Page 98 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

I like how she seems so comfortable with me now, being this intimate. The whole thing is blowing my mind. This seems right. As though it’s not our first time. It’s definitely not our last.

‘I couldn’t sleep one night, so I was thinking about Cassiopeia.’

‘You were thinking aboutCassiopeia?’

‘Fine,’ she says with a laugh. ‘I was thinking about you, and Cassiopeia infiltrated my thoughts. So, I looked the constellation up.’

A smile slowly grows on my face.

‘I found something,’ she says, tapping the screen of her phone before turning it so I can see it.

In the middle of a starlit sky is a mass of red gas, vaguely in the shape of a heart. My eyes move back to her.

‘It’s a nebula known as the heart nebula. And right here is another one called the soul nebula. The heart and soul nebulas live inside Cassiopeia’s constellation. So, maybe she was as vain as they come, but deep down, the story is much more complicated and romantic than I thought. Did you know about it?’

I’m glad she can’t hear the crashing in my chest right now cause the girl just swept me off my feet, and I fellallthe way in.

‘Yeah,’ I say, trying to keep my cool, as if her learning about nebulas didn’t just floor me. ‘Wannareallysee it?’

‘How?’

I grab my T-shirt from the floor, tossing it her way. ‘Put that on. The last thing I need is the entire apartment complex getting an eyeful of my girl.’

‘Your girl?’

She pulls the shirt over her head as I throw on some sweats, grab a T-shirt from my dresser, and pull it over my head.

‘Was that too far?’

She shakes her head. ‘Do you want that?’

‘I’ve always wanted that. God, Hols, I’d attempt tomovethe stars for you.’

She flashes me a smile. ‘I think I want to be your girl.’

If my heart swells any more it’ll explode.

‘I have a private balcony and a high-powered telescope.’ I pull open my blinds, sliding open the sliding door. ‘Ladies first.’

‘You got the good room; I should have known,’ she says with a laugh, leading the way. ‘This must be where you charm your ladies?’

‘Only one woman’s ever looked through my telescope,’ I say, now looking through it to find the nebulas. I’ve looked at these a thousand times and once I’ve found them, I move aside so she can see.

She leans down, peering through the telescope with one eye.

‘Wow!’ she says excitedly. She stares at the sky for a long time, finally turning to me with a grin. ‘I always thought you knowing all this stuff was cool. I thought you were so smart, and I listened because of that. And now I know it was never your stories about stars that mesmerized me.’ She takes a step towards me, touching my hand. ‘It was you. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before.’

I laugh under my breath. ‘You may not think it, but you’re pretty damn charming yourself.’

‘Am I sweeping you off your feet?’

‘You have no idea, Hols.’

26

HOLLYN

The Next Morning…

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