Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
THEN
September, Freshman Year
“ I ’m so psyched we’re observing deep-sky objects this term,” Zayn said as he and Aiden exited their first Astronomy Lab. “I’ve only been able to convince my parents to bring me to a dark-sky location three times. But last year, for my birthday, they got me a new telescope and took me to Death Valley, and I saw the central bulge of the Andromeda Galaxy so much brighter than I’d ever seen it before. I could even make out the inner part of the disk surrounding it.”
“Nice. What size is your aperture?”
“Just six inches with a focal ratio of f-eight. I wish it were bigger.”
Aiden’s expression became mischievous. “Size isn’t the most important factor. I mean, a twelve-inch aperture doesn’t always have the best performance.”
Feeling daring, Zayn asked, “Is that so?”
“Yeah. Quality of optics and design over size any day. Especially if you have the skill and experience to handle it right.”
“So what size is yours?”
“Eight inches.” Aiden’s little smirk was doing things to Zayn’s insides.
Oh god. Were they flirting? Was this flirting? It kind of felt like flirting.
Aiden pulled up short and looked around. For a second, he seemed to be sniffing the air, which was weird, then his gaze landed on a guy walking through the quad.
“Hold that thought,” Aiden said. “I’ll be right back.”
Before Zayn could respond, Aiden was jogging after the guy. The stunningly pretty guy, his black hair contrasting with skin as pale as porcelain in the evening light. There was something about him that made the hair on Zayn’s neck want to stand on end, that made him feel like he should back away slowly so as not to draw attention to himself. But that was ridiculous. The guy was simply walking across campus; he wasn’t some apex predator on the hunt for prey.
When Aiden bounded up to him, the guy stopped and gave Aiden a thorough once over. His eyebrow quirked, he asked a question that had Aiden nodding, almost bouncing on his feet.
The guy shot him a skeptical look as he gestured between them, but Aiden shook his head and smiled that beautiful, bright smile of his. Whatever he said in return, it had a slow grin spreading across the guy’s face. He took out his phone, and they exchanged numbers.
Zayn sighed. Ah. So this was what flirting felt like.
He couldn’t be too disappointed though. From the moment they’d met, he’d known Aiden was so far out of his league, they didn’t even exist in the same galaxy. Nothing was going to happen between them, and Zayn had to admit Aiden and this guy would make a gorgeous couple. Dwelling on impossibilities was an illogical waste of time.
But then Aiden was at his side again. “Sorry about that. Yeah, I can’t wait to get a good look at the Pleiades star cluster when it rises early enough. This year is going to be awesome.”
He was right, Zayn decided. While he might not be Aiden’s type, it was fine. He finally had a friend who knew what gravitational lensing was, and who needed anything more than that?