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So far, not so good. Maybe it was her. Sinead’s mom had always said she was an acquired taste, and although this guy had half-heartedly suggested they get together, he clearly didn’t find her attractive.

Not that it bothered Sinead. Rejection was a part of life’s big adventure. If you don’t get rejected and fail now and again, you weren’t living. Although, it seemed that, sometimes, Sinead seemed to be failing a lot.

It wasn’t all misery, and life threw her a win now and again. Sinead shook her head. She had a job and friends at My Single Alien, and she was free and single to do what she liked. That was a big win. She shouldn’t dwell on the negative.

Talyn glanced at her, his expression pained. “You think very loudly.”

Sinead laughed in surprise. “Sorry! I was told to watch my emotions around you.”

“Please do. I have my barriers up, but you’re slamming on them like a hammer.”

“Oh! I didn’t mean to.” She sucked in a breath and tried to still her mind. It was an impossible task, even on a good day. When she’d had only a couple of hours sleep and fought a hangover, it was never going to happen.

Talyn increased the gap between them until he was almost touching the wall.

“This is you,” Sinead said as brightly as she could. “If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them tomorrow. You’ll also have an orientation to learn about the station and how things work at My Single Alien. We want to make sure you have the time of your life here and leave with a smile on your face and your heart full of love.”

“Can’t wait.” Talyn turned and walked into his room.

Sinead frowned as she made a note on Talyn’s record. He was hot but moody. Good luck to the woman who got involved with this one. Some women found sullen appealing but not her.

Chapter 2

Talyn slumped on the bed. He barely noticed the plush furnishings around him. They were a perk to entice him to sign with My Single Alien.

What was he doing here? He wasn’t interested in finding a mate. He had a handle on his emotions. He had control of his filters and knew how to block unwanted feeling.

But that was why his sister, Laya, had forced him to do this. He knew how worried she was. She kept telling him it wasn’t good to spend so much time alone. Lillips were social creatures and thrived on interacting with people to feel energized by others’ positivity.

The problem was, Talyn never focused on the positivity. He’d always been drawn to darker emotions. He didn’t do it deliberately and never sought people who struggled, but they were the feelings he latched onto. It was because they were the stronger emotions and resonated so powerfully from a person. They were also the feelings he sensed from his mom. Every time a flicker of darkness touched him, he remembered her.

Talyn loved his sister. He didn’t want her to worry. He was doing this to keep her happy. They came from a small family and were close to each other. Laya had been fortunate in finding a Lillip mate, and they had a child.

He smiled as he recalled the joy on his sister’s face when she’d presented baby Nilia to him. Laya wanted him to have that as well. She said there was nothing like it, the unbridled, unstoppable feeling of being totally in love with another individual. She’d give her life for her infant.

Talyn rolled his shoulders and flopped back on the bed. He could use this week on Prodigy to catch up on sleep. He shuddered at the thought. He avoided sleep. It never led him to good places. He struggled on a few hours a night, aided by pills to drag him into a deep enough sleep so he didn’t dream. It sometimes worked but not often.

No, he couldn’t use this time to sleep. But he would find a distraction while he was here. He couldn’t spend the whole time mooching around and being pestered by My Single Alien to fall in love and find true happiness. As if finding a mate would cure him of his worries.

His wrist comm signaled an incoming call. He swiftly synced the link to the screen on the wall in his room and accepted the call.

His sister’s face appeared, and she waved at him. “You made it.”

“Of course I did.” Talyn pulled himself into a seated position, his limbs feeling heavy.

“I did wonder. You made it clear you don’t want to do this.” Laya pursed her lips, amusement glittering in her dark eyes.

“And you made it clear I had to. That’s why I’m here.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “You make it sound like I’ve forced you to go to war. You’re about to find the woman of your dreams.”

“So I keep being told.”

Laya peered closely at him. “Still not sleeping?”

“I make do. How about you? Is Nilia keeping you up?”

“Every few hours, she wakes and wants to be fed or entertained. I’m almost used to it. I still feel like a space cadet running low on oxygen some days. I found my wrist comm in the dryer last week, and I don’t remember putting it there.”