Page 63 of Should Our Stars Collide

RIP his raging boner.

“Okay, fine. I get it. I suck,” Kieran says in a strained, quiet voice. “Let me go.”

Regretfully, Ash does. It takes effort, but he lets his arms fall to his sides and forces himself to step back, giving Kieran space.

The look of surprise on Kieran’s face tells him he wasn’t expecting Ash to listen, not without teasing him first.

Not that it wasn’t tempting, but Ash senses Kieran’s already reached his daily limit for new self-discoveries. Any more and he’sgoing to snap.Reallysnap. In a way Ash wouldn’t be able to repair.

So, as tempting as it might be, this isn’t about Ash satisfying one of his freaky streaks. This is about earning Kieran’s trust and proving to him that if he chooses Ash, fully and without reservations, he’s gonna be the happiest man on earth. Well, second happiest.

Ash will spoil him rotten, adore the hell out of him, and make him forget about the time when his life was anything less than fucking perfect.

He just needs Kieran to give him a chance.

“Up for dinner?”

At the prospect of food, Kieran’s expression lights up. He conceals it quickly.

“You know, for a guy who’s pushing healthier habits, you sure like to feed me a lot.”

“I like taking care of you. There’s a difference.”

Predictably, Kieran blushes like a maiden who accidentally flashed her ankles, but doesn’t freak out about Ash’s comment. Interesting. They might be making progress.

Don’t get too excited, Cleaver.

“Super. I want more burgers.”

Cheeky little shit.

“Taking care of you includes making sure you don’t give yourself indigestion.” Or a heart attack. “I’d really appreciate it if you ate some real food this time.”

Kieran rolls his eyes and—Ash might be imagining it—smothers a smile. “Knew it wouldn’t be as easy as you make it sound.Fine.Let’s have some of that real, gross food then.”

“Sounds good.”

Kieran watches him for a moment, as if he’s trying to gauge what’s going through his head. Ash is really, really grateful Kieran doesn’t have mind-reading skills.

“Okay, let’s go. I’m starving,” he orders, already heading for the door.

Ash obediently trails behind him, muttering an affectionate, “Bottomless pit.”

“I heard that! Behave.”

“Yes, honey.”

Kieran throws him the stink eye over his shoulder, but that’s it. Ash takes it for the win that it is.

Baby steps, he reminds himself.

16

Their last day in Fiji passes without much drama. No heavy conversations, no big breakthroughs. Just Kieran periodically complaining about random stuff and dishing out underhanded insults. In short, it feels like any other day.

Ash loves it. Loves watching Kieran slowly open up to him, make jokes—mostly at Ash’s expense, but who cares?—and enjoy himself without keeping his guard up.

“This didn’t suck as much as I expected,” Kieran says the next morning as they’re getting ready for their airport pick up. In Kieran’s language that means: This was dope!