“It was never about the gala, Hales.” She sucks in a breath. “It was always about you.”
She opens her mouth, but I don’t let her utter a word. I want her to hear me loud and clear. I need her to know.
“If you were to tell me right now you’d like to meet in Hell every year, I would give you a list of sins I would commit just to make sure I was able to get in.”
“Ash.” I want to record the way she whispers my name so on long nights, I can listen to it on repeat. So on short days, it’s the only sound I hear. So when I miss her, I can remember how lucky I am to have someone in my life who cares about me and the things I have to say enough to lose her voice in feelings. I’m undeserving, but I want to bottle it up.
“It’s true.”
“Are you sure you’re twenty-three? Because I know older men who would never speak like that, let alone someone your age.”
I pull her by her hand until she’s sitting up straight, and I reach over to hold her face.
“What you don’t understand is that age is just a number. It truly doesn’t matter. My soul is aging with yours.” She gasps when I pull her into my lap, my dick immediately coming to attention at the feel of her near me.
“I would also love for you to stop talking about other men in general, and I’ll gladly make you forget there’s anyone else out there but me.” My hand traces her back until my fingers find the edge of her shirt and slide up, touching as much skin as I can. She’s silent, not breathing. She’s just looking at me in complete shock.
“And I'm almost twenty-four,” I whisper against her lips before kissing her feverishly.
All Of TheStars by Ed Sheeran
“Do you really have to go?”Hailey asks, her face buried in my chest. We spent three days together, completely tangled in each other, lost in the bubble we created.
We hiked, shopped, baked, and cooked together. We slept together, side by side, sharing a bed while we learned more about each other.
I like her. A lot. And judging by how she's acting, she likes me too.
“I—”
“I know it’s unfair of me to even say anything at all, but I’m going to miss you, Ash,” she interrupts.
“I’m going to miss you too. If you promise to still send me letters, I’ll call.” She peers at me through her dark eyelashes, and I can see her beautiful, glossy eyes. There are no tears, but they’re full of an emotion that reaches deep within me.
“I’ll write,” she replies, twirling a piece of her hair between her fingers.
“Then I’ll call.” She eyes me with something I can’t name, because what I think it is . . . it’s definitely not what I want. I don’t want to hurt her. That’s the last thing I want to do, but there’s nothing we can do when we live so far apart.
“Come here.”
I open my arms again to her, and she takes the step to land in them. She fits perfectly, her head tucked against my chest, my chin resting above her head, her arms wrapped around me and mine holding her tight. We belong in this bubble of time wherenothing else exists. Maybe, if I had something to give, we could make it work, but all I have is my job, and there’s no station here. She has her family and friends here, all whom she loves. I can’t ask her to move away. We’re stuck in the in-between, and it sucks.
Time passes, quicker than I’d like, but it does. Another reminder this is not a dream, and real life awaits. She has to go be there for the kids in the hospital, and I have to go help keep people safe. I hope we find a way to heal from our own heartbreak or to let each other go if we can’t. This is harder than I thought it would be.
“I have to go,” I whisper against her soft hair. I take her in, letting the lemon and orange scent fill my lungs, allowing my fingers to commit to memory the way her hair feels between my fingers, the way her heart beats steadily in sync with mine. I take it all in one more time before kissing her head and taking a step back.
“I know.” She drags her feet as she takes a step back and offers me a forced smile. “No complications, right?”
“If the stars align . . . ” I let my words rest between us.
“And the seasons change,” she echoes my words from last year.
“We’ll see each other again,” I complete the phrase. “Same time, same place.”
She nods and starts walking back, unknowingly giving me the strength I need to take that plane back to where I belong.
“Goodbye, Asher. See you in twelve months!”
“Twelve months, Hales.”
