16. Crop circle vs corn maze #2
My mind flies into overdrive as I picture it. How her cheeks would fill my palms, if her skin is as soft there as it is at her waist. I don’t realize she’s stopped walking until she snaps her fingers.
My gaze flashes to her face and she has one eyebrow raised. I grin and shrug.
“You’ve got an incredible ass.”
She huffs, then keeps walking, calling out as she steps into the corn. “You coming?”
“Not yet,” I say, then laugh to myself.
Hopefully soon.
Lor is fidgety when we get back to her place.
I haven’t known her to be so restless before.
Normally, I’m the one who can’t sit still, too full of energy.
She sets her bag on the counter in the kitchen, but then keeps glancing at it like she’s worried it’ll disappear.
The mood from earlier is over, obviously, and I’m curious where her mind has gone.
I flop onto her couch, and she eventually sits in the armchair near me, bringing the bag of dirt with her, and carefully placing it out of sight next to her chair. Despite having settled, she seems skittish still, like a deer ready to run at the slightest hint of danger.
I scoot to the edge of the couch and lean forward to place a hand on her arm, gentle so she can easily pull away if she wants, but with enough pressure for her to know I’m serious.
“Lor, what’s going on?” I ask. When she doesn’t reply, but glances at her bag, I continue. “Why were we really out there?”
She doesn’t answer, instead looking down at her hands where her fingers are wringing together, knuckles white with tension. The fact she’s still sitting here, hasn’t run away or kicked me out, is significant. Her eyes keep flicking to the side of her chair and then back to her lap.
“It wasn’t aliens, was it?” I try to lighten my tone, but she doesn’t smile like I hope she will.
Lor sucks in a deep breath, her entire body expanding with it, then raises her grey eyes to mine.
She stares into me, and I wish I knew what she was looking for.
Whatever it is, I’ll give it to her. I’d give her anything, do anything, if only she would trust me and let me in.
She gives an almost imperceptible nod as she lets out the long breath she took.
“What did you see in my grandmother’s journal?”
I blink in surprise. That was not what I was expecting her to say.
“Uh, nothing?”
Her walls immediately start to go up again, her eyes going distant and shoulders tensing.
“I mean, I saw writing,” I hurry to say, and her defenses seem to pause. “But I didn’t make out any of the words. I wasn’t really focused on it, just kind of… idly flipping through? Being nosy, I guess, but without the concentration to take anything in. I don’t know. Why?”
Her gaze pierces me again, eyes wary, and it’s all I can do not to shrink away from that hard stare. I want to prove myself to her though, so I meet her eyes and will her to understand that I’m an open book for her.
Anything she wants, it’s hers.
Whatever she’s looking for, she must find it, and I relax as she sits back in her seat. When she speaks, her voice is soft.
“My grandmother was a star-chaser,” she says.
It takes a moment to settle into my brain what those words mean. Then a shiver runs down my back and the baby hairs on my arms stand on end.
“You mean like… the mythical star-chasers?”
Lor nods, biting her lip, and I stay quiet. I’m not sure what to say to that, and I don’t want to say the wrong thing.
“Yeah, except, we’re not myths.”
Again, it takes a moment to register. We.
As in, her grandmother and her.
Okay, clearly she’s choosing every single word with care right now. I already sensed this was important, but I sit up and give Lor more attention and focus than I’ve given anything in my life. I don’t want to miss a word, and I don’t want to break the tentative trust she’s placing in me.
“Okay, so…” I lean sideways to eye the bag she sat next to her. “That means in the bag is…”
After a moment, Lor slowly nods.
“It’s stardust,” she confirms.
“And… your grandmother’s journal?”
“She wrote about it. Her life as a star-chaser. What little of it she had, anyway.”
Lor’s body starts to close in on itself, deflating, and alarm prickles along the back of my neck. Maybe this is too much for her? It’s clear she wasn’t sure about talking about it in the first place, and I kind of forced her hand with my snooping.
I mentally kick myself, then fidget with her bracelet under the leather cuff I’m wearing to hide it. My fingers are begging for a flame, but now is not the time, and I won’t risk burning any of Lor’s few possessions.
“We don’t have to talk about it any more if you don’t want to.”
“You can’t tell anyone.” Her voice is hard and I hold in a flinch of surprise.
I lean closer and reach out, pulling one of her hands into mine. Her fidgeting stills as she looks between our hands and my eyes. To my surprise, it also soothes my itch to play with fire.
“I won’t, Lor. I won’t speak a word of it.”
After another eternity of willing her to believe me, she sucks in a breath and nods.
The tension drains from her body and mine loosens with relief.
She almost looks like she’s going to laugh for a second until her eyes snag on my lip ring and she stills for a long moment, then launches herself into my arms.