How to Date an Alien (7 page)

I thought he was speaking to both of us, but
his eyes never left me.

“Funny that you should mention that." Jen
tapped my leg, grinning from ear to ear. “Alex was just telling me
how she had nothing planned for tonight.”

“Huh, well that’s a coincidence." Gavin’s
smile widened. His teeth were definitely not as white as Ace’s, and
I was pretty sure that he had that same underbite as my grandma’s
shih tzu. I started to wonder why I actually found him attractive
the first day.

“Well, I, uh,” I stammered, trying to think
of excuses in my head to not have one more awkward moment with
Gavin. “I was actually just thinking that I probably do need to
head to the security office to do some extra work tonight. There
has been a lot of crazy stuff out in the blogosphere lately. I’m
not sure that Ace can handle it all himself.”

Jen laughed. “Alex, I think a Caltian can
handle a few delusional alien blogs by himself for one night.”

“Yeah, come on, Al. I’m sure you can use some
human interaction.” Gavin nudged my hip with his. I tried not to
slither away, but just the feeling of his sweaty boy body against
mine was enough to gag me. Not to mention the fact that I
absolutely did not like his stupid little nickname for me.

“No, really it’s fine." I shook my head,
jumping up from the bed. Jen and Gavin looked up at me, their
eyebrows raised like I was acting crazy.

“Alex, you were literally just telling me
that you didn’t have any plans." Jen crossed her arms over her
chest.

I shrugged. “Yeah, it just kind of slipped my
mind.”

Gavin stood up, slowly circling the bed. “Or
you just want to spend more time with that weird alien that you
work with.”

Jen shook her head. “Oh, come on, Gavin. Alex
is certainly not into Ace.”

“Really?" Gavin took a step closer toward me,
a smirk painted on his face. “Because you know, who could blame
her? He’s saved her twice from an alien attack, somehow always ends
up in the same place that she is, oh and of course I can’t forget
that creepy stalker stare that he always has latched on to
her.”

I tried not to let my mouth gape open. Ace
did not have a creepy stalker stare. Okay, maybe his eyes did tend
to linger in my direction, but he definitely did not have a creepy
stalker stare.

“Gavin, you’re being ridiculous." Jen stood
up next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Gavin shrugged off Jen’s hand, keeping his
eyes locked on me in a cold stare. “Am I being ridiculous, Alex? Or
does that creature have some sort of a stalkerish crush on
you?”

“I…uh…” I pushed my glasses up on my nose,
looking from the floor and back to Gavin. “I mean, not that I know
of. He’s never said anything about it. We just talk about work
things.”

Gavin took a step even closer, the smell of
potato chips and Mountain Dew seeping from his mouth. “Is that
really all that you talk about? He’s never tried to impress you
with his little Caltian tricks, like super strength or maybe even
asked to probe you?”

Jen pushed herself in the middle of us,
making Gavin finally step back. “Okay, seriously, I think that’s
enough.”

“Whatever.” Gavin lifted his arms, sliding
around Jen and walking backward toward the door. “You can have your
little alien stalker all to yourself. Just have fun trying to
explain to people why you are dating someone from another
species.”

Before Jen and I could even get another word
in, Gavin had stormed out and slammed the door shut behind him.

Jen looked from the door and back to me.
“Well that was interesting.”

I plopped down on the bed, letting out the
big breath of air that I had been holding in. “How about
awkward?”

Jen giggled. “Uh, yeah, to say the
least.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know what his deal
is. Just because I don’t want his grabby hands all over me, doesn’t
mean that I’m just going to start pawing Ace.”

Jen sat down beside me, chewing at her bottom
lip. “Gavin is kind of right. It does kind of seem like Ace likes
you."

I shook my head. “How could you even think
that? I’m barely with him except for at work.”

“Oh come on, Alex!" Jen tapped my knee. “Like
we all haven’t noticed the way he looks at you when you're with us,
or that he just always happens to be around when there’s danger.
It’s like he wants to be your guardian or something.”

I shrugged. “It’s really not like that, Jen.
We’re just friends.”

