Page 54 of Until the Stars Fall

“What’s wrong with you, psycho? Are you hiding something?” She whirled around, facing my bed.

“Hey Hannah.” Beck waved from my bed, mischief all over his face.

“Oh my God!” Hannah threw her free hand over her eyes and turned back around to face me. Her hand moved down to her mouth, and she laughed. “Oh my God!” she squealed. “Oh my God! Are you two—really?” She turned back around to look at Beck, who sat there lounging and laughing.

I crossed my arms over my chest, my face burning hot as Hannah practically danced from foot to foot.

“Oh my God! I can’t!” She exclaimed. “This is the best— Oh my God! I’m gone! I’m going! Never mind! Carry on!” She rushed out the door, slamming it shut. Her shouts for the others mingled with her retreating footsteps.

Beck fell over laughing, but I sat on the side of my bed, dread solidifying in my stomach. “Cat’s out of the bag.”

“It was gonna happen sooner or later.” He looked at me, and his laughter abruptly stopped. “What’s wrong? Are you—did you not want to—are you embarrassed?”

“A little.”

His face fell. “Of me?”

“No!” I exclaimed, hugging and kissing him. “I could never be embarrassed of you. I just—” I didn’t know how to explain. “Her finding out about us brings her closer to finding out I still have my magic, and that I’ve been lying to her all this time.”

He sat up next to me and pulled my robe down over my shoulder, kissing me there. “She’s gonna have to find out eventually, right?”

I didn’t answer. I’d been living a lovely dream with him, here in the middle of interstellar nowhere. But every day was bringing me closer and closer to a reckoning. I would have to tell Beck about Madam Indigo, and my resolve to keep lying to Hannah was making me feel worse and worse now that I was near her every day.

“Gem, do you want to talk about why you’ve kept your magic secret from her?”

His words were gentle, but I shucked off my robe and curled up against him, tucking my face into his neck. “No,” I said quietly.

He squeezed me and kissed the top of my head. “Well I feel blessed to be with a witch as amazing as you.”

Anguish squeezed my chest at the word witch. If he could’ve seen my scrunched-up face, he wouldn’t have kept talking.

“I’ve dated women without magic, but I knew I’d never settle down with one.” His fingers trailed absentminded circles along my skin, turning me on and gripping my heart with the potential energy of great sorrow.

“Especially now that I know how your magic feels with mine, while we’re working, or playing…” He squeezed me tight. “I’m so proud of what you can do, and I wish you were proud of you too.”

I would tell him about Madam Indigo. Before we landed. Before this bubble we were in, burst. He deserved the chance to make a decision about me after he knew all the facts.

“Beck, you don’t want to be with me just because I’m a witch, right?” I asked quietly.

“Of course not.” He sounded hurt, and I bit my lip in worry. He cupped my face and kissed my head again. “I love your beautiful brain. Seriously, you’re the smartest person I know. Brilliant.” He slid the hand down my arm and squeezed it. “I love your kind heart. I love how we work together, and laugh together. And that’s not even mentioning how beautiful you are, and how extraordinarily sexy you are.”

I loved all the times he used the word “love.” He pulled my leg up beside his hip, and I giggled into his kisses. Magic was a problem for future Gemma. In-the-moment Gemma was starry-eyed and turned all the way on as Beck kissed me deeper, more seriously. I ran my hand up his chest.

He hmmmed. “What do you think about taking a bubble bath with me?”

“I think only the best things about that plan.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

After I explained to Beck that Hannah knowing about us meant that now everyone knew about us, he talked me into going to breakfast together this morning, hand in hand, to own it. Sure enough, all four women whooped and hollered the moment we entered the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Beck said casually, as if nothing had changed.

Eyre turned her whole body around, her mouth open in an O. “Good morning! What have you two been up to?”

The women devolved into squealing laughter, falling together for the support.

“Alright, okay. That’s enough.” I smiled, but my face burned as I poured myself orange juice.

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