Page 104 of Should Our Stars Collide

Among the noise, he hears broken off bits and pieces.

“…hothead…”

“…brat…”

“…how ridiculous you can be sometimes…”

“…by your side…”

“…always been you…”

“…I love you…”

“Wow.”

Gabe’s voice snaps him back to reality. Shit. So much for not getting worked up. He’s actually shaking a little.

No surprise there. Listening to Ash talk will do that to you. Unfortunately, he’s pretty sure he lost the grip on the forcefield halfway through, and Gabe’s reaction confirms it.

“That was a good one.”

Dropping his elbows to his thighs, Kieran fists his hair. “I fuckedup again.”

“That happens with strong emotions. Especially love.”

Kieran’s head snaps up so fast he hears his neck crack. “Excuse me?”

Gabe gives him a confused look. “The thing you were thinking about. It’s something you love very much.” A pause. “That’s what you were going for, right?”

“N-no! I was thinking annoying things!”

Gabe seems pretty uncomfortable now. Well, he should! How could he get it so wrong?

“That’s not what it felt like to me.”

“Guess your radar is broken.”

Gabe’s face goes from‘Well, this is awkward’to‘Oooooh, I get it!’.

“You were thinking about Ash, weren’t you?”

Kieran’s jaw goes slack, which makes it very hard to defend himself.

“Now the confusion makes sense,” Gabe carries on merrily. “He’s my cousin, and I love him, but man, do I wanna bury him six feet under sometimes.”

Kieran’s shoulders slump. “He’d crawl back up. Like a damn cockroach.”

“He so would.”

At least Gabe gets it. Some people are excellent at making you feel a whole myriad of emotions, right across the scale. But that doesn’t mean Kieran loves Ash. He doesn’t! He just…doesn’t hate him as much as he used to, and—as he told Ash yesterday—he’s willing to admit the guy has some positive traits.

For one, heisgood at handling Kieran’s moods and never gets annoyed with him. That’s pretty impressive. And he’s a great cook. And even though he’s been dating future Kieran for years, he’s never tried to force his feelings, orhimself, on Kieran. He’s given Kieran space and only pushed him enough to keep him on his toes. And he knows all Kieran’s likes and dislikes. He has a twisted sense of humor that took a little getting used to, but looking at it now, it compliments Kieran’s. And he can be surprisingly sweet sometimes, mainly when he’s shutting up,and?—

Jesus Christ, write a fucking poem about him, why don’t you?

Okay, reality check: Kieran might be developing feelings that are not 100% negative. But he’s not in love! He’s not!

“Kieran?” Gabe’s soft voice cuts through his meltdown. “I’m happy for you. What I felt when I tapped into you? It felt beautiful. Strong and chaotic,” he admits with a small laugh. “But beautiful. You don’t have to fight it, you know?”