Kiss the Stars (Falling Stars #1)(75)

Beautiful but gone in a flash. Disintegrated into nothing.

A dream turned to ash.

A shiver raced, and my stomach churned.

And I knew, right then, that I was already lost to him.





Twenty-Five





Mia





I took one last glance at myself in the full-length mirror. Considering I was going to a concert, I thought I would try to play the part. Tight, black, shredded skinny jeans, a thin, silky black tank with a strip of lace at the low neckline, and a pair of knee-high boots to match.

I’d done my makeup heavier than normal, and my hair was curled into fat waves.

All of it put together made me feel . . . sexy.

Maybe it would stand the chance to cover the fact I also felt crazy anxious.

My nerves splintered and fragmented.

When I’d gone to bed last night, I was sure this whole thing would have gone bust. Worried that Leif would retreat after allowing that glimpse of vulnerability. After opening a part of himself up to me that I’d bet my life he shared with precious few others, if anyone at all.

The part of me that had begun to beat for him wrecked by what he’d gone through.

Praying he would allow me to hold it, while there was a huge piece of me that wasn’t exactly sure how to handle that knowledge.

But no.

I glanced at my phone again, to the text that had been waiting for me since morning.

Leif: Be ready at 5. We’re gonna ride.





I ran my damp palms down the front of my jeans.

Right.

Okay.

I was just supposed to climb onto the back of his bike. Act like nothing had happened after what had been revealed yesterday.

My heart wasn’t just on the line.

It was on the chopping block.

I glanced at the clock.

Four fifty.

My pulse spiked.

This was it.

I grabbed my leather jacket from where I had it tossed on top of my bed, shrugged into it, and headed out the two doors into the long hall that led to the main part of the house. At the end of it, I made a right through the archway and stepped right into anarchy.

Every person in the family was there tonight.

The kids had tipped the couch on its side and piled a thousand pillows to the sky.

Their own personal stairway to heaven.

“I am King Zeus,” Brendon roared from the top of it, lifting both hands like he was holding a thunderbolt, while all his loyal subjects scrambled around at the base of his throne.

“Mommy!” Greyson squealed when he saw me, bouncing on his knees and holding a pillow like it was some kind of treasure. “We building a fort! Do you wike it? See?”

“Wow.” It wasn’t so hard to exaggerate my enthusiasm when it was about the cutest thing I’d ever seen. “I love it.”

I doubted so much that Tamar did.

I leaned over and kissed the top of his head, savoring in his sweet scent.

Penny met my eye. Cautious and knowing and sweet. “Mom, you look really pretty.”

My smile wobbled, and I fidgeted with my hair. “That’s nice of you, but I think I might have—”

The whistle and catcall coming from behind stalled the words, and I spun around with a glare. Eyes narrowing on the culprit.

“Holy Mia-Moly. You are some kinda sight, darlin’. Are you trying to knock the whole town dead?” Ash grinned from behind the counter, his thick, muscled arms planted on the island as he grinned across at me with his ridiculous dimples.

I rolled my eyes at Ash. “Hardly.”

“He’s right, Mia. You look HOT, mama,” Edie said.

A blush gathered somewhere on my chest, the silky, lacy tank I was wearing under my jacket suddenly feeling too thin.

“You look stunning,” Willow told me with one of her gentle smiles.

“I look ridiculous.”

Ash pointed at me. “Oh, people are most definitely going to be staring at you tonight, but it’s not because you look ridiculous.”

Redness crept to my cheeks. I wasn’t typically shy, but I was most definitely self-conscious of the fact I’d just spent the last three hours in front of the mirror getting ready.

Or really, the reason I’d done it.

So nervous. Wanting to look pretty for the man who had me in a fist.

Lyrik froze when he caught sight of me.

All kinds of protective.

Tamar smacked his chest. “You let one thing come out of that mouth, and I’m going to make you pay for it later.”

She even made that sound sexy.

He grunted.

“You look amazing,” she mouthed at me from across the kitchen.

“I . . . um . . . are you sure you’re going to be okay with the kids?”

Tamar laughed one of her sultry sounds. “Uh . . . if you’re worried it’s your children who are tearing down the house, look behind you. I think two more aren’t gonna make a difference.”

I worried my bottom lip, glancing behind me, back to her.

“Maybe I should stay.”

“Let me think.” She tilted pursed lips toward the ceiling for one second, tapping her chin, before she dropped her attention back to me. “Nope. You shouldn’t. Go. Have a blast. We have them.”

“Got them, Mia,” Lyrik reassured me. “You don’t have anything to be concerned about. All of us have them under our watch.” My brother lifted his chin. “Tamar is right. You should go. Have a good time. You deserve a night just for yourself.”