Even though I had really hoped that what Jen
and Gavin were saying was true, I couldn’t let them know that.
After Gavin's bad reaction, I didn’t want to know what everyone
else would say if they knew how I really felt about Ace.

“Uh huh, and I’m sure he feels the exact same
way.” She giggled.

“I think you’ve been watching way too many of
those sappy romantic comedies.”

“Well fine." Jen stood up, putting her hand
out to me. “If you really think that I’ve been watching too many
sappy movies, then we’re going to have a girl’s night and you’ll
show me the type of movies that you like to watch.”

I was happy to have the distraction as I
pondered in my head what Gavin and Jen had said. Could Ace really
be interested in me or was that just gossip? As Jen and I sat
huddled on my bed, watching one of my favorite movies, I couldn’t
help but think back to Ace’s star-crossed lovers comment. Even
though I would never admit it out loud, I thought that maybe Jen
was right and maybe so were all those sappy movies—except none of
them said what happens when you fall for someone of a different
species.

Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, and
even Catherine and Heathcliff were all star-crossed lovers who
weren't supposed to be together. Of course none of these characters
were aliens and all of them knew at one point or another that there
was a mutual attraction.

“So, do you like me?" The words took forever
to form in my head, but once they came out it was like word
vomit.

Ace didn’t even take his eyes off some random
Martian’s blog.

“Well, I don’t really know you, but I guess
you're okay. You’re a good worker and you come up with some witty
commentary."

I stared at him, waiting for him to look in
my direction, to do anything.

“No, I mean like really like me." I cocked my
head to the side. “Or is that a weird question since you’re
probably a lot older than me?”

He shook his head as air escaped through his
nose like a silent laugh. Then he slowly turned his chair toward
me, his eyes drifted from the screen and over to my face as a smile
curved onto his lips. “How old do you think I am, Alex?"

I let my shoulders shrug. “I don’t know,
light years?”

He sighed, shaking his head and glancing at
the ground before his eyes stared right into mine, with a look that
made me wonder if he was searching for something. “I’m
eighteen.”

“Really?" I leaned forward, inching my chair
closer as I tucked my feet underneath my legs.

“Well, yeah. I’ve been this way for awhile,
but eighteen nonetheless." His eyes shifted from the screen, then
back to me.

“What do you mean it’s been awhile?" I leaned
even closer, hoping not to fall out of my chair. “How long have you
been here, you know—” I twirled my hand above my head. “—on
Earth?”

“Since the 1940s." He shifted his weight from
one side to the other, his eyes trying to avoid mine.

“No way!" I bounced in my seat. “Did you come
here with the Roswell crash?”

“The what?" His eyes finally locked on mine
again before he burst into a fit of laughter. “Do people actually
believe that weather balloon crash in New Mexico was an alien?"

I pouted. “Well, it’s all over those specials
on the History Channel."

“If an alien ship actually crash landed, more
people would know it. They are usually pretty big, unless it’s some
sort of a fighter plane. And when we do land, we usually are better
at covering it up." He looked at the floor and then back up to me.
“That’s what hurricanes and other natural disasters are for.”

“Whoa, wait a second." I put my arms out as I
slid my feet down to the floor. “So you’re telling me that natural
disasters are just a cover up for alien landings?”

“Well, not all of them." He rolled his eyes.
“But most, yeah.”

“So did you come over during a hurricane,
then?" I scooted my chair closer to his.

“What’s with all the questions today, Alex?
This is more than you’ve spoken all week." He rolled his chair
closer to me. His knee bumped against mine. We officially could not
roll any closer. I felt a cold shiver radiating through his suit
and onto my body. I trembled, wondering how his body could be so
cold when his fingers always felt warm beneath mine.

I shrugged, looking down at our touching
knees. “Just curious, I guess.”

“Fine, I answer a question about me and you
answer a question about you. Fair enough?"

I looked up, focusing on his jawline instead
of his face. There was no way I would ever say no to his stare,
which could definitely get me in a lot of trouble.

