“It is!”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Just drink your scotch, Wells.”
“Are you trying to get me drunk because your ‘impress the girl with your knowledge of astronomy’ move failed so epically?” Grey asked, smirking as she held Lauren’s gaze and took a healthy swallow of her drink.
“It was not a move. It was a change of topic.”
Grey sighed and nodded. “I know.” She finished off the alcohol in her glass and lay back on the trampoline, watching Lauren out of the corner of her eye as the redhead did the same. Once Lauren was lying beside her, she reached out and threaded their fingers together.
“Smooth,” Lauren murmured, turning her head to look at Grey as she gave her hand a light squeeze.
“I try.” Grey sighed and looked back up at the stars, her lips quirking up in a small smile. “You see that bright light there?”
“I see lots of stars, Copernicus.”
“Well, that one there—” Grey lifted their joined hands and pointed at the glowing orb high in the eastern sky, “—is Jupiter.”
“Really?” Lauren asked, cocking her head to the side as if that slight change in angle would help her tell if Grey was pulling her leg or not.
“Yup. And if you look really carefully, you can see Aries and Pisces on either side of it.”
Lauren sighed dramatically and looked over at Grey. “Fine. I’ll admit it, your star game is better than mine.”
Grey smiled and lifted their joined hands to her lips so she could press a lingering kiss to the back of Lauren’s knuckles. “You can always do the ol’ yawn and stretch maneuver next time, if you want.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You do that.” Grey pointed their hands at a bright star near the horizon. “That’s Venus.”
“Now you’re just making shit up,” Lauren grumbled.
“I’m not!” Grey laughed. “But I can always stop, if you want.”
“No, that’s okay,” Lauren said, smiling as she scooted closer to Grey so that she could rest her head on Grey’s shoulder. “You may proceed to amaze me with your impressive knowledge of astronomy.”
“If I do, will I be getting lucky later?” Grey smirked.
“Maybe.”
Grey kissed Lauren softly. “What if I just want to hold you as you fall asleep?”
Lauren’s heart fluttered at the tenderness shining in Grey’s eyes, and she smiled as she whispered, “You better have a killer star-game for that one.”
“Well then…” Grey cleared her throat softly and pointed their hands at a collection of stars high overhead. “You see that constellation there…”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
THE SUN WAS reaching its apex the next day when Grey led Lauren out of the thinning trees and onto a crop of black, volcanic rock at the end of the path they had been following. She waved a hand at the vista in front of them and grinned as she looked back at Lauren. “See?”
Lauren nodded as she took it all in. A calm sea stretched between them and the handful of small islands that dotted the horizon, and Lauren smiled as she crept closer to the edge. Grey had promised her a killer view, and she had to admit that Grey had certainly delivered. “It is pretty perfect.”
“Yeah,” Grey murmured as she sat down on the rocks. She stretched her legs out in front of her and crossed them at the ankles as she leaned back on her hands, making herself comfortable as she drank in the view. The rocky point at the southern edge of Hawksnest Bay was one of her secret spots, a haven of tranquility that let her feel both connected to the earth and apart from it at the same time.
“So, how did you find this place?” Lauren asked as she sat down beside Grey.
“You mean, besides the fact that I routinely sail by here?” Grey teased as she bumped Lauren’s shoulder with her own.
Lauren chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Yeah. I mean besides that.”
