Page 55 of The Bully Alien

After some time, the other ship that I can barely see seems to be gone. Flown off, I suppose. Which means Wyatt must have whatever else he needs for the ship.

For hours, he works, and when I don't think I cantata it any longer, I sneak onto the ship and head to the part where the bedchambers for the deep sleep are situated, figuring he won't have to come here to check on it. I can hear him as he works.

It's possibly I doze off because it takes so long, but then the ship moves. There are a few beeps, and then the ship definitely is rising.

Holy shit! He did it!

He got the ship to fly!

And he really had been willing to leave me behind, the fucker.

Fury has me climbing to my feet, and I hurry forward, out of the room and trying to make my way toward the cockpit. The ship doesn't seem to be the most stable, but maybe Wyatt is just out of practice flying.

His fingers are flying over the console, touching buttons and pulling or pushing or moving levers. he slides one thing up and another down, and then he turns around.

"Delana," he says in a tone I haven't heard for some time now.

The bully tone.

I lift my chin. "You were going to leave without me."

"How did you—"

"Don't you dare act like you were the one wronged here," I cry. "You were going to leave me behind!"

He looks away from me, his expression sad. "I'm sorry," he sighs. "I thought it was for the best."

"The best for who?" I demand.

He doesn't answer for a moment, instead just turning back to the controls and continuing his work. He's silent, but I can tell he's thinking deeply about something, some plan that he's concocting in his head.

Finally, he takes a deep breath and turns to face me again. "Delana," he begins slowly. "I... care about you very much, more than I ever expected to care about someone."

He runs a hand through his hair, clearly trying to keep calm, which I appreciate, but why is he being so emotional? What is he trying to hide?

"But I don't want to limit your potential by being together yet," he continues quietly. "You have so much ambition and drive. You could do anything you set your mind to."

I snort. "Not with Earth being a Class B planet."

He flushes. "I'm going to have to live on the run, remember? The Grots will always be a threat to me, and... That kind of life is no place for a girl like you."

I let out a long, slow breath and tilt my head back to look up into his eyes.

"You don't get to decide that for me," I tell him firmly, "and you certainly don't have the right to leave me behind just because you think I'm too good for this life."

I take another step forward and reach out, resting my hand on his arm with as much gentleness as I can muster considering how angry I am at him right now.

"Don't you realize how much you mean to me?" I ask softly.

He winces, and I can see raw pain in his eyes. Why is he hurting me? Hurting himself? I can't be that wrong about his feelings for me?

Can I?

"I don't know if it's possible for us to have kids," he says haltingly, "but if we can... if we do... The Grots..."

"It's possible I could already be pregnant," I point out.

"You aren't on birth control?"