Page 114 of Stardusted

That surprised a laugh out of me, a real one—but I wasn’t so sure I believed him. He seemed to have zero issues in the flirtation department.

He gave me a quick, answering smile then grew serious, adjusting his grip on his takeout box. “I don’t know. I guessI wanted you to correct me. Tease back. You were always so guarded around me.”

I scoffed.Guarded? I turned into a completemoronaround him! He’d clearly misread everything. How was that possible?

His long sigh drew my attention back to him.

“But…” He set his chow mein on the coffee table and eased into the couch, twisting toward me. “My life is complicated. Very complicated. As you are now aware.” He scrubbed his palms over his thighs.I tried not to look. Gray sweatpants were a menace to society.“Somebody like me, with the mission and the secrets, not to mention the dangers…well, I can’t afford attachments. Especially considering how dangerous this could be if I’m right about the halix.”

I swallowed hard. There was that note again in his voice, the same thing I’d just glimpsed in his eyes. Maybe loneliness.

I understood more than I wanted to. Right now, despite the fact that only a foot or two separated us on my dingy couch, the distance felt vast. Like I was floating alone in a void. In fact, I’d felt that same isolation this past week since I’d stumbled into this extraterrestrial mess.

And I wasn’t from a different planet. I could only imagine how he felt.

Even so, that shared emotion also felt too intimate. Almost more so than the kiss in the stairwell. I didn’t know what to do with it or the soft way he was gazing at me. Like he was full of regret for something that hadn’t even happened.

“Right,” I murmured, wrapping my braid around my finger again. “Of course.”

“I noticed you the very first day you came into Oasis, you know.”

His words took a second to register, but when they did, I snapped my attention to his face. He was lying. Surely.

“You don’t believe me.” He read my skepticism, and his grin was slow. Leisurely. “Is that so hard to believe?”

“Kinda, yeah. That was months ago.”And you’re you.

“Six months ago. Almost seven.”

“Seven,” I corrected, eyes wide. Holy crap. He was throwing me for another loop, here. How had he remembered that?

He lifted a brow in challenge. “You were waiting at the bar with your bag, a bio-anthropology book sticking out of it. Your hair was in that braid you do…” He indicated my drying French braid, and I smoothed a hand over it self-consciously. “You were dressed up. White button-up. Very professional, especially for Oasis.” Still smirking slightly, he leaned his head back, resting it on the couch cushion, his gaze settling on the ceiling. “You smiled at me, but I could tell you were nervous. I’ve gotten pretty good at reading people, and you were doing that thing where you chew your lip.” He sent me a sidelong glance. “Like you are now.”

Caught, I pried my lip from between my teeth and pressed my mouth into a line.Despite my better judgment, I found myself wavering.

Because out of a day full of crazy reveals, this one—if he was telling the truth—might’ve topped them all.

Chapter 28

STAR-CROSSED ROMANCE FOR DUMMIES

Noway had hot bartender Sky—alienSky—noticed me all this time.

I gaped at him, shrimp fried rice forgotten. If he was lying, he was doing a damn good job. Because I remembered that day clearly, too. Remembered seeinghim.

“How do you…?” I started to bite my lip again, then caught myself. “You’re right. I had to bring my school bag because I ordered a ride from class. Faith broke down that day.”

Sky had been impossible to miss. Even with the impending interview weighing on me. I’d been nervous, notdead.

Now, his attention was back on the ceiling. “You got hired on the spot. Started the next week.” He lifted one broad shoulder, letting out a long sigh. “I don’t know. You were just…different, Rae. The way you move through the world is different.”

Different. Yeah, that was one way to put it. I always went with weird.

I puffed out a laugh. What was hesaying? That this whole time I’d been sneaking looks at the out-of-my-league bartender coworker, he’d been doing the same thing? It wasn’t possible.

He angled his face my way, eyes sweeping over me, narrowed slightly in contemplation. “There’s something about how…awareyou are. You study things. You watch. Like you’re absorbing and experiencing. You’re present in a way…well, in a way most people on Earth don’t seem to be.”

People on Earth.