Page 43 of Starrily
“Are you serious?”
“Sofa’s big enough for one.”
Dr. Calliope “Get That Man Out of My Face” Guidry was telling him he could spend the night at her apartment?
Granted, when he put it like that, the situation sounded different—but this was still a big step forward. A major softening, Everett might say.
And he hated that he didn’t want to do it because Everett had ordered him so, and it felt wrong, but he also did want to do it because the apartment was warm and cozy and dry, and he didn’t want to go back out in the rain …
And he wanted to spend some time with Calliope.
“All right,” he said.
She put a round tin box on the counter. “Come pick your flavor.”
Simon dug through the box. The mess of different tea bags reminded him of the disorganization in the apartment, and it felt oddly fitting but also exciting, like he was digging for treasure, trying to find that one last bag of the best flavor.
“Mmm, spicy.” He pulled out a ginger-lemon mix.
“Another good choice.” Calliope tilted her head in approval. “One of my favorites.”
“I thought you’d like them all, what with you being the only one who uses the box.Assumingyou’re the only one.”
“Theia doesn’t drink tea, no,” she said with a smile, pouring the boiling water into mugs.
“And no boyfriend?” He figuratively hit himself on the head.You had to go there, didn’t you?
Calliope paused, holding a mug. “It tends not to work out.”
“Too much of a workaholic?”
She shook her head, handed him the other mug, and moved toward the sofa. “Not that.”
He followed her and sat down. He couldn’t tell if he’d annoyed her with his out-of-line question; her gaze was pensive as she gently swished her tea, but she didn’t look angry.
“Sorry,” he tried.
“For me being single?”
“No!” He jerked forward, spilling a drop of tea onto his pants. “I mean—I’m sure you could be in a relationship—”
Calliope snorted. “Either way, I don’t think I’ll be taking advice fromyou, Mr. Playboy.”
“Well,Icould also be in a relationship,” he said, not sure why his tone was suddenly so defensive—or why her calling him a playboy bothered him.
She side-eyed him. “Mm-hmm.”
“Which one was your most successful, then?”
She squinted as she thought. “We dated for a few months. For an anniversary of … those three months, I suppose, he gave me a ring.”
“Seriously?”
“Not an engagement ring. Just a ring. A golden one. I said, ‘You know two neutron stars had to collide to make this,’ and I suppose he took it as criticism, and we broke up. He took the ring, too.”
Simon was about to ask to clarify the statement but realized he already knew the answer from his course. “Because some of the rarest metals, like gold and platinum, are only created in neutron star collisions.”
She stared at him as if he was a random stranger who popped up on her couch. “Yes.”
