Page 38 of The Bully Alien

Or I could still fail.

It's starting to get late now, but I keep working, unbothered by the sweat on my brow. Finally, it looks like it should work.

Should.

What a damnable word.

It's time to try to rev it up.

So I do.

And a spark catches fire upon one of the cylinders, causing an explosion.

I stand there in shock for a moment before stepping away from it. It's a mess. The entire engine is now unusable. I've wasted a lot of time and energy in vain. I can only hope that some other solution exists so that I can fix this ship and get off this rock for good.

But I already know that's not the case.

I'm fucked.

13

Delana

"You just fucked it all up, didn't you?" I ask, speaking up for the first time in hours.

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I shouldn't have said them, but it's too late now.

Wyatt whirls around, his pricing blue eyes blazing, burning a cool fire that is going to burn me to the core.

If looks could kill, I would be dead a million times over.

"I'm fucked because you had to keep pushing me. You couldn't leave well enough alone!"

"Oh, so this is my fault?" I snap. "If I hadn't pushed you, you never would've known if it was possible or not. Wasn't it worth it to try?"

"No, it wasn't," he bites back. "If you hadn't rushed me, I could've taken more time to think—"

"I didn't rush you!"

"The hell you didn't!"

"Don't you dare blame this on me!"

"I do!"

He's marched closer to me as we've shouted at each other, and I can feel the heat radiating off of him. His intensity and anger is enough to make my heart race and my skin flush.

I want to look away but I can't, and instead, I just stand there as he stares me down. We're locked in an intense gaze that seems to last forever, our words forgotten as we get lost in each other's eyes. Suddenly, the air between us crackles with something else entirely, an energy that feels explosive.

My breath hitches in my throat as realization dawns on me. Despite the anger, despite all of it, there's something else here that we both feel, a connection so strong it almost hurts to be this close.

Before either one of us can take a step back, Wyatt surges forward and his lips are on mine.

The kiss is like nothing I've ever experienced before; hot yet tender, passionate yet gentle all at once. He takes what he wants from me, even more than I want to give, and I'm hopeless against him.

And yet, I take back from him as much as I can, unwilling to let him win in any facet.

I break off the case, breathing heavily, knowing that if I don't back away, we're going to end up in a situation I'm not prepared for.