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“I’m going to be very good at it,” he proclaims. Once we arrive, he watches a few other participants, asks what the winning time is so far, and gives a curt nod of his head.

This gives me a little taste of the pre-Earth Zoriss. I like him. Supremely confident, willing to try new things, optimistic. Funny, I have no doubt he is going to be very good at it.

After unbuttoning his thick coat and handing it to me, he kneels next to the tub, gives me a wink and a smile, and launches into action the moment the woman running the booth says, “Go.”

I have just enough time to notice that almost everyone on the lawn has wandered over to see the reptilian alien who was heretofore wearing a thick coat on a balmy day, stick his head in a barrel of cold water.

His hairless head lifts up out of the water less than twenty seconds later, a huge smile on his face and one ripe, juicy apple impaled on one of his fangs.

“That was the best time of the day so far. Probably the best time ever, but I don’t know if you should win,” Sydney Thompson says as she offers him a towel. “I think your . . . Draalianess gives you an unfair advantage.”

“That’s okay,” he shrugs, still smiling as he pulls the fruit off his fang. “What do you do with these things anyway?”

I grab the towel from him to catch some drips sluicing down the back of his neck. “Eat them.”

Reptiles mostly eat meat, but Draals can eat other Earth food items. I don’t think he likes Earth food, though, because other than the nutrition bars we shared, I haven’t seen him eat much other than the awful crickets and mealworms he ate in the cave.

Luckily, he does that in the other room because it makes me want to hurl.

He takes a big bite of his apple, and his eyes fly open, then the lids slam closed as he moans, making a sound eerily close to the very satisfied noise he makes during sex.

“Wow,” he exclaims around his second bite.

We make a good team—he eats and I make judicious use of the towel to keep the juice from running down his chin.

He charms Sydney Thomson out of another apple when he tells her it’s the most delicious apple he’s ever tasted, and we stride to the hover as he munches happily away.

A few minutes later we’ve rendezvoused with mom at my apartment. This is going to be the hard part.

I’ve decided to leave most of my things here. My furniture was mostly donated by extended family and friends years ago. It’s not worth transporting across the country.

Mom and Zoriss sit on the couch and get acquainted as I walk through my apartment touching the things I’ve accumulated over a lifetime. It hits me like a lightning bolt that there’s nothing I’m going to miss.

I cast my gaze in his direction and drink in the sight of him. In just this short amount of time, he’s become the most important thing in my life. I throw clothes, toiletries, and a few mementos into several bags and join the two people I love most in the world in the living room.

After pulling a chair in front of Zoriss and my mom so one of each of my knees is touching one of theirs, I grab a hand in each of mine.

“I couldn’t have pulled this off without you, mom.

The kissing booth? Well done. And contacting Dr. Perri Thompson from Lanaquan to see if she wanted to use my office two days a week to see my patients and pay me a small percentage for the first two years?

Wow! That was brilliant. Between that and the extra seven grand we made at the kissing booth, we’re going to be fine in Windy City.

“I hate to go, but the guys have to be together and Annora can’t relocate. Her corporate offices are there.

“It just leaves one little loose end.” My eyes are sparkling with unshed tears.

How do I gather my nerve to ask my mom to leave the only town she’s ever known, one filled with people who love her, in order to follow me halfway across the country?

I guess I’ll do it the same way I asked Zoriss to stay here with me and leave the life he loved halfway across the galaxy.

“The loose end of the Draalian sexbot?” she asks innocently, as if she didn’t know where this conversation was really going.

“Well, um, it is worth money,” I answer.

“I was thinking of donating it.” She pauses for effect, then says, “To Edora McPhee.”

When Zoriss cocks his browridge at me I ask, “Wondering about the sexbot or Ms. McPhee?”

“Both.” He stands. “Where’s the bot?”

“Prominently displayed in my bedroom, honey.” My head sinks into my palms.

He stalks into my room and I know when he sees it by the hiss of displeasure I hear from the other room.

“Shit,” I mumble under my breath.

“Shit is right,” he says. Damn, when will I remember that their hearing is superhuman? “You paid good money for thissss?”

“He’s really mad when he starts hissing,” I whisper to mom.

“Not mad. Insulted.” He charges into the room holding the bot by the back of the neck.

When I see them together like that, I begin chuckling, then my laughter becomes louder.

“Are you . . . jealous?” I ask, incredulous. Now that they’re in the same room, it’s absurd how much I paid for that thing. First of all, it’s nowhere near the height or bulk of the real deal. And the penises? Don’t even get me started. It’s pathetic.

“That nice older female needs this bot,” he agrees as he motions me out of my chair and sets it on the seat. He sits on the couch, pulls me onto his lap, then suddenly appears worried, his eyes rounded as his glance darts toward mom. “Is this appropriate?”

“Your love is adorable,” mom says, a wide smile on her face. “So, when are you going to invite me to move to Windy City? I think at my age it would be good to try something new.”

“You’re terrific, mom,” I tell her with relief. She knew my request was coming, she just beat me to it.

We spend a few minutes discussing details. She’s going to stay in Crentin for a while, dispatching my things as well as hers and putting her house up for sale. We agree that Zoriss and I will go to Windy City and get settled, then look for a place for her.

“It won’t be too intrusive to have your mate’s mother so close?” mom asks Zoriss. Her tone is light, but I can hear the apprehension in her voice. The last thing she wants is to interfere.

His head snaps back in surprise. “Emerson, Draals are matrilineal. Females are venerated. You would be an honored part of our new family.” He places her hand between his and squeezes.

“My mother passed away a few years ago. Zorn and I will consider you, my beloved Lumina, Annora, and her mother to be our new family.”

Wow! If I wasn’t in love with him before, I would be after that.

“I guess it’s fair to say you two haven’t given much thought to your mating ceremony?” Mom asks.

Zorris’s eyes widen in what, surprise? Have I been living in an alternate universe for the last few days? Does he not want to marry me?

“You don’t want to mate me?” I ask, my voice a shocked whisper.

He touches behind his left ear. That must be where his translator is located. “Am I understanding correctly?”

“I assume we’re going to be mated. That’s what all of this has been about, right?” I ask.

“Yes.” He nods happily. “Mated.”

“But, you don’t want a ceremony?” I ask, leaning forward as I wait for an answer.

His eyes slide to mom. “On Earth are these things so openly discussed? I guess it’s like the sexbot?”

I’ve recently learned his embarrassed expression, and he’s wearing it now. Although it’s adorable on him, eyes downcast, lips pressed together, I take the hint.

“I’ll get back to you on that, Mom.”

“Okay. I hope you’ll wait until I can be there for it.”

Zoriss sounds like he just choked on his own spit.