Page 99 of Starstruck

I made this place my home, and right there was why I needed to go.

Regardless of the light I’d found, I didn’t think it would save me from catchingmy second death.

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chapter thirty one

nate patricks is in his debut era

I’d heard so many good things about Montana.

Most of the things from the books I’d read, how the characterswould talk about the charming small towns and the ranchers who could make you fall in love with them with a simple tip of their hats. But the only thing my mind wandered to in the lead-up to today was the scenery, the mountain air, the fog across the meadows in the mornings, and the wildlife that I wouldn’t have ever seen if my parents had stayed in California.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved living so close to the ocean. I loved being able to wake up extra early and follow the path from the sun terrace all the way down to the shoreline to watch the sunrise. Most of the time, though, I was lucky if I could catch the sunset before it disappeared under the waves, the late nights and early morning call times dragging me to bed and away from what I wanted to spend my time doing.

But as I rolled down the window in the car that Addy had organised for us atthe airport, I sucked in as much fresh air as I could, as my eyes followed the fir trees and skimmed the glistening lake that lay behind them. My head was practically out the window, enough that I caught a glimpse of Addy in her wing mirror, smiling at me.

I stuck my tongue out at her, and then immediately regretted my decision assomething flew right onto it. I made as many weird and disgusted noises as I could as I tried to swipe at my tongue, before pulling my head back into the car, but not without hitting the back of my head against the car.

“Ow, Jesus.” I groaned, a hint of a giggle weaving between the words.

Nate craned his head around from the front seat, eyeing me. “You okay, Goldie?” He nods at me, tipping his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose.

“Me? Yeah, absolutely fine.” I mock, scraping my tongue with the sleeve of mycardigan. “Just enjoying some of the local,” I clear my throat. “Cuisine.”

Nate huffs a laugh as he looks at me before shuffling around and fluffing outthe map in his hands. “Okay, it should be the next right after the bend.”

I make my last weird noise, trying to get the memory of what just happened outof my mind before I grip the back of Addy’s seat and lean over Nate’s. “What’s with the map, Grandpa?”

Nate let go of the map and flicked my nose. “Hey!” I giggled before fallingback into my seat.

“Your dad said the road that leads to the house isn’t on the digital maps yet, andthat the only way he can tell people to navigate is to get an old, physical map.” He turns around to face me, and all it takes is for me to narrow my eyes at him for him to sigh and turn to face the dashboard. “It’s my map. I wanted to use the map.”

I threw my head back as a laugh escaped me, wrapping my arms around mystomach to ease the pain.

“Hey, isn’t a guy allowed to take up a new hobby?” He exclaimed.“I’ve got eight months off before my next project, I needed something to do.”

My smile ached it was that wide. “And the first thing you thought ofwas maps?”

I could practically see his hands twitching, itching to flip me off. But he’d never do that, he’s the type of guy to feel guilty for daysjust because he bumped into you. And that was why I was so happy that he was back in Addy’s life. In my life.

After narrowing his eyes at me, he shifted his attention to Addy.“You don’t think this is stupid, do you?”

I peeked my eyes open enough to find Addy side-eye me in therearview mirror, her eyes telling me that she wanted to laugh just as much as I had. Nate clocked onto where she was looking, before nodding to himself, like he’d finally had enough of our antics.

Said antics started on the plane.

Addy turned around in her bed and asked me if I could hear oldTaylor Swift songs coming from someone’s headphones, and when I strained my ears, I could hear the signature guitar of classic country Taylor coming from somewhere. All it took was for me to peer into Nate's bed, suppress my laughter at seeing him tucked in with the eye mask and everything, and lean down to hear what was coming from his headphones to confirm that it was him who was listening to the entirety of the debut album.

“Is this what it’s going to be like all week? You two ganging up onme?” Nate huffed, folding his map angrily before stuffing it into the glove compartment. Me and Addy carried on cackling like hyenas. “You’ve got no idea what you're getting yourself into with that one, Tristan.”

Before I could peek my eyes open, I heard Tristan sigh next to me.“I think I’m starting to.”

I turned my head to face him, tracing the quiet smile that gracedhis face and trying to guess what was running through his mind.

I couldn’t help but smile right back at him, enjoying seeing him outside of therainy New York scene and in the sunshine and snow for a change. And if I looked closely, the pain that had set in his eyes ever since that night after the hospital had faded, like it had each day after.

“Yeah, well,” Nate started, folding away his statewide map. “There’s fireunder that sweet smile; don’t trust it.” The sarcastic smile he shone on me only made that fire he was talking about begin to spit embers.

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