Page 46 of Space Daddy and a Boy Called Twink

“Suddenly curious, are you?”

“No, I’m really not. So how about you let me get back to work? I’ve got coffee grounds on the floor to clean up.” As I spoke, I sent the video link to myself, then handed him his phone.

“Okay, I’ve gotta do some more research tonight,” he said. “Wanna meet up later for drinks?”

“I was gonna spend tonight with Daddy.”

Now I really had a reason—something I was nervous my good friend might catch on to, but he shrugged, maybe too busy investigating in his own mind. “Cool, cool. Have fun.”

I grabbed a rag, and as I squatted down, Roger leaned over the counter and said, “Hey, when did Daddy move to town? Wasn’t that around the time this thing was seen?”

“Um…”

“And then he only goes by the name Daddy…and calls people weird nicknames…” He raised a skeptical brow, though I knew him well enough to know he was joking.

“What? That’s ridiculous,” I spat out, hardly even thinking about how obvious I was being.

Roger winced. “Yes, it is. So why are you having a hernia over it?”

He’s right. Get it together, Twink…I mean, Charlie!

“Sorry, think I’m just ready to be on my break.”

“Mmmkay. Well, hit me up later. We need to hang at some point this week. Daddy doesn’t get to keep you all to himself.”

“Yeah, yeah, man,” I said. He wasn’t wrong. Since Daddy had come to town, I’d spent so much time with him that I wasneglecting my best friend, which really, was probably why he was so engrossed in this UFO conspiracy stuff to begin with.

17

DADDY

As Twink playedthe video for me, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

The object tearing toward Earth, that could’ve been my spaceship during the crash, but what I saw in the gas station was something far worse. Something that made goose bumps prick across my human flesh.

Standing in the living room Twink had created in theKaylog, I audibly gulped. This was truly the last thing I could have expected when Twink told me he had something important to talk to me about after work.

“Do you know what that thing is?” Twink asked.

“Yeah… That’s my ex.”

His eyes bulged. “Wait, huh? What is she doing in Harmony Springs?”

“That’s the billion-black-holes question. What day was that costume store robbed?”

“About two days after you got here.”

Just as I feared. “I assumed she’d just sabotaged theKaylog, but she must’ve put a tracker on it too, so she could find me and force me to keep mating with her. We must find her.”

Twink’s brow creased. “It sounds like we need to keepyouaway fromher.”

“No, Twink. She’s a monster. She won’t care about humans. She only cares about her needs.”

“A trait both our exes share,” he said playfully. “Sorry, weird time to make a joke.”

“This is very serious. She’ll do whatever she must. Kill anyone who stands in her way.” I said the words without really considering how they may weigh on Twink’s conscience, but as I felt the shift in his temperament, I quickly worked to mitigate his response. “Shecanbe stopped, but I have to find her immediately, before she has a chance to hurt anyone.”

“Can’t she hurt you, though?”