Page 148 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

She pulls me with her, and we sit down on the blanket. She opens the picnic basket and pulls a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches, juice boxes, and cookies in Ziploc bags.

“A nighttime picnic,” I muse, taking a bite of the sandwich and groaning. Yes, I know it’s just a ham and cheese sandwich, but food always tastes better when someone else makes it for me.

She shrugs, “I figured we could have some snacks while we hang out here and look up at the night sky.” She tilts her head up, a small peaceful smile gracing her lips as she seems enthralled by the stars.

I follow her lead and look up, too.

Wow.

The longer I stare up at the night sky, the more my mind becomes clearer and calm. I never realized just how many stars are up there, though. I mean, okay, yes. I know there’s a lot. But I never actually sat down and just looked.

Is that… Shit, was that a shooting star? Holy shit. The stars seem to be winking down at us. The moon is so bright and big. Wow.

“Do you see those three stars lined up downward?” Briar points out. When I don’t, she takes my jaw and gently angles my face until I see it. “That’s Orion’s Belt. Or, the Three Kings, depending on who you’re talking to.”

“That’s crazy,” I laugh softly, bringing my knees up to my chest as I continue to stare up. My neck is starting to ache, but I’m ignoring it.

“You're actually looking at the past,” Briar says. I look at her, frowning in confusion. She grins, “It takes millions of years for a star's light to reach our eyes, so the stars we're looking at now? They're stars from a long time ago.”

I look back up, “Funny how the past always finds its way into our future, even in the stars.”

When Briar doesn’t say anything, I glance at her. She’s staring at me with an unreadable expression, and I don’t know what to make of that.

“What is it?” I ask, feeling awkward.

She blinks and shakes her head before looking up again. “Nothing. Just… Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

I scoot closer to her until our legs touch. She smiles again, bumping her knees with mine.

“Tell me another fact about the stars, Briar,” I tell her, wrapping an arm around her.

She tilts her head to the side, “Let’s see…”

“When I was a kid, I thought the Moon was made of cheese.”

Briar bursts out laughing, and I can’t stop staring at her. Her laughter is like a sweet lullaby to my ears.

Fuck, I am so fucking fucked. I need to stop thinking of her like that.

“You’re not the only one,” Briar continues laughing. “The cheese-like appearances are holes. Or, I guess, impact craters. They were formed when meteoroids or asteroids smashed into the moon's surface. So I guess those holes give off that cheesy look to us here on Earth.”

“I can’t believe I’m getting turned on by learning useless facts,” I sigh.

She playfully slaps my chest with fake outrage.

She continues prattling on about the sky, the moon, and the stars, telling me when we should do this next because, on some nights, stars or planets are more visible than others, depending on the day.

I’m half-listening because I can’t stop staring at her.

I can’t believe she did this.

It’s been a year since I’ve been back here. It’s too far from the city, and I never had the time to go. I’ve always meant to go back but never did—until now. All because of this crazy woman next to me.

This woman is just supposed to be my sex buddy. Nothing more.

But… It’s starting to feel otherwise.

She's stirring up emotions within me that I've been struggling to feel. But as I look at her, I can’t keep fucking lying to myself.

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