Choosing Riley

Chapter 9-2

Riley shivered. She was freezing her ass off. She needed to talk to the guys about working on the damn heater. She pulled her suitcase out from under the bed and unzipped it.

She didn’t unpack her things. The biggest reason why was she was afraid they might have to evacuate the old tub they were on in a hurry, and she wouldn’t have time to repack everything. She dug around until she felt the soft fur lining of the jacket she had bought herself for her birthday two years ago. It would have cost her a pretty penny at that boutique where her sister worked if it hadn’t been on the seventy-percent-off rack. Even with Tina’s employee discount it had still cost her a small fortune, but she loved the damn thing. It was gaudy to the point of being chic.

The rich, dark purple dyed rabbit fur offset the glittering silver sequins all over it. The damn thing practically glowed in the dark, and when she wore it to the bar with a pair of her black leather pants it screamed “unavailable rich bitch.” Of course, the one and only time she wore it to the bar, Pearl had threatened to shoot the damn thing. She’d said nothing that ugly should be allowed to live.

Riley had ignored her dear grandmother and put it down to jealousy that Tina had shown it to her instead of Pearl who seemed to only like black leather and metal. Riley had drooled over the damn jacket every time she picked Tina up after work for almost a year. Tina must have hidden it so that the owner would finally mark it down from the twelve hundred dollars it had originally been marked at because she knew how badly Riley wanted the damn thing.

She gave a thrilled grin as she slid the quilted jacket on, rubbing her cheek against the soft rabbit fur. Yes, she was an animal lover, but she figured if she convinced herself that the damn thing died of old age or something similar she wouldn’t have to feel guilty about where it came from. Hell, as far as she knew it could have been road kill. The only thing she cared about was that it was soft, flamboyant, and hers!

Riley zipped the jacket up and pulled the collar up until it covered her ears. The fur lining practically covered her face, and she was able to bury her nose in it to keep it warm too. She couldn’t wait to see how the guys reacted to it.

The men in the bar had just stared at her all night like they thought she was some movie star or something. Of course, her grandmother said they didn’t know whether she needed help from the alien attacking her or if she was the newest hooker on the street. Riley had blown her grandmother the middle-finger kiss and told her that John had given her the night off. Tina had groaned, mortified, while Pearl had laughed so hard she had to excuse herself so she wouldn’t piss all over herself.

“Some grandmother, I have,” Riley muttered as she walked down the corridor to the dining quarters. “She pisses her pants because she knows her granddaughters are virgins! Most grandmas would be proud of that.”

“Hi, Riley,” Fred said, coming up behind her. “What is attacking you? Did it come off the ship?” he asked, frightened, looking at the glittering silver and purple jacket she had wrapped around her snugly.

Riley rolled her eyes at Fred. “Yes, there are thousands of them on board. You better not lie down for too long or one of them will take over your body as well!” she grumbled, not looking at him as she turned to continue on her way. “Is it attacking me? He’s a freaking comedian, and I didn’t even know it!”

She sighed as she entered the dining quarters and found no one was there. Maybe she could just fix herself something quick and take it back to her room where she could bundle up in the nice, clean blankets that she had piled on her bed.

Shit, she could see her breath now. What was their frigging problem? Did they forget to pay the damn heating bill or something? Riley shrugged her shoulders, just thankful she had something to keep her warm. She plugged her earbuds into her iPhone, adjusting the ear pieces so she could listen to Enigma as she fixed herself something to eat. She was totally oblivious to the fact that Fred had disappeared.