Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
When we get back to the house, I unlock the door, hold it open for him.
“Thank you,” he says.
I can't make eye contact. I can't look at him at all because he’s still not wearing clothes. And not only is seeing his dark, ocean-blue skin startling, but I've gotten a glimpse of the thing that I was trying not to get a glimpse of, and it's, um, impressive.
I shut the door. “Are you sure you're not cold?”
“Not at all,” he says.
“Would you mind if I gave you some clothes anyway? Just because…” I don't finish the sentence.
He waits for a moment, and then he raises his eyebrows. “Oh, of course. I am so sorry. I hope I have not made you uncomfortable. I know that humans rather enjoy wearing clothes.”
“I’m not sure it’s necessarily about enjoyment,” I say, “but it's sort of expected.”
I lead him through the living room of my small house and into the master bedroom. I pull open a drawer and hand him a pair of sweatpants. I suppose he doesn't need anything more than that, at least for now.
He examines the sweatpants and then my jeans, mostly covered by my thick winter coat. Seeming to figure out how to manage, he bends to put on the sweatpants and I avert my eyes, pulling off my beanie and ruffling my hair to give myself something to do.
“This is, um, my bedroom, but you can sleep in the room next door. Mackenzie normally sleeps in there when she stays the night. I haven't had a chance to clean the sheets, but—”
“That is very generous of you,” he says, and I’m grateful to find he’s gotten the sweatpants into place, even if they don’t completely hide the bulge he’s got going on.
I lead him over to Mackenzie’s room. It’s not like she’ll ever know someone else was sleeping here. I’m going to get this guy back where he belongs before she figures out that he exists.
We stand awkwardly in the doorway. I’m not sure what else to do. I’m not the best host to begin with, and I was certainly not prepared for a moment like this. What do you do when you have a supernatural being staying in your house?
“Make yourself at home,” I say, and then want to smack myself.
Make yourself at home? How exactly is a piece of the sky who now has a human body meant to make themselves at home in a cottage in Black Forest? Pretty sure we’re as far from home as he could possibly get.
“We’ll figure everything out in the morning.”
He nods once.
I start to turn away and then turn back again. “Do you have a name?” I ask.
He tilts his head to the side, like a dog hearing a high whistle. And then shakes his head slowly. “No, I do not have a name.”
Right. “Maybe, um, maybe we could give you one,” I say. I don't even know why I say it. An impulse.
A slow smile spreads across his mouth, and I feel like I can hear my heart beating in my eardrums. “I would very much like that.”
I nod, and my eyes fall to his skin. There are stars on it, some bright enough that they're hard to look at, and others just faint spots, like I'm peering into the distance.
“What about Starlight?” I ask.
His smile gets wider, and I have this sudden, ridiculous thought that he might be a piece of the sky, but right now, he kind of looks like sunshine. “That is a wonderful name,” he says. “And what is yours?”
“Mason.” I press a hand to my chest, like a dummy. He’s not Tarzan, for fuck’s sake.
“Mason,” he repeats, like a sigh. It sends a shiver through me that I’m careful to hide.
I turn for the door again but turn back one more time. “Why me?”
His eyes rove over my face, and I’m afraid he’s going to make me say it, force me to be even more vulnerable than I already feel in this moment, with a strange man in my house—a man who seems to somehow be connected to me, even if neither of us understands how.
His lips part, and he takes in an audible breath. “I cannot explain it. I heard your voice, and it was as if something awakened inside me.”
We watch each other for one, two, three heartbeats, and then I take a step back, like I can undo all of this by putting distance between us. My skin is on fire, and I’m thankful for the low light of the lamp in Mackenzie’s room.
“Right. Well. Goodnight, Starlight.”
He nods once, his expression blank. “Goodnight, Mason.”