Page 116 of All the way home

Zach must be tired, because whatever usually keeps his impulse control in check has abandoned ship. “I mean, no offense, your opening strategy with me was pretty horrifying.”

Pleasantly bewildered, Kieran smiles. “Wait. What did I say to you? That feels like ages ago. I don’t remember.”

“You told me I looked awful.”

“Really?” Kieran wrinkles his nose. “That doesn’t sound like me.”

“You’d think that if you’re trying to flirt with someone, you’d start with something a little less aggressively critical.”

“Who says I’ve been flirting with you?” Kieran asks casually.

Zach blinks up at him, horrorstruck, only to be met with a shit-eating grin. Reaching over the cards, he knocks his knuckles against Kieran’s shoulder. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?”

“That seems like consistent feedback.” Kieran flips over both his card and Zach’s, grinning at Zach’s 2. “Spill your secrets.”

Zach closes his eyes to consider, filtering through options, alarmed at how few there are left. Surely—surely—at some point Kieran will get to the bottom and realize that Zach just isn’t all that exciting.

Then he remembers.

Eyes snapping open, Zach grins. “Okay, here’s one: I have a secret tattoo.”

Kieran’s jaw drops. “And you didn’t lead with that? Where? Of what? I need contextualization immediately.”

“Doesn’t that sort of take the fun out of secret?”

“What do I have to do to see it?” Evidently, Kieran realizes how that sounds, because his grin turns devilish.

Zach coughs, ears burning. “And you expected me to believe you’re not flirting?”

“Oh, I am most definitely flirting with you now that I know you have a secret tattoo. I was on the fence before, but this sealed the deal for me.”

Rolling his eyes, unable to squash his smile, Zach wonders if he’s going to get used to being on the receiving end of this sort of attention at any point tonight. Lightly, he touches a hand to the right side of his rib cage. “It’s here.”

“And it’s of what?” Kieran’s eyes drop to the spot.

It’s of the Cancer constellation, but he doesn’t want to tell Kieran that outright just yet. He’d gotten it with Tove. Two constellations in the same placement, Cancer and Taurus. He remembers the impulsivity of that night in fragments: sharp, stinging antiseptic; the burn of it like a cat’s scratch; Tove squeezing his hand so tight he’d thought his fingers would come off.

Every time he catches a glimpse of it in the mirror it surprises him, a visual symbol of how reckless he can be, when it comes down to it. Brave, Tove would say. Seth would say stupid with a dismissive shake of his head.

But Zach hadn’t gotten it for Seth, so it doesn’t matter.

With a deep breath, eyes on the other stranded passengers, Zach says, “I guess you’ll have to find out.”

Kieran stays quiet until Zach meets his eye, expression tightly contained and intense. “A challenge.”

It’s either nausea or adrenaline rising in his chest as Zach shakes his head. “An encouragement.”

Kieran wins the next card. “Ideal first date?”

“I haven’t had to plan a date in ages.” Crossing his arms, Zach tries to remember what it used to be like. Dating. What had they done? A lot of driving. “I guess something laid-back. What about you?”

The question seems to wrench Kieran back to the moment. He leans forward, like he’s about to tell a secret. “Let me set the scene.”

“You’ve thought this through.”

“Oh yes.” He flashes Zach a wry grin. “First, I meet him at an airport.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight