Anything to drown out the sound of my pulse.
And then I see it.
A slip of paper on my desk. With a pebble sitting on top of it.
I blink. Step closer, heart tripping.
The small pebble is smooth and gray. It looks like it doesn’t belong anywhere near me.
I lift it slowly.
Lorenzo. Of course.
A laugh breaks out of me. It sounds thin and shaky.
I tuck the pebble into the small wooden box on my desk, where I’ve been storing them. The one I keep for earrings. Somehow, these little stones feel more precious than all of them.
I unfold the note.
Are you okay?Just that, scribbled in dark pen.
Underneath, it saysMeet me outside. Same place.
While the panic continues to buzz inside my veins, something inside me loosens its grip seeing his note.
I strip off the silk dress, the fabric whispering as it hits the floor. I throw on my softest pajama shorts and a hoodie two sizes too big. The one I stole from Lorenzo.
I crawl onto the window seat and sit there, knees to my chest, watching. Waiting.
The estate lights go out one by one.
By the time the last lamp flickers out in the west wing, my hand is already on the doorknob.
I move silently out of my room and down the hall until I’m walking out the back door and into the summer night.
The grass is cool against my toes, and the air smells like fresh rain. I’m all the way to the beach when I see him.
A towel is laid out on the sand with Lorenzo sitting there like he’s been waiting a lifetime for me.
His knees are bent, and his forearms are resting casually on top. He’s so cute when he doesn’t know I’m watching, and it’s just him and his thoughts. I take another step closer, and his gaze snaps to mine.
He smiles as he hops up, and I walk straight into his arms.
No words.
He wraps his arms around me instantly, holding tight, but not too tight, just enough. My cheek presses against his chest, and I listen to his heart beat a steady rhythm. The sound is my anchor.
Then, together, still entwined, we sink onto the towel.
We lie back, his arm under my shoulders, my hand pressed to his chest. The stars stretch across the sky.
Bright and infinite. It feels like right here and now, anything is possible.
“That one,” I say softly, pointing.
He turns his head, his cheek brushing my hair. “Which one?”
“Cassiopeia,” I tell him. “The queen. She was punished for being vain. Hung upside down in the sky forever.”
