Page 54 of A Summer of Stars

The shiny car in front of us moved forward. I watched as its passenger stepped out and followed other guests, walking up the longset of brick steps that intercepted the peaceful grass of the green hill.

I exhaled, opening the car door before the driver could come around.

My heel crunched atop the gravel. The house observed me like a crow who’s had my face memorized for a century. Without the shield of the car window, its stare weighed heavily. The warm wind caught my hair, pulling it in the opposite direction.

Mom would have said that was a bad omen, that I should turn, get back in the car, and send flowers. I should definitely not move toward the first step, holding the fabric of my skirt as—

My heel slipped against the gravel, sliding behind me. My vision of the house disappeared, and the ground quickly filled my view, coming closer andcloser and—

A protective hand latched around my torso, another gripping my arm, swiftly pulling me back up. With my feet grounded and my body pulled against another’s, I twisted.

“Jesus, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” Kieran muttered, his words coming from only a few inches above my head. Too close. His breath smelled minty, similar to the peppermint chocolates I bought for my kitchen centerpieces around Christmas. Not too sweet, but just enough.

He sounded out of breath.

No, he didn’t sound out of breath, hewasout of breath. His chest thrummed against mine from the rapid beat of his heart, and his hands were strong against my skin. His skin was golden from the sun. Behind him, the sun’s rays beamed off a black convertible, its driver-side door left open. Did he drive that here?

Wait.

His hair.

Suddenly, I was met with this real-life, chilling, devastating,humiliatingnightmare of my heart opposing its rule toneveract this way around Kieran Alexander.

It was doing that little jump it usually did when a gift was wrapped in a crimson red ribbon or when I saw French toast on a menu or when the rain tapped against my bedroom window at night, blurring the streetlights.

I—it wasn’t supposed to do thathere, aroundhim. This wasn’t just humiliating, it wasmortifying.

All—all he did was dye his hair!

It must be the house or someone’s evil ancestor. They were haunting me. Torturing me for lacking the confidence to tell Jeremiah off.

I was paralyzed by this intergalactic anomaly. I pressed my eyes shut for a moment. Maybe the dizziness had made me colorblind?

But when I opened them, his hair was still no longer blond. His blue eyes were brought alive by his, now, dark waves. It was so dark that I wondered if it was black. It added attractive valleys to his cheeks and depth to his eyes, with pieces curling at the nape of his neck and above his ears.

My mouth fell open, and I was no longer responsible for the words that came out, including—

“Kieran Alexander and Luna Aldridge’s Countryside Weekend: Everything They Wore, Saw, and Ate”

—English Insider

“WHAT IS GOINGon?” she said, her eyes resembling large stars with no direction, searching my face.

Why was Aldridge staring at me like that? It was blinding. Confusing. Definitely not a look designated for me. Too similar to the half-asleep gaze she granted me on the carpet last night.

Oh, God, last night. I didn’t expectanythingthat came of last night.

Had I assumed she’d dent the shape of my shoe with her heel when I cut off her photograph? Yes, but that didn’t happen.

Did I expect the smell of vanilla and coconut on her skin? No, I did not see that coming.

The sound of her lips parting when I told her how she looked? No.

The quiet gaze she unlocked with wide eyelashes when I backed away?No, no, no. None of it.

I thought she’d sneak cyanide into my jacket pocket and watch it kill me slowly halfway down the carpet. She wasn’t supposed to gravitate toward me when I leaned forward. She wasn’t supposedto hold on to my words like she wanted to pull the sentences from my lips.

Thatleft me suffering from the pain of remembering the sweet smell of her hair as I looked down at her.