Page 112 of Starstruck

My gaze fell back to Nate, who had a look in his eye that told me that he knewexactly how it felt to be head over heels for a Moore girl.

Before I continued, my thoughts drifted back to that night at the observatory.

“She opened up about why she was at Liberty, and from that moment, it felt like the lies started piling up,” I confessed, shaking my head in frustration. “She confided in me, believing she’d found someone who understood pushy parents, but the truth was, I had no idea what she’d really been through to get here.”

A wave of guilt washed over me as I spoke, my voice thick with emotion.

“I’d never felt so guilty in my life. But I couldn’t let her find out. I couldn’t bear the thought of her seeing me as that person—the person I used to be. Not after I’d fought so hard to bury him, not after I wanted him to die that night. I wanted that version of me to stay dead.”

I didn’t want the way she looked at me to change.

I took a deep breath, letting down the shields around my heart as I gazed up at the house. “And having her find out? I didn’t want to see her heart break right before me.”

We sat in silence for a minute or two, my heartbeat calming and my thoughts beginning to clear, before I felt Nate shuffle around to face me, still idly swinging. “Are you falling for her?”

My gaze snapped back to Nate in an instant.

I think I fell for Goldie the moment I laid eyes on her. But it went deeper than that. I fell in love with what she embodied, her resilience. With every brick the world threw at her, she used it to rebuild her castle, overlooking the fields of her future that she knew shone brighter than anything anyone else had planned for her. I loved the starlight in her eyes and how she saw me for the person I desperately wanted to become. I loved how easy it felt to be that guy around her.

“Have you told her?” Nate asked, his tone light yet probing.

I shrugged, trying to hide my knowing smile. “I didn’t say anything.”

Nate huffed a laugh. “You didn’t have to, dude.”

I didn’t say anything for a moment, letting the weight of what he’d said sink inand hit me. I suppose it was probably obvious to anyone who looked hard enough. All Finn or Cora or anyone had to do was notice the way I couldn’t keep my eyes off her when we were together for them to know that there was more than something there.

My mind recalled the way Goldie’s eyes widened when I toldher earlier. The way I felt her breath skate across my skin as she caught it. How her smile lines creased as my words sank in.

I’m falling in love with you, Marigold.

“A little advice,” Nate blurted, stealing my attention from the snowby my feet. “Don’t wait another second to tell her what you just told me.” His eyes dropped to the snow for a second, something that felt like guilt glazing over his eyes, before latching them back onto me. “Take it from someone who waited far too long to tell the girl he loved the truth, too long that it almost ruined his chances of ever being back in her life.”

I looked over to the house, my finger following my line of sight as I lookedback over to Nate. “What, you and Addy?” Nate nodded. “What happened?”

Nate huffed a laugh. “It’s a long story.” He shook his head. “But the point isthat finally telling her the truth is the reason we’re here right now, together.” he shrugged. “And it sucked for a while, while she let it all sink in, but I’d do it a thousand times over if it meant she came back to me.”

Thinking about telling her was a whole lot easier than it would be to actuallytell her. Thinking about her being okay with it, being okay with me pretending I was like her and understanding her just to find out that it was all lies was easier than it was to imagine her angry.

Nate shuffled beside me, his deamour stronger. “What are youafraid of, Tristan?”

I looked over at Nate, emotion bulging at my lash line. “I’m afraid…”

I choked the words out. “I’m afraid that whatever she thinks she feels for me will leave. That she’ll look at me like my Mum did the night they found me in the hospital bed; like she didn’t even recognise me.”

The tear that slipped down my face felt frozen, but I didn’t swat it away. “I’mafraid she’ll see me the way I see myself when I’m without her— a waste of space who will never, ever, amount to all the goodness that she is so naturally.” I let my head fall as I sobbed. “I’m the asteroid, and she’s the star. We’re doomed.”

Nate left me for a moment, letting the natural sounds of the Montanawilderness be the elevator music to our pause, before I heard the snow beside him shuffle, and his shadow fell over me as his hand rested on my trembling shoulders.

“You aren’t doomed, Tristan.” The ache in my neck screamed at me as I peeredup at him. “If the way that girl was looking at you tonight, if what she said at the table earlier proves anything, then you two are not doomed. You’re destined.”

I wanted to believe him.

I wanted to see his words as the truth but… how could I?

“Hey,” His voice pulled me out of my head, and as I let my eyes meet his, hesaid, “You aren’t going to find whatever it is you’re searching for in your head, all you’ll get is lost.”

And I didn’t want to be a Lost Boy.

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