Page 8 of Yorix

“Yes. It’s not like you’ll be using the room anymore,” she replied defensively.

I sighed. She’d done the same thing to Marietta, admittedly. The day Marietta moved out, she began converting her bedroom into a craft room. It was now chock full of stuff she'd started and never finished as she flitted from one craft to another - cardmaking, macrame, quilting, you name it, she’s either tried it or would shortly.

“It’s fine,” I told her. “Just don’t get rid of my stuff, okay?”

“It’s going into the basement. You can go through it when you come home for Christmas.”

“If you’ve taken her room, where will she sleep?” Sam asked, setting a plate with two pieces of cinnamon toast in front of me before putting a second one down in front of his empty seat.

“Thanks,” I murmured and was rewarded with one of my brother’s brilliant smiles.

“I’ve thought of that,” Mama replied. “We’re going sofa shopping. I’m sure Burkley’s has a decent quality sofa bed. We’ll need at least a queen as the Mylos are quite big.”

We all looked at each other helplessly. If I didn’t get matched, Mama was going to be even more disappointed than I would. I’m not ashamed to admit that when I fingered myself, it was usually a Mylos I pretended was about to claim me as his mate, more often than not. But unlike Mama, while I wanted to find someone who was my perfect other half, I knew the odds were, well, astronomical that it would be a Mylos. Or that if it was, that he’d be sitting in orbit right this very second. I mean, come on, a girl has to be realistic!

Daddy cleared his throat. “Why don’t we finish breakfast and then I’ll take you to go look, honey?” he asked Mama. “And then we can go to lunch, and after that, stop at the bougie Pet Superstore. I bet they’ll have some fantastic stuff. Maybe Marietta and George would like to meet us there.”

Mama’s face brightened. “That’s a fabulous idea! It’ll take my mind off Lynn’s appointment. Oh! But when you’re matched, call us right away! We’ll want to see a picture before he flies you away. They don’t let you come home until you’re fully claimed, you know.”

Sam snorted as he poured the first of two glasses of orange juice. Mama pretended not to hear him.

“I’ll stay home,” he said, pouring the second one. “I have to finish my paper anyway.” He put the orange juice back in the fridge before carrying both glasses over to the table. Passing me one, he set the other down in front of the place he’d set for himself.

I smiled in appreciation, picking it up to drink, loving the slight sourness of it. I set my glass down.

“I guess I’d better finish up and go grab my shower, so I can get going.”

“You’ll always have a place here,” Daddy said. “If you need it. Just putting that out there.”

“I know.” And I did. Mama wasn’t kicking me out. I was already going, and she was doing her best to fill the hole she’d have from not having me here for her to fuss over. It was her way of coping, and the sting was taken out of it by her going to buy a sofa for me and the mate she’d decided I absolutely was going to end up with to sleep on when we came to spend Christmas.

* * *

I hummed softly to myself as I drove to the Center.

Imagine that! I thought to myself. For Mama to have gotten that as a book rec on her Kindle, she’d have to have been reading some steamy romances. Not alien ones, unless she had been trying to distract us from that. Shifter ones, at the very least. I wonder if she’d be interested in trying one of the reverse harem ones I've read?

I giggled to myself. Yeah, I wasn’t brave enough to suggest that. Not to my own mama, at any rate. Though if she liked those prison planet, gladiator-y ones, I bet she’d love the Sadie Smythe series I’d plowed through recently. Those Tryne… Hoo boy! Talk about sexy beast bad boys!

Not that the Mylos weren’t sexy as sin, and I didn’t want to be a prize to a damaged, almost feral alien sentenced to fight and die in a death arena. I also liked reading stories where the warriors were fighting pirates or invaders or whatever, and found their mates among the cargo, having been kidnapped from an unknown world. I didn’t want to live it, though. It was fun to read about, that’s all.

Nope, getting to go live out my dream of studying the cosmos and living on a spaceship and maybe even a few space stations and an alien planet or two along the way was exciting enough for me. With a Mylos mate, who would be devoted to me and our children as they came along? It would be paradise.

By the time I was turning into the parking lot of the Center, I was hoping with all my might that Mama was right, and that I’d find my soul mate as well as get to attend my course. Maybe a little bit of the reason why was that I was a little afraid, just a teensy bit, of being out in the vast universe without the family I’d always been surrounded by, but the rest? Okay, I'd gotten a little horny thinking about those books and then the ripped abs and tight asses of the Mylos I’d seen on TV and on the posters. That, and I really did want to find love, because who didn’t? I’d dreamed often of finding what both my parents and Marietta and George had.

I pulled in next to a pick up truck that was already sitting there, idling, and a middle aged man glanced over at me, a nasty look on his face. I swallowed, having taken note of the bumper stickers on his vehicle. What the hell was a Humans First supporter doing here? I didn’t have time to ponder it any further before he bared his teeth in a nasty smirk, threw it into reverse, and backed out before driving away.

I let out the breath I'd been unwittingly holding.

“Okay, then.” I drew in a deep breath, needing to recover that sense of firm conviction I’d felt before seeing the truck and that horrible man. I left it out, then took in a few more until my heart stopped racing. “It’ll be alright,” I reminded myself aloud, placing my hand firmly on the door handle. “They’ve got security cameras, and on the off chance that they haven’t noticed him yet, I’ll mention him when I go in. He was probably just casing the place, anyway.”

I opened my door, getting out. I took care to lock my door, just in case the asshat came back with friends. Though if he did, locking my door wouldn’t stop them from smashing it up with a bat or something.

“Nope, don’t even go there,” I scolded myself as I walked towards the entrance. “The Mylos will handle it, so he and any buddies he might have can’t do anything.”

I felt reassured immediately when I saw the Mylos office already waiting for me at the door.

“Here you are! Welcome, Lynn Jacobs.”