Page 66 of While You Were Trending

That’s what I came out here for.

To see the Milky Way and the shooting stars and to remember that my problems might seem big to me, but they’re not even a pinprick in the vastness of the universe of possibilities.

“Please let go,” I say while I search the skies.

“Sorry. Sorry. I—it was—there. Wow.Wow.”

His grip tightens around my arm as a brilliant white light streaks across the sky, from one end to the other, the entire show begun and ended in no more than a few milliseconds.

I don’t shake him off.

I should, but the whole thing—the star, the earth, the grounding feeling of being connected to another person—it’s a reminder that I’m part of something bigger than myself.

That we all get one chance to be a light flashing across the sky, bringing a moment of joy to the world.

I don’t want to spend my time being angry and hiding.

I want to brilliantly shine in my own life.

“Did you see it?” Declan murmurs.

“Yes,” I whisper back, and then I do pull my arm away and push to my feet.

I don’t like how suddenly comfortable I feel with him.

Iammeant to be part of this world. To connect with people and do my part to make life a little better.

But not with Declan Fox.

He doesn’t follow or try to stop me this time.

And that’s good.

The shooting star—it was a fluke.

Not a sign.

13

DROOL INTENTIONS

Declan

I sleeplike shit in my new accommodations.

It’s not the bed.

It’s not the occasional sounds of footsteps overhead.

It’s Ginny.

It’s Ginny and her bluntness and the way her skin felt beneath my fingers when I grabbed her wrist after I spotted a shooting star.

It’s the way I wanted her to stay out there with me for hours while knowing that Alex would be beyond pissed if I ever confessed this to him.

Especially now.

But despite sleeping like shit, I roll out of bed and take a long jog around the vineyard, text my family and Alex to catch up, then shower and take Flow with me to meet Shade in the banquet hall.