Page 101 of Should Our Stars Collide

“Sometimes we go to the beach. Or the movies. Although last time at the movies?—”

“Yeah, I get the picture. Jesus.” Kieran walks over to the sofa and collapses onto it. “I’m a slut.”

Ash joins him, keeping a comfortable distance between them. “I like that too.”

“’Course you do. Pervert.” He nods in the direction Tequila has disappeared. “How does that even work with that evil thing around?”

“We have to shut the door. Lesson learned the hard way. Especially for you. You still have scars.”

“Attacked me for messing with her man, huh? Where are the scars?” Stretching his arms out, he looks them over.

“You need to look a little lower.”

Kieran’s expression goes from uncomprehending to stone-cold. “My butt? She attacked my butt?”

Ash still laughs whenever he remembers the occasion. “In her defence, it was right there. Count yourself lucky that she didn’t aim for the chandelier.”

Kieran hisses something at him and stomps to their bedroom, presumably to check.

“I have fucking teeth marks on my butt cheek!” comes a scandalized scream a few moments later.

“Those could be from me. How old do they look?” Ash yells back.

“I hate you!”

A stupid, smitten grin on his face, Ash flops onto his back, whispering, “Love you too, firecracker.”

23

Finally, some peace and quiet. Ash has fucked off to work and Kieran has the fancy apartment to himself.

Hiss.

Okay, not completely to himself. “Shut up. You’re not in charge here,” he tells the orange menace who has been—he’s sure of it—planning his murder ever since he sat down to watch some Netflix. He swears, whenever she hisses at him it sounds like:Get out, intruder!

Hiss.

“If you keep going, I mightaccidentallylock you in the washing machine while doing laundry. How would you like that?”

Tequila dips her head low, her shoulder blades popping out and tail swishing through the air. She lets out one last hiss before walking away.

Kieran smirks. “That’s what I thought.” He props his feet on the coffee table and resumesRoad House.

Damn, he can’t believe he’s watching a movie from the future. He’ll need to check everything that’s been released byMarvelin the last two years. This time-travel to the future thing might not be a complete scam.

The movie starts with a bang. Kieran’s glued to the screen, Jake’s easy charisma pulling him in. The guy really outdid himself this time, he’s so ripped! Who can blame Kieran if he has a teeny tiny crush on the guy? Who wouldn’t? Just look at him! If Ash was here, he’d find a million and one reasons to tease Kieran about it.

It hits him suddenly, how quiet the apartment is without Ash, how big and empty. Maybe it’s because Ash is such a huge, annoying presence that the absence of him feels so acute.

It’s not that Kieran misses him. Hedoesn’t. He’s just… not used to being on his own again, not after days of Ash being set on orbiting every step he took. Back then, Kieran swore he needed a break. Now that he has it, it doesn’t feel particularly relaxing. It’s as if he’s floating in space, weightless—which is nice, but also makes him feel lost, which is not nice. As irritating as he is, Ash has a remarkably grounding effect on him.

After pushing through another twenty minutes of the movie—which he can’t recall a single thing about—Kieran admits defeat. He’s officially become that pitiful type of person who can’t handle being on his own for long. How embarrassing.

Fine, then. He might as well make use of his free time and pay Gabe a visit.

Naturally, Gabe’s nowhere to be seen when Kieran arrives. Instead, he’s greeted by Zeke’s gradually paling face.

“Calm your tits, I come in peace,” he says when Zeke is about to make a run for it.