Page 13 of Pining for You

“I mean, I like the idea,” Eve says, sighing. “But let’s just say I’ve had my faith in that sort of thing tested.”

She pauses now, adjusting her scarf again. There’s a new look on her face that’s harder to read. It’s less flirtatious, and more… melancholy. Like she’s carrying a heavy weight. Then she lets out a little shiver and continues, “I guess I’m more of a realist.” When she says this, her tone is lighter—like she’s stopped herself from going to too dark a place. “I just believe more that humans make their own magic.”

That brightens my spirit. I can work with that!

“A humanist and a realist,” I respond. Then I remember something else. “But wait, you believe in star signs…”

“Different. Astrology is based in science,” she responds quickly.

“Oh,” I say, and stop in my tracks as it hits me like a gust of cold air from a drafty window. “Wait. I’ve got it.”

“What?” She looks at me now, puzzled, a new furrow in her brow that’s another dimension of freaking adorable.

“Protective. Curious. Deep thinker…” I stop before adding intense and supremely charismatic, because I’m not sure I should let on that’s what I’m thinking. “Scorpio, one hundred percent.”

She pauses, then lets a smile—not a smirk, a real, full smile—spread across her face as she pulls her scarf to the side, revealing a necklace with the zodiac symbol for Scorpio, a silver M with a sharp tail, hanging from a black choker string.

“Well done, Strudel,” she says.

My own smile explodes now. “I just needed a little time to be sure.”

“Well, I never doubted you,” she says. And that catches me off guard. Even my friends, who I know love me, definitely doubt me at times. My follow-through can be… a little chaotic.

I’m about to point out how much Cancer and Scorpio have in common, but before I can casually work our astrological compatibility into the conversation, a familiar voice begins calling my name from afar.

“Bosleyyyyy!” I’d know those dulcet tones anywhere.

It’s Cash, my shaggy blond best friend whose inner radiance is matched only by his outer flair, currently evidenced by the Cooper puffer vest he customized with a flashy gold zipper and metallic stitching, all of which is glinting in the sun as he bounds toward us. He screeches to a halt just before he tackles me.

“BB!” he says again, panting this time. “Been… trying… to…”

And then he notices I’m not alone, and stands up straight.

“Oh, and hello, new friends!” he says, his breath suddenly restored.

“Meet Eve and Hugo,” I begin introductions. “And this is—”

“Bennie’s best friend of all time,” Cash cuts me off, and sticks out a hand. “Cash. Like the money. Accept no counterfeits. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Eve says, shaking his hand.

He leans in so close, I think he might kiss her, but he just says, “Oh, your shadow is fuh-lawless.”

I shake my head at him, my fellow chaos Muppet.

“Thank you?” Eve says, but Cash has already moved on to her brother. He catches sight of Hugo’s suit and gasps.

“Uhhh, this hat!” he says. “Giving Christmas couture and I’m so here for it.”

Eve watches with an expression that is somewhere between amused and surprised, because that’s what Cash does to people’s faces.

He turns back to me. “Sorry to interrupt, Beebs, but we have an emergency. We’ve been blowing up your phone, and finally realized you left it at Diya’s table.”

“Oh my god, seriously?” I ask, but unfortunately, I’m notorious for this kind of thing.

I slap my pockets, hardly believing that I haven’t even looked for my phone since I left Diya’s station. I’ve been so totally absorbed by Eve’s gravitational pull.

Cash hands it to me now and a brief rush of relief is followed by a new panic.