Page 61 of Brighter Shades of Light

Same as Leon.

“There you go getting that sad look in your eyes again,” Cody said. “You never did tell me who you lost.”

Gently, I stepped out of his embrace and walked toward the sliding glass door. The sun had set, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Only bright stars and an even brighter moon, casting the world in a silver glow. Cody had been so open with me. Honest. It was time for me to do the same.

“His name was Leon.” My voice was but a whisper. “And he was my best friend.”

Cody approached from behind, but he didn’t touch me. He waited for me to continue.

“We met when I worked as a nuclear chemist. Before him, I didn’t have many friends. It was difficult for me to make them. I was too awkward, too quirky. I didn’t understand their language, and they didn’t understand mine.” I paused to take a breath and get a grip on my emotions. “But Leon understood me. He didn’t mock me or say I was weird. Instead, he initiated debates, wanting to know my take on certain topics.”

I fell silent, unable to say more.

“You loved him.” Cody slipped his hand into mine.

I nodded, fixating my gaze on the tree outside the window. “I didn’t understand what love was until him. We became friends, then lovers, and I was so happy. Four years with him wasn’t enough.”

“What happened to him?”

The memory of Leon lying in the hospital bed flashed through my mind; his once healthy body now turned to skin and bone, his sunken cheeks. When he wasn’t sleeping, he’d been in excruciating pain or vomiting. They’d given him medication to help with both, which had made him sleep even more. Then, toward the very end, he had been delirious.

The beautiful mind I loved more than anything had been reduced to incoherent ramblings.

“An inoperable brain tumor,” I eventually said. “For the first year and a half of our relationship, he didn’t tell me. But then he had no choice.”

“He kept it from you for almost two damn years?” Cody’s shocked tone edged on anger.

“Leon was convinced he’d find a cure,” I said, feeling as though my heart was shattering all over again. “I was a fool for not seeing the signs earlier. The medications he hid from me. His obsession with immortality.”

“Wanna know one of my theories?”

I faced Cody and moved my knuckles along his cheek, finding comfort in his easy smile and eyes that were more beautiful than every star in the galaxy. It was hard to live in the past when the future was standing right in front of me.

“Tell me,” I said.

“I think when a loved one dies, a new star is formed.” Cody wrapped his arms around me and rested his cheek on my shoulder. “Sometimes when I miss my dad, I look at the stars and like to think he’s looking down at me. Somehow. Maybe we all become stars when we die.”

“Stars are formed inside molecular clouds.”

Cody chuckled. “Are you disproving my theory, Doctor?

“No.” I tightened my hold on him. “I like your theory.”

I was finding there wasn’t much Ididn’tlike when it came to him.

“Speaking of stars, do you know about the Pleiades cluster?” Cody brushed his lips across my Adam’s apple before pulling away. “End of October and into November is when you can see them best. The Seven Sisters is another name for them. People used to see them as a sign to honor the dead.”

“Very appropriate for Halloween night then, I suppose.”

“Yep.”

“Are you naturally full of these random facts?” I asked, pressing my front to his back and snaking an arm around his midsection. “Or do you come prepared?”

“You caught me,” Cody said, sighing. “I do it to impress you. Is it working?”

“Possibly.” I kissed his neck, loving how he reached back to grip my thigh. As an idea struck, I walked away from the door, earning a grumble from Cody, and grabbed the bottle of wine. “Follow me.”

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