My heart squeezes as I open the box. My eyes blur. “You made it?”
He nods with a shy smile. “Yeah... I used purple and daisy-shaped beads... Aunt Evelyn helped me.”
I lift the necklace carefully, letting it catch the light as I study it. It’s gorgeous. “You made me a necklace with purple and daisy-shaped beads?”
“Yeah,” he says, biting his lip. “Do you... like it?”
I can’t stop smiling and his face turns redder and redder. “I love it. It’s my favorite thing in the world.”Right after you.
“Want me to put it on?” he asks.
I hand it to him and shrug lightly. His fingers brush my neck as he moves my hair aside, and his warm hand makes me flinch. I feel his hands tremble as he clasps the necklace behind me.
When he steps back, I instinctively take a step forward, closing the distance. His arms come around my waist, steady and protective. My eyes meet his—before a sharp sting shoots through my foot. “Ow...” I wince.
“What’s wrong?” His face clouds instantly with worry.
“Nothing.”
“Nova...” His tone is worried as he rakes a hand through his curls.
I shrug, pretending it doesn’t hurt. “I think I cut my foot earlier. Probably stepped on one of the plate shards.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have dragged you all over the city.”
“It’s o—”
Before I can finish, he swings his backpack forward and scoops me onto his back in one motion.
“Hold on tight, Marshall. We’re transporting a precious wounded Supernova home. Must proceed with extreme caution.”
I burst into laughter and cling to him, hiding my face in the crook of his neck. His warmth, his steadiness... They make me feel safe. Safer than anywhere else.
“Can I stay with you tonight and watchThe O.C.?” I whisper against his shoulder.
“Of course,” he says, without hesitation.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Vincent Cooper
PAST (2017)
"Let me explain something about guitar playing. Everyone's got their own character, and that's the thing that's amazed me about guitar playing since the day I first picked it up. Everyone's approach to what can come out of six strings is different from another person, but it's all valid."
Jimmy Page
“How’s it?”
I smile as I finish arranging the shells in her hair. “Gorgeous.”
Nova’s stretched out on the beach, eyes closed, soaking up the sun. The rays kiss her skin, and in her pink-and-green bikini she looks like a nymph. We’ve been inseparable since I came back, and every second near her makes me want to kiss her.
The months I spent at my grandparents’ changed me.
Aunt Evelyn pushed me to work on my self-esteem, on my mental health. Somewhere in the middle of that, I shot up a fewinches, and the gym helped shape me up. But no change of mine compares to hers.
Her body has developed, her style has changed—skirts and little tops that highlight her curves, the kind of details that catch my attention even when I don’t want them to. Her hair has grown longer, and I find myself playing with it constantly, twisting strands around my fingers like an idiot.
