Page 54 of By His Play

So that is what I do.

Reaching out, I find her hand and hold it tight.

She releases a shaky breath, and I roll onto my side to see her.

Silent tears fall from her eyes.

My chest tightens, my own emotion clogging my throat.

We stay like that for the longest time with the cool evening air blowing lightly around us.

“Do you think what they say about stars is true?” she suddenly asks, her cracked voice startling me.

“W-what do they say about stars?”

“That those…” She sucks in a breath, trying not to break down again. “That those who leave us are up there, watching.”

“She’ll always be with you. Whether she’s up in a star or haunting you as a ghost and judging your cooking.”

A smile pulls at her lips, and I give myself a mental high-five.

“She’d make a great ghost,” she says lightly. “Spying on everyone. Learning all their secrets. She’d finally find out if the couple at the end of the street are swingers.”

“What?” I blurt.

“Oh,” she laughs. “They moved in a couple of years ago, and apparently, they have a lot of guests. Grams put two and two together and?—”

“Probably came up with twelve?” I ask.

“Probably. For someone who claimed not to be nosey like all the others, she sure did see a lot.”

“Explains where you get it from,” I tease.

“What?” She gasps.

“Oh, come off it. How long have you been trying to figure out if the two guys in your building are fucking?”

Finally, she turns to look at me.

“They totally are. I’ve never seen either with a woman.”

“Must be gay then,” I mock. “Can’t be any other explanation.”

She laughs, and my smile grows.

“You’re a nightmare.”

“I’ll be anything that makes you smile like that, Lucky.”

“Kieran,” she teases, but before she can say anything else, I jump to my feet.

“Come on,” I say, holding out my hand.

“We’re leaving?” she asks, her face dropping.

“Not yet. Trust me?”

She pushes herself up so she’s sitting and shakes her head.

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