Page 7 of Stardusted
The crush had been instant. And since then, it’d only grown. I’d caught myself watching him during our shifts more times than I could count. Occasionally, he’d caught me, too. I’d panicked each time, slapped on a weird grimace-smile, and fled like a scared rabbit, but hey—eye contact! That had to count for something.
At this point, he probably thought I had a staring problem. Or a personal vendetta.
And now he probably thought I didn’t know how to talk, period.
Crap. I was still gazing stupidly at him.
Focus, Rae.
I forced out a shaky breath and scooped the silverware from the floor, crumpling the napkin in my palm. The cutlery clinked as I shoved it into my apron pocket for a later sink dunk. The napkin went straight into the hamper and landed clean.
“Nothing but net,” I muttered.
Small wins. I’d take any size tonight, on the shittiest of all nights.
I faced Sky again.
I’d imagined this moment more times than I could count. Since that first night I’d watched him behind the bar, I’d fantasized about mustering the guts to flirt…or, in some wild reality, telling him how I felt, even though I knew better. Sky Acosta was miles out of my league. He was GQ-level intimidating. Deeply uninterested in any of us mere mortals.
But once—once—he’d said my name.
Well…almost my name.
Okay, he’d called me Riley. But he’d gotten the “R” right, and I was hanging onto that.
Like I said, small wins.
But this? This tiny room with three feet of air between us and no one else in sight?This was a first.
Even as I stared at the wall beside the door, I could feel his attention on me. Like a spotlight. It made my skin buzz. I inhaled slowly and caught a whiff of his cologne. Spicy and earthy, mixed with something uniquely him. Like night air.
My stomach fluttered. With effort, I turned, tried a smile, and picked up my tray, using the moment to gather my thoughts enough to form words.
“Sorry. I’m…well. Whew, you know? One of those shifts, and I was just taking a quick break.” I hunched a little, preparing to slip past him. “I’ll get out of your way.”
“You’re not in my way,” he said without missing a beat. His easy tone surprised me enough that I looked up and met his eyes without instantly melting. That felt like progress.
He’d leaned a shoulder against the doorframe and crossed his arms, his biceps doing that flex thing again that should honestly be illegal. For once, he didn’t seem distant. He seemed…curious. About me?
Then he said, “Tell me more about this alien theory of yours.”
I plummeted straight from cloud nine back to Earth. In flames.
Oh. That checked out. That was why he was still here. He wanted to hear the crazy girl’s alien rant. Fascinating stuff.
Of course he wasn’t interested inme. He probably thought it was funny. He was mildly entertained, at best.
I unbent my spine and stood tall. I wasn’t going to melt. I wasn’t going to spiral. I was going to be calm and rational and?—
I rolled my eyes. At myself. At him. Atthis.Everything.
“It’s not my theory,” I said, trying for confident and landing somewhere near defensive. “I don’t believe in aliens.”
Sky’s brows slowly angled upward. “Oh, really? That’s…interesting.”
Something flickered in his expression too quickly for me to recognize. That gaze was direct but unreadable. Trained on me.
My fluster was coming back, tangling my tongue into knots.
