Page 30 of Tied Up in Riches

“You’re not.”

“I don’t want to keep you from your date. I’m sure I can find them.”

He eyes me as if he’s trying to assess my intentions. “It’s not a problem.” He pushes the door to the garage open, revealing the empty two-car space. There’s a freezer chest and refrigerator on the back wall. On the side opposite of us, there’s a floor-to-ceiling shelving unit. It’s not overcrowded and mostly houses camping equipment. A propane camping stove. A tent. Two sleeping bags rolled and secured with elastic. A row of cast iron skillets hangs from hooks on the wall like he’s concerned with the care of his cookware. God, I’d kill for a boyfriend who loves camping. Beau wouldn’t even stay in an RV.

The floor is black speckled epoxy that doesn’t appear to have tire tracks on it. There are four camping chairs opened in a moon shape facing the garage door like maybe they hang out here when they want fresh air but it’s raining.

Marcus reaches the shelves on the other side of the room, immediately pulling the black-handled metal prongs from a shelf at eye level. My feet are still stuck in the entryway as I wait for him to return. When he’s close enough, he hands over the sticks. Then he reaches to flick off the light, leaving us in near darkness–him barely inside the garage, me at the edge of the entryway. Right before the lights went out, something caught my eye.

“Do you need something else?” His voice feels close. He is close. Closer than he has been thus far and his nearness makes me nervous.

My heart beats so hard I swear I can feel the blood pumping through my ears. What did he just say? Oh yes. “Do you have a telescope?”

He hesitates. “Yes.”

“A good one?”

“Yes.” He flips the light back on, looking over his shoulder to the telescope standing on its tripod in the corner, revealing the truth in his confirmation. I don’t know about brands or anything, but it looks extremely nice.

“On the radio earlier, they said you can see Jupiter well tonight.”

“Do you want to take a look?”

“Oh. It’s alright. I don’t want to take you from the party and your date.”

“She brought her friend. She’ll be okay for a few more minutes.”

“Okay then. I would love to see it.”

He reaches to press the garage door opener on the wall next to my head. His nearness makes the room feel like it’s closing in on me a bit, but he appears unbothered as the door clunks open. He walks toward the telescope, lifting it from its place in the corner and ducking under the still moving garage door to move it to the driveway. He adjusts the tripod legs until they are secure in the gravel, then scans the sky. It only takes a moment to find Jupiter in the distance as if he knew exactly where it would be. Tilting the telescope in the right direction, he looks through the scope before fine-tuning the power ring. He looks back at me. “Turn off the light,” he tells me. It’s not until this moment that I realize I still hadn’t moved as I watched him set up, his jeans tight on his muscular thighs, his black T-shirt riding up slightly as he bent to position the telescope correctly.

I lean the marshmallow sticks against the garage wall and flip the switch. All light disappears from the garage, illuminated minimally by the night sky. When I reach the telescope, Marcus stands back, indicating for me to look.

I quickly tie my hair into a loose ponytail so the strands don’t get in the way and adjust the hem of my tank top before bending to look through the scope. I feel Marcus’ eyes on me the entire time but refuse to acknowledge them. It doesn't mean anything. I close one eye tightly as I press the other to the thick rubber eyepiece and peer into space. Bright stars fill my field of vision. Sound is sucked from the space around me allowing my focus solely on what I see—like I’m underwater, the party muted and distant.

I take a breath, letting the glimmer soak into my soul. I love the universe. But I can’t find Jupiter.

Turning my head, I’m made quickly aware of how close Marcus is to me–not more than a foot away. “I can’t find it,” I tell him when our gazes catch.

He leans toward the scope, invading my space, but I don’t back away. With a small twist of the dial, he looks for a few moments longer, then turns back to me. Considering I’ve frozen myself in place, his face is inches from mine. I lick my bottom lip, all of a sudden dry. The motion snaps him away from me as he clears his throat. “Try now.”

I look through the eyepiece again. This time Jupiter is clear, a few of its stripes barely visible. “Can you zoom in a tiny bit?” I whisper, not wanting to move at all. I know I could probably do it myself, but I don’t want to mess with his telescope.

There’s a crunch of the gravel next to me, and I can feel his well-built frame behind my body. Marcus’ arm brushes against my shoulder as he reaches around me, twisting the power ring a fraction and waiting for my update. I hold my breath, afraid of how I’ll feel if I breathe too deeply and come flush to his chest. “A little more.” I barely breathe out, focusing on the object of my attention. “Okay. Stop.”

His hand freezes, but he doesn’t pull it back right away. He hesitates, and then a rush of cool night air replaces where he was next to me. I continue staring, taking in each stripe I can make out, the belts more tan in color compared to the Great Red Spot. “It’s incredible,” I whisper to myself. I start to pull away to give Marcus a turn, but then press my eye back to the rubber for one more look. After another good once-over of the planet, I step back. “Sorry, you can have a turn now.”

“I already got a good view,” he says, not taking his eyes off me. He shakes his head like he’s ridding it of the thought, and contrary to his statement steps into the space in front of the telescope and looks once more.

After what feels like both two seconds and two minutes of me watching him watch the sky, he stands. “Do you want me to leave it out?”

“No. That’s okay. Thank you. This was great. I better get back to the party.”

“Alright. I’ll see you out there.” He nods toward the backyard on the other side of the house.

Without a word, I retreat across the garage, pick up the sticks, and find my way back to Maci and Lexy—refusing to think about what other types of stars Marcus could help me see.

Chapter fourteen

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