," I said and walked to my closet.
My clothes felt like they weighed a hundred pounds, sticking to my body and holding me down. I knew my clothes wouldn't fit Ace right, but I grabbed two pairs of gym shorts and some t-shirts from the closet anyway. I peeled away my wet shirt and jeans, and tossed them into the hamper. Somehow the rain even got to my bra and underwear. I really was a big sponge.
"Wow…"
I turned away from the closet and saw Ace standing in the middle of the room in just his temperature control suit, which magically stayed dry even in the rain.
"Wow, what?" I took a step closer. At that point he'd seen me without a shirt a few times and a bra and underwear weren't much different.
"You are the most beautiful being I've ever seen." His eyes drifted down my body, taking in all of me.
"Seriously? I'm soaked to the bone and my hair is all wet and nasty."
Ace took a step closer,
putting his warm hands on the small of my back, and pulled me against him. "I’m very serious."
He leaned over and pressed his forehead to mine. "I have never felt this way about anyone in my life and seeing you this natural makes me want you even closer."
I shivered underneath his touch. Did he mean what I thought he meant?
He slowly moved his hands from my back and unzipped his suit all the way before peeling the top off, and then slid it down until he stepped out of it completely. When we first got in the room I was tempted to turn on the heat, but if he was going to strip down, it was better to have the air on to compensate his cold body temperature. He stood there in just his boxers. Why an alien felt the need to wear boxers was weird to me, but he always wore them.
I tilted my head. "Is there a reason that you wear boxers? Wouldn't the suit hold that in?" I made a small circle with my fingers in front of me.
He made a V with his hands and held it in front of his boxers. "I like them. They make me feel like no one else can see anything they aren't supposed to in my suit."
I shook my head. "You are definitely something else."
"And you as well." He moved his hands to my hips and pulled me against him. "That is why you will be the only girl to ever have this part of me."
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" I whispered into his lips.
He moved his hands down my lower back, drawing small circles with his fingers. "I've never been surer that I will never love anyone like I love you. People can say whatever they want about our relationship, but I know that none of that matters. It never has. All I care about is how I feel about you."
His lips met mine again, his tongue saying what words couldn't say. He led me to the bed, letting the last of our clothes fall beneath us. I'd never been so close to anyone physically or mentally as I was in that moment. My body trembled against his, but I never felt more alive with his bare hips pressed against mine.
***
"This is all very surreal," Ace whispered
We lay on the bed with my head on his chest, his heart pounding a rhythmic beat in my ears. The same beat, moments ago, was pressed so very close to my own and was creating the most beautiful song that was ever imaginable.
"What is so surreal about it?" I lifted my head from his bare chest and looked into his stunning, black eyes.
He ran his fingers through my hair, and then pressed his hand to my cheek. "That we've become something so much more. We are connected."
I took his hand and kissed it before lying down on his chest. We were connected. It was more of myself than I had ever given to someone and obviously more for him as well.
"Would it have felt the same if you were with a Caltian woman or if I were with a human guy?" I asked.
He shrugged, and I felt his whole body shift underneath me. "I've never exactly made love to either a Caltian or a human guy so I wouldn't know those things."
I rolled my eyes, even though I knew he couldn't see it. "I didn't think you would have done that with anyone else."
"I just learned that it was even possible for two people of the same gender to actually be together intimately. Did you know Monte informed me he found this video online of two women and they—?"
I lifted my hand up and placed it to his lips, looking up at him. "Stop, I really don't want to know what sort of videos he found on the internet."
"Are you sure?" He arched an eyebrow.
I rolled from my back to my stomach and propped my elbows on the bed next to Ace. "I'm definitely sure. I would actually appreciate it if you didn't talk about Monte when we are in bed."
He nodded, turning to the side and pulling me closer to him and wrapping the comforter around us. "Shall this not be the first time I take the Caltian princess to bed?"
"You are ruining the mood."
"Sorry." He frowned. "Is there any way I can fix it?"
"Hold me until I fall asleep?" I turned on my side.
Ace put his arm around me, his fingers falling on my bare back before he pulled me against him. "Does this mean you want me to stay or leave once you have fallen into slumber?" he asked.
"If I had it my way you would never leave," I whispered.
"After this night we are one. I will never leave you and I couldn't even if I wanted to. You are the love of my entire existence and beyond." He lightly kissed my lips before I nuzzled against him to drift off to sleep.
Chapter 22
Ace left shortly after we woke up, knowing that he had to work, and didn't want to give my dad the wrong idea if he didn't see Ace at breakfast. Even though the wrong idea was definitely what we were doing the night before.
