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Something strikes me fast and hard as a thunderbolt. For the last eight months, I’ve shut myself in, not wanting to make friends or even buy anything other than food. Why bother? In the back of my mind, I feared I’d lose everything and be sentenced to jail.
I’m here now. The threat of jail is behind me. Ahead of me? Possibly the most interesting thing that has ever happened in the history of the world. I’m going to grab onto this experience! Dive in!
I go through the buffet line and make my way to one of the coed tables.
Chapter Six
Chance
Though I have yet to meet any of the women other than Olivia and Jenna, it’s clear who the new person is. She looks terrified as she backs against the wall and holds their hands.
She’s dumbstruck. I guess that’s only fair. If I’d been raised seeing only splicers, not even knowing of humans’ existence my entire life, it would be shocking to see a room full of them milling about as if it were just a random Tuesday.
I pretend not to watch as someone dishes her some food, and she eases into a chair at the coed table with the fewest people. Her pretty purple hair looks good with the flowers on her shirt. I didn’t know humans came in that color.
This is my first time in the dining room, but I think the new woman’s presence has taken center stage. No one is the least bit interested in me. Which allows me to take stock of how things are done here.
Noble explained the three lines of tables, but I’ll attract attention if I sit in the male-only section, which I’d prefer. Because of my size, and the fact I don’t need a chair, I ease along the outer wall and approach the last coed table from behind. Holding my tray in one hand, I eat with the other, hoping it all doesn’t clatter to the floor when I make one false step.
Suddenly, Slater’s daughter’s gaze catches on me as she scans the room. The corners of her perfect mouth turn down, and her brow furrows.
This. This is why the military officers chose twenty other males rather than me. They knew my presence would upset the women. Why a centaur is troubling, rather than Noble or Ty with their long, sharp teeth, is beyond me.
Setting my tray on the table, I back up until my tail hits the wall, then frantically look for the quickest escape route to the exit. I wince as my hooves clatter loudly over the floorboards and I break into a faltering trot.
“Wait up!”
It’s her. Slater is a fair and honest male, but he’s pointedly outspoken. Is his daughter cut from the same cloth? Is she coming toward me armed with a cutting remark?
I put my hands up in a don’t-shoot pose and pick up the pace toward the door when she calls again.
“Hey! Let me help.”
Let me help. I haven’t heard those words strung together in a sentence in a long time. Maybe ever.
I watch her approach, unable to ignore the way her large breasts move beneath her shirt, or how her hips sway from side to side as she walks. Thank goodness Olivia created my leather kilt, which slants down toward my hocks and hides what hangs between my hind legs from even the most prying eyes.
“Help?” I ask when she’s only a few steps away.
“The table’s too low for you to eat comfortably. I watched you juggling your food. I’d hate to see it land on the floor at your feet… er, hooves.”
She calls her friends and before I know it, they’ve collected all the chairs from the empty males’ side of the room and pulled them to where I’m standing. They work as a team, placing them one on top of the other until the stack is the perfect height for me to set my tray on the top chair’s arms.
“Thanks.”
I assumed this would be the end of our interaction, but she pulls the stack of chairs next to the table she was sitting at and motions for me to eat with her and her new friends. Her hand flourishes toward my food as if she were a game show hostess revealing the next big prize.
“Try it now.”
I hadn’t wanted to get into the thick of things today. Well, I hadn’t wanted to get into the thick of things ever. Although horses are a herd species, I’ve never felt really comfortable with any of the others.
How can I say no to her generous offer, though? Besides, now that I’m closer to her, I can pay attention to the way there’s one dimple to the right side of her mouth and how her green eyes gleam sometimes. If I pay attention, maybe someday I’ll figure out what makes those gorgeous eyes sparkle.
Chapter Seven
Jo
Twenty-four hours ago, if someone had told me about splicers and half-men/half-beasts, I would have had a good laugh at their expense and seriously considered calling for a welfare check on their mental health.
