Read On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3) for Free Online Page A

know?"
    Actually she did, and he was right. It was a real hazard.
    “I didn't know if I was supposed to wear them to dinner or
not. I see you did though. Not a problem, I can change anywhere.” She wiggled
her eyebrows a bit and looked around the room, indicating that she could even
change there, if need be, which turned the boy's mind toward her being naked
under her clothes, or at least that had been her intent. He seemed to get it,
twitching his own eyebrows in return, and smiling big, seeming almost happy
compared to the day before.
    Blaine and Britney got there at about the same time, dressed
in matching gray sweats having come from Britney's room where they'd been
discussing what they wanted to do with them later, while they practiced. Don
snorted at the potential double entendre but the other two managed to keep
straight faces for once, having actually been planning out the practice
session.
    The food hadn't gotten any better overnight, so Kaitlyn felt
no particular need to linger over the meal. The others ate, so she did the
same, hoping that her dislike of the food here didn't seem too clear to
the others. Over the last year she'd grown used to the idea that food should be
really good in the main. Maybe a little lower quality if an emergency came up.
At Underwood, the embassy complex she'd worked at that hid itself as a mall, the
emergencies had been catered as often as not. Even the snacks she had from
Merri, things just thrown together by the small woman's standards, were many
times higher in quality than anything the dining hall had. Thinking about this
made her feel a little homesick for the woman. And a little hungry. She grinned
at the idea and stood to leave with the others.
    It had gotten colder outside, as they walked together through
the dark toward the gym. No one went outside here without a coat, hat and
gloves. Not this time of day at least. Her nose stung a little bit from the
cold air, the inside of it feeling like the small hairs had frozen together,
even though she didn't have hair inside her nose. Just like she didn't
have to shave her legs or under her arms. If having hair there became popular
again, it would grow, but right now the consensus told her biology to keep
those areas bare. She still had pubic hair, but it looked perfectly managed all
the time. Again her body simply doing what most people around her thought most
pleasing. No one really understood how that worked, but every Alede saw the
effects of it over time, with some of them being more sensitive to the effect
than others.
    Brit took her to a changing room, since Humans exercised
there regularly. There were lockers, but she could just stuff her clothes in
her bag and take it with her, she decided, not having a lock with her. She
dressed quickly, so that everyone wouldn't have to wait for her while she
dithered.
    The other girl checked her out while she changed, staring at
her and making small gestures that hinted at wanting her. It made Kate feel
appreciated, though it wouldn't be strictly needed. Alede could and did have sex with each other, mainly because it felt good and helped them bond, but
they couldn't share energy that way. Or at least if they did, one of them lost energy while the other gained, to a net loss in the end, since no energy
transfer was ever perfect. When they got energy from Humans or members of a few
other groups, like Weres, they actually harvested waste energy after it
had already been given off by the person. They needed that energy to live, and
other Alede didn't produce it.
    The boys had waited for them on the hard wood floor, polished
to gleaming. Both of them stretching lightly while they waited. Without being
told, the girls started doing the same as soon as they reached the place the others
stood. There weren't a lot of people in the room, only about six others. One, a
girl, doing some rather impressive looking stretches. Yoga, it seemed. She
managed to orient her body toward their group before bending