Page 41 of Should Our Stars Collide

“No touchy.” Despite the protest, he makes no effort to move away. To be fair, for someone with such a strong build, Ash would make a good pillow.

“Relax. Your virtue is safe.”

The next thing Kieran knows, he’s being manhandled like a weightless ragdoll. He’s pushed backwards, against the car. Then his arms are placed around what must be Ash’s shoulders, except they feel way lower than they should be, considering Ash is a good 6’3. Oh, he’s crouching for some reason. And his back is towards Kieran. Then he’s hooking his elbows behind Kieran’s knees.

“Grab on and don’t let go.”

There’s a tug before the ground suddenly disappears from under his feet.

Producing a sound he’s not proud of, Kieran kicks his legs in the air uselessly, pulling a grunt out of Ash.

“Stop wriggling, unless you want me to drop you.”

Wide awake now, Kieran’s hold around Ash’s shoulders tightens, thighs wrapping around his waist. He can’t fall. His bony ass bruises like a peach.

“Good boy,” Ash says, and Kieran’s breath stutters. It’s almost the same feeling he got when Ash ordered him to get in the car using that dangerous voice. This feels dangerous too, just in a different way. “Try not to choke me, please.”

Realizing how tight he’s holding on, Kieran relaxes his grip. “And here I thought you’re into that.” As much as he’d rather not, he’s starting to get an idea what kind of shit Ash is into. It’d be hard not to with all the hints the pervert keeps dropping.

“Only when the other person is into it,” Ash replies after a drawn out pause, voice uncharacteristically gentle. It makes Kieran open his eyes, just to see what expression Ash is wearing, but all he can see is the back of his head.

“It’s not exactly my thing, anyway,” Ash continues, unprompted. “I prefer to hear my partners.” A chuckle. “Especially the mouthyones.”

“Pervert.”

Ash laughs, the sound reverberating through his body and into Kieran’s, making him all tingly on the inside.

“Mind handing over your keys?”

Reaching blindly into his back pocket, Kieran passes the key card to Ash. “Eleventh floor.”

He tries not to ponder too much about why he’s not walking by himself now that his mind has cleared a little. In his defense, his body does feel super heavy, and it looks like his coordination has been shit since they left the bar. Plus, as much as he hates to admit it, being carried around like this is…well, it’s notterrible.Due to his dad’s disk herniation and his mum’s complaints about him being too heavy, Kieran never got a piggyback ride as a kid. That’s one thing he can cross off his bucket list. Not that he’s telling Ash that, though.

“Eleven is an angelic number,” Ash comments as they enter the building and wait for the lift. The fact that no one is around to witness Kieran being carried like a child is a small mercy.

Kieran’s groan is so loud he nearly gives himself a headache. “Don’t start. It’s bad enough that Zeke talks my ear off about that spiritual crap.”

Ash chuckles, stepping into the lift and pressing the button for the eleventh floor. “I take it you don’t believe in the supernatural?”

“This past year has been shit. If there are angels, they sure as hell don’t care about me. I don’t care either, about any of that woohoo business.”

“I could be your guardian angel.”

Kieran snorts. “Says the devil’s spawn.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ash says, and Kieran swears he can hear the smile in his voice.

He has a sudden, ridiculous thought that Ash might’ve been telling the truth when he said he simply enjoys Kieran’s company. For all his teasing, he has never actuallydisregardedKieran’s feelings. He’s never said a word that would suggest that Kieran’s feelings aren’t valid. He’snever made anything Kieran’s problem.

When Kieran had repeatedly made jabs at him, whether aimed at his job or his personality, Ash had never retaliated. When Kieran talked shit about therapists, Ash didn’t try to convince him he was different. When Kieran called him out on purposefully stirring shit up, Ash didn’t deny it, didn’t tell Kieran he was just overreacting.

Even through all the perverted comments and leery looks, he’s never made Kieran feel unsafe in his presence. Which, if Kieran is being honest with himself, explains why he followed Ash into his car pretty much without protest. As if something about Ash makes him feel safe. Which is a fucking ridiculous notion, because there’s not a single person in the world who puts Kieran on edge as much as he does.

It's official—Kieran’s gone insane.

“Which apartment?”

“Huh? Oh…yeah. 1134.”