Page 22 of If the Stars Align
“Sunny,” Dex says. He waits until I look at him. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” He wraps one of my curls around his finger. “For starters, you have the prettiest hair I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was the first thing I noticed about you?—”
“Because it’s different from everyone else’s. I used to feel so out of place as a kid.” I sigh. “Like I never fit in.”
“Who says you have to fit in? Sunny, when I spotted you at Seth’s party, you were halfway across the room—you weren’t even facing me—but as soon as I saw your hair, I knew it was you. Even though your clothes were different. And you’d changed so much since the last time I’d seen you,” he says, his fingers slowly tracing the curve of my waist and gripping my hip.
His touch makes it nearly impossible for me to focus on anything besides the heat building between us, but somehow I manage to. And boy, am I glad.
“Ilovethat about you,” he continues. “Nobody looks like you because you are so uniquely beautiful. And it’s not only your hair. You have the most beautiful, glowing skin. The most gorgeous, big brown eyes I can get lost in. The most perfect pink lips?—”
Now I’ve heard all I need to hear.
I press my mouth against his and wrap my legs around his waist. I want him, and he knows it.
But before he gives himself to me, he takes my face in hishands and says, “Sunny, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”
And any fear I had about us, at least for now, is put to rest.
When we lie looking at the stars again, Dex reaches for my hand. “I wonder what Mrs. Delmonico would think of all this,” he says.
I whip my head to face him, and we burst out laughing. I imagine the look of shock on our kindergarten teacher’s face if she somehow caught wind of what Dex and I were just doing.
“Gross,” I say when I catch my breath. “But…what about your parents?” I ask, propping myself on my elbow. “You haven’t told them, have you?”
He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t say anything without talking to you first. But honestly, I think they’d be cool with it.”
I smile. “Yeah…I think so too.”
“Your mom wouldn’t be happy, though,” Dex says with a sigh. “I don’t think she’s my biggest fan.”
My heart aches when I see the look on his face. “Dex, this is my mom we’re talking about. She hardly likes anyone.” I reach out to rub his arm.
He contemplates my answer. “Maybe. But sometimes it feels more targeted than that.”
I shake my head. “I think she’s jealous because of how close I am to you and your parents. It’s totally irrational…I mean, the reason I spent so much time at your house was because ofherbusy schedule. But feelings don’t always make sense, I guess.”
Dex nods. “You’re right. That’s probably what it is.”
I sigh. “Let’s not talk about my mom tonight. The sky is toobeautiful.” I roll onto my back again and gaze at the heavens, letting my eyes lose focus so the stars bleed into one another like a giant glowing canopy overhead.
“This was my favorite part of camping growing up,” Dex says as he laces his fingers through mine again. “Getting lost in the stars with you.”
“Your favorite stars were the twinkling ones. You’d get so excited whenever you saw a flicker. You’d call your mom over to our blanket every time so she could see it too,” I recall with a smile.
Dex squeezes my hand, but he’s quiet, so I turn back to look at him.
“Before we started kindergarten, my mom was pregnant with a baby girl,” he says. “But we lost her. When I asked about my sister, Mom said she was a star in the sky, watching over us.”
I blink back tears. “Oh, Dex, I’m so sorry. I had no idea?—”
“There’s no way you could’ve known. We never talked about it. I think mostly because, once you came into our lives, the clouds parted. And finally, it was…Sunny.”
I match his smile, but I’m crying. I can hardly say a word. “Thank you,” I whisper eventually. “That’s the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
Dex wipes my tears and we kiss for so long, I lose track of time. The sky is velvety black, and I’d give anything for it to stay like this. But soon it’ll be morning, and tonight will be another memory. It guts me.Every moment in time is so goddamn fleeting.Like this summer, which burned bright in its prime, but is already fading away.
“You okay?” Dex asks me.
I realize I’m sniffling again. “Being here with you is a dream come true,” I tell him, my voice shaky. “But it kills me to think that soonthiswill be also be a memory. I just…I wish I could freeze time and stay here with you.”