I stared at the small mirror above my desk after I got out of the shower. Did I look any different? Did somehow Ace and I combine our genetic makeup and now I would turn into an alien-human hybrid? I pulled down the skin below my eyes and opened my mouth. Nope, nothing changed there. I still wondered if anyone else could tell. Would I walk into the classroom and suddenly have a new scent? Would the professor detect alien on me?
It turned out I wasn't any different than anyone else in the classroom that morning. I still had to sit through everyone's speeches in com without anyone even giving me a second look. Losing my V card definitely did not excuse me from my first biology exam or from turning in my assignment on the Iliad for my online class.
"Hey, Alex, long time no see." Lucy smiled from her desk when I entered the room.
"Yeah, someone didn't come home last night," I teased, dropping my bag on my bed and sitting down next to it.
"Are you talking about me or you? Because I didn't see you here either."
I cocked my head, kicking off my shoes. "What are you talking about? Ace and I were here all night."
"Ah ha!" Lucy turned in her chair, clapping her hands, and then pointed a finger at me. "You just admitted that you and Ace were here, together, all night."
I could feel the heat creeping from my neck and up to my face. Did she know? Not that I was embarrassed by it, but I was hoping that my face wasn't a brighter red than Lucy's nail polish.
"We were just hanging out," I squeaked.
"Hanging out doesn't involve your squeaky voice." Lucy put her hand down and stood up from the chair. "Did you at least put the sock on the door, so I would have known?"
Now I knew my face had to be beat red. It felt like it was on fire.
"Dude, I'm sorry, is it too much?" Lucy asked, sitting down on the bed next to me.
I shook my head, looking down at my nails. "No, it's not that."
"He's not into any weird stuff that's bothering you, is he? Because if he is beating you during sex, or something, just tell me and I'll make sure that he's never seen around these parts again."
I smiled, letting out a breathed laugh. If she only knew that Ace was a trained fighter who has killed humans and other aliens with his bare hands.
"No, he's not into that. Well, not that I know of. We lost our virginity to each other last night."
"No shit, seriously?" I looked up to see Lucy's eyes had widened to be about the size of Easter eggs.
"Yeah, I didn't want to say anything, but now it's kind of out there in the open." I moved my arms out to the side, and then let them fall flat on the bed.
"I'm sorry, dude. I didn't know. I wouldn't have made such a big deal out of the whole sock thing if I did," she said, looking down at her hands.
"Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" She popped her head backup. "Losing your virginity is totally a big deal. You just shared a part of yourself with someone else. It's like the biggest thing that you could give someone."
"Well, when you put it that way." I bit down on my bottom lip.
"It's not how I put it. It's how it should be. All this crap with people just sleeping with anyone that looks at them across the bar; that's not what sex should be. It's the closest that any two people can be to each other, and it's definitely a big deal."
I looked at Lucy's smiling face. She was deadly serious and making more sense than anyone I had met. My mom and dad and health class teachers could preach to me all they wanted about safe sex, but when she put it into those terms, there was no way I could deny the gravity of what happened with Ace and me. Not only would he always be mine, but now we would always have a part of each other that could never be taken away.
"Was that what it was like for you? I mean, your first time?" I asked.
"Ugh." She shook her head, sitting up and putting one knee under her before sitting back down. "I wish it was something special. I ended up getting drunk at a party at the beginning of freshman year, and just figured it was time I give it up. I thought maybe it would somehow make me not a lesbian anymore."
She tugged a piece of hair behind her ear and looked out the window, as if she was taking her mind away to somewhere else. "So now some douche who wore a backward visor and went by the name DMac has my virginity. There was no special moment. No waking up the next morning in the arms of someone who would tell me that they loved me. All I got was a sore hymen and a hickey the size of a baseball on my neck that didn't go away for days."
"That sounds awful. I'm so sorry." I put my hand on top of Lucy's.
She squeezed it, turning back to me with a tight-lipped smile on her face. "I'd say its fine, but it's really not. I gave it away without actually thinking of the consequences. I'm just glad that you were able to share it with someone special, someone who loved you enough to give you his in return."
"Thanks, Lucy, I appreciate your insight. You're like the cool big sister I never had. Well, besides Jen, the girl I did my internship with. But you two can both be my honorary big sisters."
She leaned forward, squinting and tilting her chin down. "But, I'm the favorite big sister, right?"
I knew how jealous Simone got whenever I would talk about Jen, but I it was different with Lucy. She didn't have any agenda to destroy Ace's and my relationship. Even Riley, who hated me a summer ago, was supportive of me.