Page 19 of Should Our Stars Collide

“Shut up,” he grumbles, impatiently waiting for his much-needed refill.

“I didn’t say anything,” Ash says smoothly. Calmly. How is he always so fucking calm?

“Well, I can hear what you’re thinking.” He makes a greedy grab for the shot the bartender just poured.

“Who is a mind reader now?” Ash retorts, making Kieran roll his eyes. “And I doubt that.” He moves, his arm brushing against Kieran’s fleetingly, breath sweet from the pineapple juice. When he speaks, his rumbly voice sounds incredibly close. “You’d act differently if you could hear my thoughts.”

Kieran feels his body tense up like a bowstring pulled to its limit. With clenched hands, he gives Ash his best unwavering look. “Dude.”

Ash’s lips twitch, his eyes literally sparkling with the bullshit he’s no doubt about to spew. “Yes,dude?”

Just breathe. Dawson said the fucker does this shit all the time.“I’m straight,” he says as calmly and firmly as possible. Which is not an easy task, given how fast his heart is pounding. Thank god for the shitty bar music that covers up the erratic sound.

Ash doesn’t even blink. “I’ve heard.”

“So take your perverted ass somewhere else.”

Ash’s gaze, sharp and predatory, sweeps over Kieran head to toe, infuriatingly slowly. It makes Kieran’s skin prickle with awareness, heat spreading through his abdomen. Wait, not heat—rage. It’s always rage where the asshole is involved.

“Are you sure?” Ash purrs, sending a shiver of…disgust down Kieran’s spine. He leans even further into Kieran, somehow managing not to touch him at all. “You were right, you know,” Ash carries on. “I do read minds.”

“Oh yeah?” Kieran challenges, glaring daggers at him. He vividly imagines wrapping his fingers around Ash’s throat so he can’t utter another condescending word. Maybe rearrange his face a little, so it’s not so annoyingly symmetrical anymore.

Ash’s lips stretch into a full-blown grin. It’s different from his usual, patronizing grins and taunting smiles. It looks almost…genuine, transforming his whole face, and Kieran spends a long, embarrassing moment just staring stupidly at him. Mainly because his vision has started to go a bit blurry.

He’s brought back to his senses when Ash finally,finallymoves away, giving him some much-needed space to breathe. “You know, anger is a cover emotion.”

“What?”

“A cover emotion. It’s a protective mechanism.”

Oh dear god. Not this woke bullshit. First Zeke, and then this whacko.“I didn’t ask?—”

“It’s protecting and covering up for something much deeper and way more vulnerable,” Ash carries on merrily. God, he really must love the sound of his own voice.

“I’ll stop you right there. I’m not paying you for an unsolicited therapy session.”

Ash barks out a laugh, a hearty, warm sound that’s at complete odds with his personality. “I’m not on the clock. Consider it a freebie.”

“Well, I don’t want it.” He’s had enough to last a lifetime.

“Are you sure?” Without missing a beat, he leans into Kieran again. It’s not as close as before, but somehow it feels even more intense, Ash’s presence even more unbearable. “I happen to be very good at seeing through the layers, right to the very thing you’re trying to hide.”

Wow, someone thinks very highly of himself. He’s spent a few years with his nose buried in textbooks and now he thinks he’s all-knowing. The only thing he’s good for is slapping labels on unsuspecting people who’re looking for help. That’s all. He doesn’t know shit about Kieran.

So why does it feel like he’s looking right into Kieran’s soul?

Because you’re fucking drunk and thinking nonsense.

Yeah. That must be it.

Ash’s voice reaches his ears again. Despite them being so close, it’s as if it’s coming from far away. “I know exactly what it is that you want, that you crave. You don’t have to say a word. Doesn’t that sound good? Imagine what I could do with that information if you gave me the green light.”

Due to the interference of some higher power, Kieran’s phone vibrates in his pocket at that moment, allowing him to snap out of the weird fucking trance he got sucked into. He jerks away, giving Ash a look of utter loathing. Or he at least hopes that’s how it comes out.

“Why don’t you start a career in fortune telling? After all, bullshitting people is what you do.”

And there it is again. Instead of a witty reply, Ash just looks at him. He’s not smiling this time, or grinning like a dick. His face is perfectly neutral, eerily so, and his eyes are reflecting the muted light of the bar in a strange way. It almost makes them look like they’re changing color.