Written in the Stars(64)

Elle snagged Darcy by the wrist before she could turn away. “I’m not laughing. I swear. I’m smiling because I think it’s cool and if it’s something that makes you happy, well . . .” She shrugged. “It makes me happy for you.”

Lips pressed together and eyes still averted, Darcy appeared to weigh the veracity of Elle’s words. After a moment, the tension in her body bled away, shoulders dropping from where she’d had them hiked up to her ears. “Margot’s not well versed on the Days’ fandom, but she says there’s this site that does a great job of archiving fics and keeping everything organized. She wanted my email so she can send me an invitation. Archive of Our Own?” Darcy shrugged. “Apparently the filters for searching for fics are unparalleled, but there’s still a bit of a learning curve. She offered to show me the ropes. Give me a tour of the site. In case I want to get back into it. Reading, maybe writing.”

Without even thinking, Elle brushed her fingers along Darcy’s skin. “You should do it. You should absolutely do it.”

“Well, I don’t exactly have the luxury of loads of free time at the moment.” Darcy rested a hand on Elle’s arm, just beneath her shoulder. Her thumb made tiny circles against Elle’s skin, tiny circles that summoned goose bumps. “Perhaps after I pass this last exam, I might consider it. If it’s not too weird.”

Darcy was barking up the wrong tree, seeking reassurances that her hobbies weren’t odd. Or maybe the right tree. Elle wasn’t quite sure. One thing stood out—Darcy didn’t have the luxury of free time and yet she was here. She was here with Elle. That had to mean something, something big and undefined. As of yet, undefined. She smiled and shrugged. “I say you should go for it. Embrace the weird, Darcy.”

Darcy slid her hands up Elle’s neck, burying them in her hair. Tipping Elle’s head back and leaning in, Darcy smiled and murmured against Elle’s lips, the touch tickling, “Embrace the weird, huh?”

Before Elle could answer, Darcy covered Elle’s mouth with hers, kissing her quiet.

Atop the counter, beside the bowl of batter, something buzzed. And kept buzzing. Darcy’s phone.

Elle drew back and reached for it, wanting it to shut up so they could keep kissing. She’d pass the phone to Darcy so she could—

Darcy had a fancy calendar widget Elle had never seen before, something that took organization to the next level. The current month and the next were visible from her lock screen. A notification near the top, Finish C.E. Report, wasn’t what caught Elle’s eye as much as the highlighted green text on December thirty-first. EDT.

Eastern Daylight Time? Eau De Toilette? Estimated Departure Time?

No, something about that acronym niggled in the back of Elle’s mind. It meant something else.

Effective Date of Termination.

Termination Date. The agreed-upon end of their arrangement.

Elle’s heart sank into her stomach like a lead weight.

Last night had felt real. This felt real, kissing Darcy and eating pancakes and sharing secrets. But what did Elle know? Not what did she feel, but actual irrefutable facts.

Nothing. Darcy had said nothing. She’d kissed Elle instead of answering her question last night, about whether Darcy believed in soul mates, whether that had changed. And maybe her not asking Margot what would happen if she broke Elle’s heart had less to do with Darcy being optimistic about their relationship, and more about Darcy not believing they had one.

“Is everything okay?” Darcy’s eyes darted to her phone clasped loosely inside Elle’s hand.

Elle wasn’t sure what to say. Elle wasn’t sure of anything.





Chapter Fourteen


Darcy’s heart crept inside her throat, making it impossible to swallow.

Elle had gone pale, her face draining of color, that pretty flush on her cheeks fading as she stared down at Darcy’s phone.

“Elle,” she repeated, stepping closer and resting a hand on Elle’s bare knee. Elle jerked and lifted her head, eyes going wide.

“Sorry.” Elle shook her head and all but tossed the phone at Darcy. She tucked both sides of her peacock-print robe between her thighs, gaze dropping to her covered lap. “You, um, had a calendar notification. Didn’t mean to snoop or . . . whatever.”

Darcy’s phone synced to her Outlook account; on any given day, she would have at least half a dozen calendar notifications. Meetings, appointments, lunch with Brendon, basic task reminders. Big or small, Darcy liked to be prepared, liked to know in advance exactly what her week looked like down to the hour. None of that was any reason for Elle to have suddenly gotten—

Darcy’s eyes dipped down to the glaring green text, the only color on her calendar. EDT. No wonder Elle was upset.

It would be a lie to say the date hadn’t been looming in the periphery of her mind. At first, after getting Elle to agree to go along with her ploy to get Brendon off her back, Darcy had counted down the days until she could drop the act. Until she could ditch Elle and go back to business as usual as intended. But that had been before, before she’d gotten to know Elle. Before Elle had crawled under her skin, burrowed even deeper. Somewhere along the way, when exactly she wasn’t sure, in the back of the cab probably, it had stopped being an act. The attraction had been there since day one, but feelings . . . feelings Darcy hadn’t counted on. Definitely not these feelings, a particular set of emotions Darcy had long ago tried to bury.