“Fair enough." I pointed at him. “But you
have to answer my last question first. How did you get here?”

“Well, that’s an easy one." He leaned back in
his chair, folding his arms across his body. “World War II hit and
your fighter pilots weren't up to snuff against the Japanese and
the Germans, so the Army Air Force recruited the Caltians to help
them out.”

“So is that why they call you Ace?" I tilted
my head.

“Someone’s been studying their history." He
beamed.

“Well, yeah. My dad, is, or was, in the Air
Force, so I think I should know about Ace fighter pilots." I tried
to sit up as straight as I could, folding my hands on my knees.

“Okay, my turn.”

He stood and put his hands on both of my
armrests, leaning in so that his face was only a few inches from
mine. He smelled like peppermint tea and the breeze after a
snowstorm. It was the most wonderful thing I had ever smelled and I
wanted to inhale all of him.

“Do you—” His eyes drew up, drinking me in
before meeting my stare. “—like me?”

I couldn’t breathe or swallow. It was as if
all the air and saliva had been sucked out of me, and I just sat
there breathless and staring as Ace arched his eyebrows. His
intense focus fixated into my own like the answer would be right
there on my face.

Then he smiled, letting a hushed laugh escape
his lips. “I’m kidding with you!" He sat back down, bumping my
knees with his and then turning his chair back toward the
screen.

“Oh, yeah, I knew that." I swallowed hard,
turning my chair back toward the screen. He might have said he was
kidding, but just as all the air came back into my lungs, a part of
me felt disappointed. I shook those feelings out of my head and
looked back to the computer.

“Did you really?”

I turned back to realize that his eyes never
left me.

I looked down. “That’s two questions; you
only get one.”

“Fine then." He pulled my chair and whipped
it toward him so hard that I couldn’t even think or catch my
breath.

“Ow, Ace." I rubbed the back of my neck,
feeling the exact spot where there was still a bruise from where
Magpie choked me.

“Why would you ask me a question like that
anyway? If I like you?" His stare was so deep I felt like I could
actually feel his eyes drill into mine.

I tried to look anywhere but at him. But any
time I moved, his eyes would always find mine again. I let out the
weakest shrug I could under the pressure. “I don’t know. Some of
the other interns were just talking about the way you looked at me
the other day.”

He sighed as if my words were the final punch
that defeated him, and he sat back down in his chair, shaking his
head. “You know aliens and humans aren’t supposed to have any kind
of relations other than professional, right?”

I arched a brow, inching my chair just a
little closer, hoping that it was safe to do so. “Well I mean we’re
friends, right? Can we not do that or something?”

This time he was the one trying not to look
at me. “Technically yes and technically no.”

I crossed my legs and I leaned in closer.
“That didn’t make any sense.”

He finally turned toward me, but this time
instead of his eyes looking intense and frightening, they had
softened with an expression that made him look like a scared puppy.
“I wasn’t supposed to save you that day. I shouldn’t have gotten
involved.”

For the first time his hands trailed to my
fingertips, tracing along my nail line. I felt the warmth from his
fingers explode through my body. “But when I saw you laying there,
so helpless…” He didn’t take his eyes off my fingers as he
intertwined them with his own, letting their heat lock into me. “I
knew that I had to do something,” he finished, looking up.

His face was so close to mine that I could
see every line, as if it were molded by the Greeks themselves into
a picturesque statue. My lips trembled as his words fell onto them,
parting ever so slightly as he leaned in closer.

The sound of the metal doors being pushed
open startled us and we both almost jumped out of our chairs. Ace
quickly released his hands from mine and started furiously typing
away on the screen. I was too shocked to even move, so I just sat
there trying to catch my breath as my dad walked through the
door.

“Hey, Alex." My dad put his hand on my
shoulder and nodded in Ace’s direction. “Ace.”

He couldn’t have seen anything; he had been
behind the door. But even if he did see something, was there
anything to see? Holding hands and an almost-kiss couldn’t be a
crime. Or maybe it was in the alien world.

Ace nodded in my dad’s direction, not looking
away from the screen. "Colonel."