Page 33 of Should Our Stars Collide

“I swear, you’ve been put on this planet for the sole purpose of pissing me off.” Okay, so he might not be as immune to theshenanigans as he’d hoped.

Throwing his head back, Ash laughs. It’s a boisterous sound, drawing the attention of several patrons.

Kieran stares at him in a weird kind of trance. It’s the first time seeing Ash react to something so freely, making the moment feel almost surreal. Simply put, it’s freaking weird, which, Kieran decides, is what must be causing this squirmy, vaguely uncomfortable sensation in his belly.

“Why so grouchy? I’m not doing anything,” Ash says when his laughter has subsided. Then the stupid smirk is back in place, ironically putting Kieran at ease.

“Your mere existence is driving me up the fucking wall.” Honestly, the emotional distress this fucker puts him through should be a legally punishable offence.

Then he remembers what they’ve been talking about, and his blood reaches a boiling point again. “So that’s it? You want a challenge to get your rocks off?”

“I do like a challenge,” Ash admits easily. “But that’s not the case here, no.”

Now he’s pretending to be all mysterious and shit again. Well, whatever. Kieran’s not gonna fall for it. He won’t indulge him anymore.

At least, that’s the plan, but then his mouth takes over, utterly betraying him.

“So what is?”

Ash smirks, like he won a game. Fuck.

“Is it so hard to believe that I simply enjoy that temper of yours?”

Kieran frowns, sourness spreading across his tongue. The only people who ever enjoyed his temper were his classmates, and only because they found it highly entertaining to tease and taunt him until he snapped. The amount of times he’d unfairly been given detention, or sent to the counselor’s office to ‘discuss his behavior’, are too many to count.

He knows that Ash gets a kick out of teasing him, so why does thishurt? Ash is the textbook example of a bully, after all.

“Maybe I should clarify…” Ash starts, shortening the distance between them by leaning forward. It’s not enough to be all the way in Kieran’s space, the table thankfully acting like a shield, but it’s way closer than he’d like. “I’m not having fun at your expanse. When I say I enjoy your personality, I mean I enjoytalking to you. You have no filter, and it’s refreshing. You’re also very passionate when you talk about something that matters to you, and I like seeing all the emotions play out on your face.”

Kieran stares at him, dumbfounded, expecting Ash to laugh and say he was kidding. Because how could he not? The reasons he listed are usually the same reasons why Kieran gets abandoned or ignored. How could anyone like that about him? Being a hothead is not exactly something to brag about, nor is it useful. Being calm and thinking things through is; neither of which Kieran’s very good at.

“And I might also be referring to, how shall I put it…carnal desires.”

Kieran’s confusion is quickly replaced by a scowl. What did he even expect?

“Wait…” Something else dawns on him. “Is it like…akink?” He’s not proud of the way his voice climbs noticeably high. “You into degradation or some shit?”

Ash just hums, totally shameless and unbothered. “Not really. But you shouldn’t judge anyway.”

Not judge, his ass. This is personal now!

“Fuck you. I’ll judge you and anyone else as much as I want.”

“Okay.”

Gah! How is he so calm and collected all the time?!

Robbed of all his energy, Kieran folds his arms on the table and buries his face in them. “God, I hate you,” he mumbles, though the heat is not quite there.

He hears and feels Ash shift, suddenly worried he’s going to try and touch him, but it never happens. But the next time he speaks, it sounds significantlycloser.

“Do you really?”

“Yup.” As if that wasn’t obvious.

“Why?” He sounds genuinely curious instead of upset or disappointed. Figures. Kieran must be a funny scientific experiment for him.

He forces himself to look up, so he can glare at Ash. “Are you seriously asking me that?”