Page 111 of Red String Theory

Jack laughs. “Okay. You know what? Let’s follow it,” he says, angling his body to face me.

“Seriously?” I don’t even try to sound calm about the prospect of chasing another lantern through the streets.

He runs his hands down my arms and finds my hands, tangling his fingers with mine. “Why not? Let’s see where it leads us tonight.”

“You’re the best choice I’ve ever made,” I whisper.

Jack’s eyes burn into mine. “It was hardly a choice.”

Then, by string or gravitational force or choice, I’m pulled into him, my lips on his. The planets have aligned, our orbits following the same path. There’s nowhere else in this entire universe that I’d rather be. In a galaxy filled with planets and stars and endless unknowns, sometimes when we’re really lucky, we end up getting the best of two worlds.

“You ready to go find that lantern?” Jack asks.

I give his hands a light squeeze. “Let’s go.”