Jake narrows his eyes, staring me down for a long moment.Then he launches toward me in an attempted surprise attack. I dodge his arms, leap over the sofa, and scamper through the doorway.
“You already have wealth, success, and international fame. Just let me have this one thing!” I yelp over my shoulder, yanking the back door open as I sprint outside. I jump down the metal stairs, racing to safety on the grassy backyard.
Jake thunders after me, easily closing the distance. The lawn is soft as he tackles me to the ground. His fingers find my armpits, and I explode into giggles as he tickles me into submission. My death grip on the frame releases. He snaps it up and falls backward, holding the photo triumphantly above his head.
“You’re too late!” I shout, falling onto my back beside him as I gasp for breath. “I already calledUs Weekly!” Stretching out, I stare up at the night sky.
“Stars,” I muse. “They’re just like us.”
The grass is damp and prickly against my neck and hands. I can’t remember the last time I laid on the ground like this, without even a blanket underneath me. It feels liberating.
Jake collapses beside me, his arm brushing against mine. I breathe in his smell, soapy and comforting. His mother’s voice echoes in my brain:Doesn’t change what’s clear as day to everyone else.
He rolls over, his face so close to mine that our noses are practically touching. His warm breath tickles my cheek. “Speaking of stars… how about we go for a drive?”
“ARE WE THERE YET?”I ask again, my patience waning. We’ve already been driving for half an hour, and the farther we get from Jake’s house, the more remote the view from outside my window.
“Patience, young grasshopper,” Jake jokes. “Just a few more minutes.”
“And where are we going, exactly?”
“To one of my favorite spots. I want to show you something you can’t find in New York City.”
I study Jake’s handsome profile in the moonlight. His glossy hair, neatly combed at the start of the evening, is now smothered by his white cap, and his square jaw is set in concentration as he stares at the long stretch of road ahead of us.
I finally tear my eyes away from him and turn toward the windshield, studying the glow of the headlights illuminating the winding road ahead. Dark silhouettes of trees dusted with moonlight whip past my window as he picks up speed.
A few minutes later, he slows down, pulling off the gravel road and onto a dirt path. We crawl slowly up a hill, the Jeep jerking over the rocky surface beneath the tires. I grip the door handle nervously, and Jake chuckles under his breath.
“Don’t worry,” he says, reaching out to take my hand in his. “I’ve driven over this path a thousand times.”
We pass through a clearing, and the car comes to a stop on a grassy plane. Jake turns off the ignition but leaves on the headlights. I open my door, pressing my shoes into the green grass and taking a breath of fresh air.
Jake walks around to my side of the car. He slips his hand in mine.
“What are we doing here?” I ask. Jake turns his head to look up at the night sky.
“I wanted to show you the one thing you can’t find in New York City. Therealstars.”
I tilt my chin upward to follow his gaze. Away from the pollution of the city, the inky blue sky above me is impossibly clear and speckled with hundreds of tiny white stars. It takes my breath away.
Jake brings his chin down and studies me intensely. “What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful,” I whisper.
“What do you say we stay for a while?”
Turning on his heel, he walks around to the back of the truck, popping open the bed and pulling out a woolly plaid blanket. He gestures for me to take the opposite end, and we open it together, smoothing it out across the grassy bank. I sit down gingerly on the blanket, and Jake collapses beside me. Stretching our hands out behind us, we tip our heads back and stare at the mesmerizing sight. Half a moon peeks down at us, flanked by dozens of twinkling lights.
“Your dad’s an interesting guy,” I venture after a moment, as I pluck a few blades of grass from the ground. Jake lets out a snort.
“Jeffrey Taylor lives a life of disappointment. Gives up a football scholarship to follow in his own father’s footsteps and take over the family business, never anticipating that his son might not do the same.” He lets the words hang there in the air, neither one of us caring to say anything further about it. A few more minutes of comfortable silence stretch out before I ask the one question that’s been on my mind all day.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me about him?”
Jake’s shoulders sag. “Because I’m afraid if I acknowledge the way he feels about my career, it might become real,” he admits. “My dad doesn’t take what I do seriously. He’s just waiting for me to fail. And what if he’s right? I mean, look what happened with Vinny. My own management didn’t believe I could succeed.”
He sits up a little, sliding his forearms beneath him to prop himself on his elbows and squint at the night sky. I can’t help but stare at him, his biceps flexing beneath the weight of his body, square jaw twitching, full lips pulling downward in a pouty grimace. It’s no wonder the world has fallen in love with him.
