The Falling (Brightest Stars, #1)(85)

Making breakfast together, doing laundry, sharing dental hygiene: This is what people who get married do, I thought to myself. And Kael had even convinced me to go to the mall to fix my laptop. More old-married-couple behavior!


The local mall was crowded, and the parking lot was stressing me out as Kael circled in his giant truck, looking for a space. When he finally found one, he slowly and stealthily parked backward in a tight spot right next to a tall light post.

“I hate malls,” I said, as we walked through the noisy entrance. The ceilings were low, every wall was brown or tan, and the lights were so freaking bright that I wished I had worn a hoodie so I could crawl inside it. There were people everywhere. Kael looked around and turned his face to me.

“Do you want to go back to the car, and I can take care of the laptop?”

I smiled. “How can you be so selfless?”

“It’s no big deal. I know a tech guy who works here at a kiosk. He’s really fast, cheap, and won’t be shady.” Kael dangled his keys as a last offer for me to escape the mall adventure.

I shook my head and kept walking.

He read the doubt on my face. “I’ll do the talking.”

“Yeah?” I asked, hiding my face from him. I’d never had a friend, let alone a boyfriend, who paid this much attention to the way I felt and went out of their way to make my life easier.

Kael didn’t say anything, he just smiled and grabbed my hand. He looked so good, and I was with him. He liked me, he picked me, and that made me feel beyond special. I wished someone from my high school who had made fun of my weight or acne could see me now. Well, I looked like shit still, and Kael was way out of my league. I kept slowing down, looking for a mirror and regretting not having put makeup on before we left.

“You okay?” he asked, squeezing my hand a little.

I nodded. “I’m just thinking of all the reasons that you’re too good for me and why you should be embarrassed to be holding my hand in public.”

Kael’s laugh was deep, coming from the core of his body. “What?” He held our hands up in the air, in an out-of-character move for him. My tummy twisted.

I let my thoughts turn into words. “You’re totally out of my league.” His expression was one of both confusion and calmness.

“Who’s deciding this? Just you?”

I nodded.

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” he said, as we passed a pretzel stand. The smell wafted through the air and my stomach grumbled. How could I be hungry after eating half a container of cinnamon rolls? There was a long line for the pretzels and the food court of the mall was beyond packed. Voices filled the space, all the way to the ceiling, with babies crying against the background noise of deep fryers bubbling and burgers sizzling as we walked past Wendy’s. A couple in front of us were arguing over losing a receipt for a jacket the woman had bought the man. They were in their forties, maybe, and I watched them as we walked behind them. They went from bickering to laughing and back to bickering. I imagined being a fortysomething with Kael, arguing in the mall over trivial things. I had to rein in my thoughts; they were way ahead of me, running wild.

“Almost there,” Kael reassured me, stroking his thumb over the back of my hand in his.

As we got closer, I unlocked our fingers and wrapped both of my arms around one of his, gluing myself to his side. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been around so many people at once, but I was relieved to have Kael with me, We approached a kiosk that looked like a jewelry counter, but instead of sparkling rings and necklaces, its glass cases held tablet and laptop brands I’d never heard of. There was a row of smart watches and cell phones in cases plastered with “deal” stickers, several of them announcing, “Fix your cracked screen here for cheap!”

The line was short, only one person ahead of us. And when the woman spoke, I immediately recognized her voice. Sure enough, Kael did, too, and as he said her name, I clung like a flea to his side.

“Turner?” He used his free hand to tap her shoulder.

“Martin!” Her face lit up at the sight of him. Not that I blamed her, but I felt possessive and unreasonably jealous. My lungs burned as she reached for him like she was going to hug him. I let go of his arm, moving a few feet away, defensively; if they started to hug in front of me, my eyes were going to melt off my face. Kael reached for the baggy sleeve of my sweatshirt to pull me close, dodging the hug she tried to give him. Her arms fell flat at her sides as he laced his fingers through mine. Her eyes instantly went blank, hiding any thoughts she might have been having; she was a soldier, after all. In most romances, this would be the chapter where I find out that Kael has a secret past with her or, worse, he pretends not to know me. He was confusing me by doing the opposite of what I’d expected. Why do I always assume the worst?

“What are you doing here, of all places?” Turner asked Kael, not looking at me. She was smiling again, focused on him.

Kael held up my laptop with the arm that wasn’t holding my hand. “Her laptop is fucked up, so we came to fix it.”

We. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Turner straightened her stance, and I was a bit terrified of how small I felt next to her. She was wearing makeup today and had her civilian clothes on, unlike when we ran into her at the commissary. Not that she didn’t look great in her uniform, but wow, her personal style was cool. She was wearing a black halter that tied across the back, with cutouts on the sides that exposed a lot of skin. Her jeans were loose everywhere except her hips and butt. She looked like she belonged on an Instagram account full of “look at me” vacation pictures or in an engagement photo shoot with a man like Kael. She was definitely on his level, unlike me with my sloppy clothes and blotchy skin. I inched a little closer to Kael.