“I will sleep here,” he says, cutting my thoughts short. He pats the couch.
“It’s not long enough for you.”
He smiles. “I don’t mind.”
I send Mackenzie a questioning glance, and she shrugs. “Itwouldbe nice not to have to drive across town. I’m pretty woozy.”
“Yeah, okay.”
She pats me once on the shoulder and heads down the hallway without another word. When the bedroom door shuts behind her, I rub my hands together. “I’ll get you some blankets.”
Starlight smiles up at me. “I do not need coverings, remember? I will not get cold.”
“Right.” I shrug. “For comfort then? I always feel weird sleeping without a blanket, even if I’m not cold.”
His brown eyes seem to shine at me. “If it would make you happy.”
I’m digging through the hall closet when his voice carries over to me. “Mackenzie tells me you fix machines.”
I pull out two thick blankets and walk back to the couch. “That's a bit of a simplified explanation, but yes. I'm a mechanical engineer. What did the two of you do today?”
“Mackenzie took me to meet a dog.”
I drop the blankets on the couch and sit next to him, pausing the TV. “A dog?”
Starlight sits up straight, his hands on his knees, like he’s preparing for something. “She says she looks after the dog while its owners are away.”
“Oh. The Mulligans’ dog.” That means she drove Starlight clear across town. Maybe she shouldn’t have stayed after all if she’s supposed to be dog-sitting.
“We were very careful. And then Mackenzie took me to a place called Pizza Hut. I waited in the car behind the building.”
I scowl. “She ate in front of you?” I’m not sure why the thought of it frustrates me so much. I feel like Mackenzie is being too careless with him.
“I do not mind. I think it is fascinating. After that, we watched a movie. I believe it was calledMoulin Rouge.” He pronounces it clunkily, having a hard time getting his mouth to make the shapes of the words.
“Yeah, that's her favorite.”
“It was very colorful and there was music.” He pauses, and a silence stretches between us. I don’t break it because I can tell by the look on his face that he isn’t finished speaking. “But there is one thing I am confused about.” He’s not looking directly at me, which is strange. Is he…nervous?
“Yeah?”
“Kissing.”
It’s like my brain screeches to a halt. Of all the things I thought he might have said, this is not one of them. “Kissing?”
“That’s what Mackenzie called it. The characters in the movie kiss a lot. And I thought... I thought I would very much like to know what it feels like.”
My throat stretches tight, until all I can do is choke out, “You want to try kissing?”
I expect him to grin at me, to show me all that unbridled joy he’s usually wearing. But instead, he looks down at his hands. “Mackenzie says it is a sign of affection.”
“Did you ask Mackenzie to kiss you?”Fuck.I wish I hadn’t asked. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to think of my sister kissing Starlight. The thought makes my stomach burn.
Starlight’s eyes meet mine. “No.” The word is almost sharp. “I do not want to kiss Mackenzie. I want to kiss you.”
My lips part, my mouth dropping open. “You want to kissme?”
He scoots a little closer to me on the couch, until I can feel the heat of him across the small space between us. It makes me want to crawl into his lap.
