Page 21 of I Fell for an Alien Popstar

As I watched her leave, her bodyguards stepped back into the room.

“Ready to leave, Ms. Vada?” one of them asked.

“Yes,” I said nervously. “I am.”

Security walked me through the connecting corridor that linked the hotel to the arena, like I was a parcel that needed a signature and maybe a biohazard label. We passed through the main lobby, which had glass elevators, glittering chandeliers, and a long line at check-in.

My body was marching along behind the same very serious guards, but my brain was still fifteen minutes in the past, replaying the feeling of Zhari’s mouth on mine.

Kiss one. Rewind. Play. Replay.

It was like some broken music loop I couldn’t eject. She had kissed me. Not once, but twice. The most famous extraterrestrial in several star systems had pulled me in and kissed me like she’d been waiting years.

There was absolutely no way I was ever going to act normal again.

“The temporary access code expires shortly, so make sure to use it right away to lock it in,” the guard on my left was saying.

“Yep, okay. I can do that,” I said, barely registering what they’d said.

We stopped at an unmarked door. The guard tapped a panel, the lock flashed green, and the door slid open with a sigh. They handed me a slim card that glowed faintly at the edges.

“Your bag and suitcase have been brought up,” they recited. They gestured for me to enter the hotel room. “Ms. Lumis will join you when she is done with the post-show stream.”

“Cool… great. Thanks,” I muttered under my breath.

They both smiled at the same time and then left. I turned around and walked into the suite.

I was still so starstruck. How could this be happening to me? Thomas was going to lag when he heard about this.

I pushed up the sleeve of my jean jacket and tapped my comm. I scrolled for Thomas’s name and started typing.

ME: You are never going to believe what I am doing right now. I just met Zhari AND got invited to stay over in her hotel suite for the night. Will message you later.

I hit send and immediately got a message back from Thomas.

THOMAS: What? Are you joking? If you’re not, that is so crazy! Talk soon.

I stood there with my heart pounding and let out a sound that wasn’t a language. It was like the noise a computer made when you opened too many programs and it just gave up.

I looked around the enormous suite.

It was ridiculously enormous. One entire wall was a single sheet of glass, with the city of Lumara spilling beneath it in layers of violet and crystal. In the center sat a smooth, round coffee table, its surface catching the light from the city. Plush bedding spilled over the edges of the oversized bed, which was framed by cute white nightstands with ambient lighting that glowed softly and warmly instead of harshly.

A sleek dresser stood opposite the bed, with a plasma screen hovering just above it, dark and glossy as if it were waiting to wake up. Across from the bathroom, a compact kitchenette tucked into the corner held a glossy white counter, a tiny sink, and a neatly arranged row of chrome appliances that looked too pretty to actually use.

The vanity near the bathroom was still cluttered with brushes and palettes from earlier, smudges of shimmer like fingerprints left by a star.

And there was one bed.

The bed was huge. It was half the width of my entire childhood bedroom, covered in a fluffy duvet that looked extremely soft and plush.

“Okay. One bed. That’s fine,” I whispered.

My bag and suitcase sat in the corner, pushed up against the wall. I crossed toward them, uncrossed, crossed again, and then sank onto the couch like my legs had forgotten how to leg.

“Oh my God, you’re in her room,” I muttered into my hands. “Get it together, Vada. You’re an adult. Adults don’t hyperventilate because they’re having a sleepover with a celebrity and the suite just happens to have one bed.”

I shook my head and looked around.