Page 79 of Should Our Stars Collide

The second Gabe touches him, Kieran melts backward into his seat, every muscle in his body relaxing at once. “Shit, what did you—the fuck is happening to your eyes?”

“They glow when I use my abilities or experience intense emotions,” Gabe explains, like that’s not deeply unsettling. Completely normal human eye reaction.

He withdraws his hand, but whatever he did is still taking effect. Kieran’s body feels much looser, no longer like a piece of rope about to snap any minute.

“What was that? What did you do?”And can I buy it in store or just online?

“Just helped settle your energy. You’re very highly strung right now.”

“All the time,” Ash mumbles uselessly.

“So you’re a witch too?”

Gabe shakes his head. “I’m an empath. I take after my dad.”

“Your dad… Didn’t I help you track him down?”

He still vividly remembers walking into the café one miserable morning, half-functioning and barely alive. His barista, who he’d only exchanged a handful of conversations with at that point, had looked at him like Kieran held the answers to all his problems and said: “Hey, you’re good with computers, right? Would you be able to track someone down with limited information?”

And that’s how Kieran had become a permanent fixture atLost andGround,and a VIP customer.

Looking at his current situation and the mess that fraternizing with Gabe and Zeke has got him into, he should’ve stayed away.

Gabe smiles like freaking sunshine. “You did. We had a nice chat, thank you.”

Okay, that’s a little touching.

“So, it runs in the fam, huh?”

“Yeah, but it only presents in men, for some reason.”

“Hold on. If it runs in the family…”

Ash and Gabe are cousins.

The witchy shit, or whatever it is, presents itself in men.

Ash is a man.

Kieran snaps his gaze to him, and he gets a toothy grin in return.

“Hi.”

“You?” he says in the most accusing way he can muster.

Ash’s grin widens.

“Is that why I’m always angry when I’m with you?”

That would explain why Ash’s mere existence makes Kieran feel like a shaken soda bottle. And maybe all the weird feelings he keeps experiencing aren’t some sort of unresolved sexual tension or trauma bonding, but just Ash misusing his ability.

That’s…actually quite relieving. Kieran’s not wrong in the head. He’s not having a sexual awakening. He’s just being played like a fiddle.

“Pretty sure that’s just Ash’s personality,” Gabe says.

“I’m not an empath,” Ash crushes Kieran’s hopes. “The abilitypresents differently in me.”

Well, fuck.