Page 48 of Should Our Stars Collide

“I’ll fucking kill him.” Slowly and painfully. And he’ll make Zeke eat his stupid fucking tarot deck.

“I suggest you milk this little getaway as much as you can. I know you’d rather go home and forget this is happening, but even if you flew back to the GC, everything is different now. Your apartment is gone, Dawson and Cal got a house in Currumbin, and you quit your job and work from home. Plus, this place is fucking awesome, so just…chill a little, yeah?”

“How am I supposed to chill with Mr. Pervert Pervertson in the same room?”

“I resent that,” Ash grunts, his protest wholly ignored.

“Stop being such a drama queen. Ash might always be down for business—he’s one horny bastard when it comes to us—but he won’t do anything you don’t want. Kind of the opposite.”

Kieran would have more to say about that, but Ash giving him earnest, puppy-dog eyes throws him off.Stop trying to be cute, dammit.

“Yeah, whatever,” he sniffs. “You’re sleeping on the sofa.”

To his credit, Ash doesn’t argue.

“Kieran,”his future self says, his voice suddenly firm and serious.“It will be okay. More than that, it will be great. You’re right where you are meant to be.”He waves.“Laters.”

“Wait!” Kieran snatches the phone from Ash, tapping the screen desperately. “Wait, come back! You’re leaving me here like this?!” The screen remains black, mocking him. “What a dick.”

Ash clears his throat. “I guess we don’t need to go to the hospital.”

“Look at you, being so positive while I’m stuck in my fucking future.” Remembering last-minute to hold the blanket tight before standing up, Kieran scans the room. Properly this time. “Where are we, anyway?”

“Fiji. It’s…uh…” Ash twirls his fingers, gaze slightly downcast. Holy shit, is he being bashful? “It’s our two-year anniversary.”

Kieran’s stomach does something weird at that moment. Is he gonna be sick? He doesn’t feel nauseous, though. Whatever, let’s just ignore it.

“Touching.” He stares Ash down defiantly. “I wanna go home.” He doesn’t care that his apartment is gone. He can get a hotel or something. At the Gold Coast. Which he knows.

Ash hesitates. Bites his lip. “We still have two days left.”

“I don’t care.”

“The beaches here are beautiful,” Ash insists.

“I live on the Gold Coast.”

“It’s a five-star resort. With a huge pool. And all-inclusive.”

Kieran’s ears perk up. He can fit lots of margaritas into two days.

“Two days, you say?”

Ash nods enthusiastically. Look at him, so eager…

“But you’re sleeping on the sofa.”

Ash’s shoulders sink a little. “Sure.”

“Guess I could be stuck in a worse place,” Kieran concedes with a sigh. “Okay. Okay, I need to process this. And I need a shower.” A bath. With bleach.

“You had one last night,” Ash supplies, unprompted. At Kieran’s raised eyebrow, he shrugs. “You can’t sleep feeling tacky.”

Clenching his fists at the visual, Kieran grumbles, “Still taking a shower.” Locating the bathroom, he stomps towards it.

“Need help?” Ash gives him a deceptively innocent smile. “I can scrub your back.” Kieran’s glare makes him smile wider.

“That’s not the place that needs scrubbing, and I can do it myself, thanks.”