Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29593 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
“Yes, you can kiss me. But let’s make them small kisses so you don’t struggle breathing.” Her fingers dance along my ear, then move up to my broken horns, two ugly stumps capped off with metal. “You can strip me naked. You can lick me all over. Think of me as a blank canvas and you’re the artist.”
That’s far more poetic than how I feel. “More like I’m just the lucky bit of scrap that you’ve decided to craft into something new.”
She grabs me by the ears, her expression fierce as she forces me to look her in the eye. “You’re not scrap. You’re just as worthwhile as anyone I’ve ever met. Better, even. You saw me hurting and did something about it instead of walking away like so many others. That shows your true character. I probably cost all of your credits, was a bother and an annoyance because I remember crying like a madwoman, and then you even found me a new place to live where I’d be safe. You didn’t just sell me to another person and hope for the best. You made sure that I was taken care of, even if it was a problem. You’re amazing. Your heart is amazing. I don’t care that you don’t have a good family name or that your father’s father was a splice. I don’t care that you have a criminal record. All the things that you think make you unworthy don’t bother me, because I know how you really are when the chips are down.”
“What are chips—”
“Hush,” Melody says, exasperated. “I’m trying to build you up here.”
“I apologize. I’m listening.” I’m flattered, and it makes me prickle with an uncomfortable sort of pride that she views me so highly. I’m not used to thinking of myself as anything other than just more station trash. It’s humbling to think that she sees me as something different, and always has.
“Earth people have a saying. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. I don’t think you’re trash, but I do think you should realize that you’re special to me. That your kind heart and your sense of right and wrong means more than whatever name you were born with. That’s the part of you that I fell in love with, understand?”
“You fall in love too easily,” I grumble.
Melody makes another exasperated sound. She starts listing things off. “You’re allergic to chski, whatever that is. Your horns got cut off as a punishment when your unit was nearly destroyed in a Thresh battle and only three people came back. You wear the same color uniform over and over again, which tells me you like the color gray. You’re really good at games and you gloat a little too much when you win. Your tail has a notch cut into the fur near the tip and that was from a work accident. You enjoy noodles for breakfast and green veg, but not the white ones. You get this sad look on your face when the women here cross the street to avoid you. You’re dying to help me out with my scrap but never do because you don’t want to intrude. Those are all the things I’ve learned about you in the last month because you wanted us to get to know each other better. Well, I know you a lot better, and guess what? It hasn’t changed how I feel. I still think you’re amazing. I still want to be with you. I still—”
I tug her down into my lap.
She falls against me with a startled squeak, clearly not expecting that. Her arms go around my neck and she gives me a startled look as she settles onto my thigh.
“Point taken.” I lean in and brush a light kiss over her lips. She tastes like tooth cleanser, because she’d scrubbed her mouth out over and over again at the medic’s clinic, distressed that she’d done this to me. I don’t care. I just want to kiss her. “Am I allowed to say that I think you are amazing and want to be with you?”
“Yes. You’re allowed to say it repeatedly.” She relaxes in my arms, one hand toying with my nape. “As long as you promise you’re not going to leave me behind again. Promise that I get a say in everything.”
“Yes and yes.” I lean in and kiss her again. It’s a light kiss, little more than a brush of lips, because I don’t want her to be repulsed by my swollen features. “I want a future with you.”
Her return smile is brilliant. “Oh, Brux. Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear that?”
“Five years and one month?”
She rolls her eyes at me and tweaks my nose. “Very funny.” Then a panicked look crosses her face as she realizes what she’s done. “Oh no. Your nose—”