Page 14 of Stardusted

It’d actuallystopped.

I didn’t know how, but it hadn’t splattered me across its grill.

Shuddering, my knees finally unstuck enough for me to stagger backward, arm raised to shield my eyes. My hand trembled. Somewhere behind that blur of vicious brightness, a door slammed, the sound echoing against the watching trees.

“What the hell were you doing?” a familiar male voice snapped. “I almost hit you!”

I knew that voice. A shockwave sizzled through me.No. No way.

A tall figure stepped into the glare, blocking part of it. My eyes adjusted just enough to make him out: messy dark hair, broad shoulders, black T-shirt, faded jeans, boots. A body I’d imagined in Spandex not two hours prior to this unfortunate incident.

Sky Acosta.

Because why not? If I could’ve moved, I’d have thrown both hands into the air and given up on this entire day.

But I didn’t move. I stood there gaping while he stalked toward me, his head turning as he took stock of our surroundings. A second later, his eyes locked on mine. And they flared wide.

“It’s…you,” he murmured, barely audible over the rumble of his car’s engine. He took half a step toward me, then stopped and asked, louder this time, “What are you doing here? And why were you standing in the middle of the road?”

“I was…” Words failed me. Those were both two great questions I didn’t have answers to. I wrapped my arms around my middle and scrambled for dignity. “What areyoudoing here?”

He didn’t reply right away. He took a step toward me, out of the light. Shadows fell over most of his face, masking his expression. “Apparently, nearly turning you into roadkill.”

Right. He’d just nearly killed me.

Also: he’d nearlykilled me.

The delayed adrenaline roared through me like an angry tidal wave. My stomach knotted itself up, and my throat clamped tight. Head swimming, I stumbled the last few steps to Faith and collapsed over the top of her rusted trunk.

I was going to be sick. I was going to puke up the shift-comped fish sandwich I’d wolfed down. Right here. Right now. In front of Sky.

I fought it with willpower born of desperation. Instead, I pressed my flushed cheek to the cooler metal and focused on breathing.

Because somehow, Iwasstill breathing.

What had I just seen? Could I even trust my memory? Everything had happened so fast. The light, the wreck. The mysteriously appearing bartender.

A scuff of shoes behind me roused me from my descent into madness. A soft curse reached my ears, then?—

“Hey, are you okay? Do I need to call someone?”

The world had stopped swimming, so I cautiously straightened, leaning heavily on the car’s bumper. The fish sandwich stayed where it belonged, at least.

My eyes tried to drift back to that empty spot in the road, where I’d nearly been hit while chasing after something that couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be. When my sandwich pitched dangerously, I made myself focus on where Sky stood near the ditch, his outline bathed in white-blue from his headlights. His hands rested on his hips as he scanned my vehicle.

When he saw I was upright, he pivoted in my direction, and his voice had softened when he asked, “Are you hurt?”

Was I? I didn’t think so. My limbs trembled with lingering fright, and that stupid headache still throbbed, but considering the alternative—i.e.pancake—I’d take it.

I shook my head and wiped a shaky hand across my damp forehead. My braid had mostly come undone, and frizzy strands stuck to my sweaty face. I was sure I looked like a hot mess.

Whyhim?

I licked my lips and croaked, “No, I’m fine. I just…thought I saw something in the road. I overcorrected.”

“Something?” His tone was careful. Careful enough that I glanced his way.

His dark eyes were almost black in the shadows, and he wasn’t looking at me. He was scanning our surroundings again, searching the fields and road. The empty sky.