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I hesitate for half a heartbeat. I really should go back and study. But I really, really don’t want to. And the starsareexceptionally pretty.
“Then let’s go outside and see them now.” I lift a shoulder. “Why not? It’s a little muggy, but the heat’s not too bad.”
“I need to work.”
“I need to study. But I don’t want to, so please indulge in some procrastination with me so I feel less awful about it.”
“You really feel awful about taking a break?”
Our eyes meet. “You don’t?”
A beat of... something passes between us. Understanding? Whatever it is, it makes my breath catch. It also intensifies the pressure building between my thighs.
I want to ask him to please put on a shirt.
I also want him to walk around without one all the time.
Fully expecting Tuck to turn me down, I gird myself for disappointment. Embarrassment too. But then he says, “Five minutes.”
My heart is somewhere in my throat now. “I can do five minutes.”
I follow Tuck to the sliding doors that lead to the second-story deck off the family room. He opens a door, the muscles in his back and shoulders bunching against his tanned skin as he moves. My mouth goes dry.
Tuck catches me staring. The corner of his mouth quirksupward. He motions me through the door. “After you.”
Averting my eyes, I scurry outside, noticing a patch of puckered skin on Tuck’s thigh as I keep my gaze close to the ground. Battle wound? I feel like this man hasstories. Ones he’ll probably never share with me. Makes me feel young and a little stupid. I’ve barely started living my life, but Tuck’s clearly been through it.
Looking up, the breath immediately leaves my lungs at the view that greets me: the most enormous sky I’ve ever seen, lit up with a million tiny pinpricks of sparkling light. The stars are so bright they illuminate the velvet sky, making the navy blue burn to cerulean, deep brown, even light purple.
It’s almost beautiful enough to distract me from the sound of Tuck sliding the door shut behind him as he steps onto the deck.
We were alone in the kitchen. But there’s something more intimate—more dangerous—about being alone with him out here. Nothing but stars and the distant sigh of the ocean surrounding us.
Beauty everywhere.
I glance over my shoulder and catchhimlooking atme.
Not just looking. Full on checking me out, eyes glued to my ass before they flick down my legs and back up again.
The pressure in my core becomes acute. I grab onto the nearby banister with my free hand in an effort to remain upright.
Just because Tuck checked me out doesn’t mean he’s interested. There’s a big difference between being attracted to someone and being interested in them.
Besides, it’s really dark out here. I could be imagining things. It’s wishful thinking that Tuck feels the pull between us too.
Ignoring the tug of disappointment in my middle, I turn back to the stars.
five
. . .
Tuck
Teddy Bear
“Pretty.”I nod at the sky.
Maren, eyes lifted to the glittering show of stars and a bright moon, rocks back on her heels. “Breathtaking. Something about the stars makes me feel better. Like they’re a reminder of how small we are.” She shrugs. “How ultimately small our problems are.”
