Page 38 of Should Our Stars Collide

“I’m not sucking your dick,” Kieran yelps when the thought strikes him. Why his mind has steered in the direction of Ash’s balls and dick over the course of the night, he’d rather not ponder.

A muscle in Ash’s cheek twitches, as if he’s fighting off an even bigger smile. “Okay.”

“You’re not sucking mine either,” Kieran clarifies, not trusting Ash not to get ideas. Not that the idea itself is bad. Ithasbeen a good while since Kieran got any action. Still, he’s notthatdesperate. He’s not.

“Okay,” Ash repeats.

Fucking hell, how can someone be so irritating? Or is it just Kieran that gets the honor? While Dawson had mentioned Ash likes to stir shit up on the regular, something tells Kieran he’s getting ‘special treatment’. Could this be karma for his unintentionalcatfishing on the dating app?

More importantly, if Ash is as much of a pervert as Kieran believes him to be, why isn’t he walking away? Even drunk he’s perfectly able to call an Uber, like he did last time. Why is he following Ash to his car?—

“This yours?” His face scrunches up in disgust as Ash unlocks what’s quite clearly anelectriccar.

“No, I’m breaking into a random car,” Ash snarks, not without an eyeroll. His hand disappears from Kieran’s back in favor of opening the passenger door for him, and Kierandoes notmiss the contact. Not at all. “In you go. And put your seatbelt on.”

“I’m not getting into that thing.”

Ash gives him a very unimpressed look. “It’s better for the environment. Don’t worry, it won’t make your dick smaller. Now—” He opens the door wider. “Get in.”

“Nope.” He crosses his arms in defiance, swaying a little as the action throws him off balance.

“Kieran,” Ash says, and something about the way he says Kieran’s name, low and borderline threatening, has alarm bells going off in his head. “I don’t like to repeat myself. Get. In.”

And because he clearly has the self-preservation instinct of a panda, Kieran lifts his chin and asks, “Or what?”

Even in the dim lighting of the parking lot, he can see Ash’s eyes gradually darken, his fingers curling tightly around the edge of the door. The air around him seems to shift too, charged with something dangerous that has the hair on the back of Kieran’s neck standing on end. It also has him rooted to the spot, waiting with bated breath for what will happen next. You know, like a complete moron.

He watches Ash’s chest rise and fall with a particularly deep breath before he says, with eerie calmness, “Are you sure you want to find out?”

Kieran’s never moved so fast.

His flight mode activated, he throws himself into the car, nearly banging his head on the roof. His heart is pounding erratically, andthere’s an alien, prickly sensation under his skin, like something trying to claw its way out. The back of his neck feels cool with sweat, but for some reason his belly feels warm.

He jumps when Ash closes the passenger door, despite it not being very loud. Their eyes meet through the window, and he swears,swears, that the way Ash looks at him is almost proud.

Before he can analyze it further (which he doesn’t want to do anyway), Ash is walking around to the driver’s side, opening the door and sliding behind the wheel.

“Not too bad, huh?”

Kieran blinks at him. “What?” Whatever he’s referring to, it is bad. Everything is so, so bad right now. Terrible.

“The car.”

Right. Kieran was giving him grief about that. He wriggles in his seat, pouting about the fact that his body practically melts into it. Why does it have to be so comfortable?

He sniffs. “Still a sissy car.”

“Brat,” Ash says. Then he’s suddenly invading Kieran’s space.

“Hey—!”

“Move your arm.”

“What—oh.” He holds stock-still while Ash reaches around him to grab the seatbelt, pulling it across his chest. Does he think Kieran is a child or what? This shit is supposed to happen only in K-dramas. Not that Kieran watches those. “I could’ve done that myself.”

The buckle locks in with a click, securing the seatbelt, but Ash doesn’t move away. His gaze seeks out Kieran’s, and a saccharine smile blooms on his lips. “But then I’d miss out on your reaction.”

“Crazy bastard,” Kieran grits out, sighing in relief when Ash finally moves back. He tries to take a deep breath to regain his composure, but he only manages to get a lungful of Ash’s scent, which reminds him of freshly roasted almonds. In the confines of the car, it’s even more pronounced, making it impossible to think. He desperately presses the window switch, even though the engine isn’t turned on yet.