“Try what?”
“Flying that high? Have you ever tried reaching the stars?”
“Oh.” I let out a self-deprecating laugh. “When I was really little, I remember flying as high as I could until it felt like there was no air left. I kind of panicked and tumbled down for a long time, but I caught myself before I hit the ground.”
“Thank the Mother of Scales.”
I sent him a soft smile. “What about you? Ever flown so high you ran out of air?”
“Oh yeah.” He laughed. “Gar and I made it a competition when we were kids. We dared each other to go higher and higher until one day, I went so high I passed out. Gar had to catch me and fly me down.” He shook his head. “Woke up with him panicking above me, and when he realized I was okay, he started flipping out that our parents were going to murder us.”
“Did you get in trouble?” I was highly amused. I might’ve been mad at my dad, but I still liked hearing stories about him and Roman growing up together. And about my grandparents, who I’d never even met. They both passed away a long time ago.
“Ooooh yeah. We had to do extra chores for a month.”
I snorted and nudged. “Bet that didn’t stop you two from doing it again.”
“Psh. Of course it didn’t.”
I laughed and ate a french fry.
We continued chatting as we finished up the food, and when we were done, Roman collected the trash and put it in his car until we could find a trash can. It was dark, and technically, the park was closed, so it was nice and quiet here.
Not only did it feel romantic, it was also a good place to hear someone coming toward us. But hopefully we wouldn’t be interrupted.
He climbed back onto the hood, and when he got his blankets situated, I scooted in so I could cuddle into his side. He let out a contented sigh, kissed my temple, and pulled me back so we were lying down on top of his windshield. Thank goodness his car had been magically reinforced by Tan. Otherwise, I had a feeling our combined body weight would’ve cracked the windshield, or at least left a dent in the hood.
But we didn’t have to worry about that.
Roman started pointing out constellations, and even though I already knew them all, I let him keep going, happy to listen to his sexy voice and keep our heads as close as possible so we were staring at the same stars.
“And that one is—”
Roman cut himself off when I kissed his cheek, his lips curving up on the ends.
“Hi,” I whispered.
“Hi,” he whispered back, meeting my eyes. “You doing okay? Not too cold?”
I gave him a squeeze. “Nope. I’m perfect.”
He kissed my forehead. “Yeah, you are.”
I snorted and smacked his chest. “Shut up.”
“What? You are… you’re perfect for me.”
I had no idea what to say to that, so I just hummed. “Tell me more stories about the stars.”
“Sure.”
As he spoke, his fingers played with my hair, running over it and through the longer pieces on top that I was letting grow in. I’d had a fully shaved head only a few weeks ago, but it was already growing pretty fast.
My eyes fell closed, my ear over his chest, hearing his rumbly voice, feeling safe and sort of… treasured in a way I’d never experienced before.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever been more comfortable or felt so safe in my life.
Chapter Thirty-One
