Page 107 of When the Stars Rise

Hayley

Zoe: @HayleySaintJames Please tell me you and Noah are back together.

Me: Uh, yeah?

Dean: Stay out of it, Zoe. Her personal life is none of your damn business.

Zoe: Her personal life is my job, Dean.

Zoe: Noah is trending right now. Let’s capitalize on that.

Trending?I abandon the group chat and Google Noah, hitting play on the first video that pops up.

“Close your eyes, doll,” Jonathan says, armed with a can of hairspray. “We need to make sure these gorgeous waves hold.”

“We’re here with Noah McCallister whose daring rescue saved the life of a man whose parachute got caught on the bridge,” the reporter says.

Oh my God. What the hell, Noah? I shouldn’t really be surprised though. Noah has always been a hero.

He’s standing next to a petite redhead in front of an ambulance, and I pause the video, zooming in on him. Blood splatters his gray T-shirt and I’m searching for signs that he was injured but I can’t tell. My gaze snaps to his face. God, he’s gorgeous. Hair messy, face suntanned, and broad shoulders that taper down to a narrow waist.

“I think her eyes need more shimmer,” Lauren says.

“Don’t touch the eyes. They’re perfection,” Jonathan says. “Maybe a bit more highlighter on the top of the cheekbones, and I’ll sprinkle gold dust in her hair.”

“What prompted you to risk your life for a complete stranger?” the reporter asks.

“Perfect,” Lauren says. “Hayley. Lift your chin.”

I ignore them, too engrossed in the video to care what they’re doing with my hair and makeup.

“I just did what anyone would do,” Noah responds.

“Oh, what’s this?” Jonathan asks, leaning in, eyes on my phone screen. “He really is delicious, isn’t he?”

He really is. But he’s a lot of other things too. Brave. Daring.Reckless.

I love how he acts like it’s just another day and that anyone would have done the same thing. No they wouldn’t. Most people would wait for emergency services.

The video clip cuts to a scene where two men are dangling over the side of a bridge above the river. One of those men is Noah. My palms get sweaty, and my stomach freefalls.

What were you thinking, Noah?

“Deep breaths, doll,” Jonathan coaches. “He’s alive and well.”

“What an amazing thing to do,” Lauren says, her voice tinged with awe. “Your boyfriend is a hero.”

I can’t deny that. He always has been, always will be. My heart swells with pride but I can taste the fear on my tongue.Coppery and metallic. It takes a moment to realize it’s blood from biting my bottom lip.

“You’re ruining your lipstick,” Lauren says, dabbing my lip with a tissue.

I swat her hand away. “It’s fine. Really.”

The closeup footage is a bit grainy, but the man clipped to Noah’s harness appears to be unconscious, and Noah is cutting the ropes of his chute.

My heart stops when they drop another five or ten feet, and I wince when they slam into the side of the bridge on the way up. The camera zooms out, and the two men on the bridge are just a speck, hundreds of feet above a winding green river and canyon.

The new perspective brings it home.