Page 35 of Should Our Stars Collide

“No? Then what? Oh, let me guess.” Kieran snaps his fingers, asking mockingly, “You like people with strong personalities?”

“Colorfulpersonalities. Like yours.”

“That’s just a euphemism for being a headcase.”

“Not at all,” Ash disagrees, andwhy the heck does he sound affectionate?“I think you feel a lot of things and never had the chance to learn how to make sense of them.”

Kieran opens his mouth to let Ash know exactly where he can shove his pseudo-scientific observations, but doesn’t get far. Despite knowing Ash is full of shit, something about his words hits dangerously close to home. The realization causes a weird sensation in his chest, a sense of completion, like a lost puzzle piece falling into place.

It scares the crap out of him.

“I told you, I’m not interested in an unsolicited therapy session,” Kieran grumbles when his voice has miraculously recovered. Though it wouldn’t hurt if he could make it sound a little more convincing.

“That’s not what I’m trying to do here,” Ash placates—the liar.

“So what are you trying to do, huh? Make me punch you? Because let me tell you, you’re doing great.” It would probably sound more threatening if his speech hadn’t already become slightly slurred. The inside of his mouth doesn’t feel great either, his tongue sticking to the roof. “Pass me that.” He points at the glass of water, covered in condensation from sitting there all this time.

“Let’s just order you a new?—”

“Just give it here, will you?”

Ash does.

Making sure to avoid eye contact, Kieran reaches for the glass andbrings it to his parched lips. He takes a sip, the sensation of ice-cold water sliding down his dry throat so divine it draws a little moan out of him. He takes a big gulp next, drinking until the glass is mostly empty. Stupidly enough, he finds himself in a better mood now that he’s not severely dehydrated, but that doesn’t last long. One look at Ash is all it takes to awaken his inner kraken.

“What?” he snaps. It’s not that Ash isdoinganything. On the contrary, his expression is disturbingly blank, to the point of seriousness. It just pisses Kieran off that he doesn’t know what that means.

“You don’t realize how lovely you are, do you?”

“I beg your fucking pardon?” He must be having auditory hallucinations. Hehopeshe’s having auditory hallucinations.

Ash flashes him a bright grin, as if Kieran complimented his hairstyle instead of cussing him out. “There you go.”

“You’re fucking mental, man,” Kieran tells him, not really understanding why anything that comes out of Ash’s mouth still surprises him anymore.

Wait, no. That almost makes it sound like he’s getting used to it. Like he’s starting to be okay with it. That’s not the case! Not at all! Hard nope.

“Comes with the territory,” Ash says, not even trying to deny it.

“Don’t blame it on your job. This is all you.”

“Probably.”

Ugh. So fucking blasé about everything.

“Were those your coworkers?” Ash asks suddenly.

Kieran opens his mouth to say yes, but then gets annoyed. “Shouldn’t you be asking if they’re my friends?”

Ash shrugs. “You didn’t look that close. Plus, they all had that geeky IT vibe.”

“How do you know I work in IT?”

There’s the slightest of pauses. “Dawson told me.”

If this was his first time meeting Ash, he could’ve easily missed it. But after getting to know him—unwillingly—over the course of thepast few weeks, Kieran’s picked up on some things. Like, for example, that Ashneverhesitates. He always has a witty remark at the ready, an explanation for everything.

Dawson didn’t tell you shit.