Page 1 of Fallen Stars

PROLOGUE

OLIVER

Past—Age 16

Every damn day,I fight like hell to not stare at him. Levi West. My best friend. The one person I feel most at ease with. And one of the few people in town who’s transparent and genuine and accepts me exactly as I am.

What I should do is look away.

What I shouldn’t do is ruin our friendship.

But fuck is it hard to focus when he’s in the room.

Hitting pause on the game controller, I toss it on the table and lean back in my gaming chair. An arm’s length away in the second gaming chair, Levi types furiously on his laptop, his eyes hyperfocused on the screen.

When he’s like this—rapt and in the zone—it makes not staring at him more of a challenge.

“Mind if I work on a song?”

His fingers pause and hover over the keyboard as my question registers, then his fingers fly over the keys again. “Not at all.”

I pop open my guitar case and take out the acoustic guitar that’s seen more of the world than I have.

A gift from Grandpa Giuseppe, I tend to play this guitar more in private or around people I trust. In mint condition, I have this irrational, niggling fear of damaging the antique instrument. Not that anyone has messed with my shit before but this guitar is irreplaceable.

Bowing over the guitar, I close my eyes and strum the strings as the fingers of my other hand slide along the neck. A soft, slow, intimate melody floats through the air, but I don’t dare sing the few lyrics I’ve paired with it aloud. Words packed with longing and lust and a hint of desperation.

I keep those words bottled up. Sealed tight and shoved in the furthest recesses of my mind.

Because giving those words a voice would change everything.

I’d rather have Levi as a friend, my best friend, than not have him at all.

Opening my mouth and spilling secrets to him would flip our worlds upside down. Forever alter our friendship, and unlikely for the better.

“Fuck, yes.”

I stop playing, lift my chin, and lock onto Levi’s profile. A devious smile tugs up the corner of his mouth as he stares at the computer screen.

Levi doesn’t smile often. Most mirror the one on his lips now—minimal, dubious, vain. Not because he’s an asshole or thinks he is better than anyone. No, this smile is for those moments when hesticks it to the man.

As for his other smile, I’ve only seen it twice.

The first time was when he hacked into the health teacher’s laptop remotely and fucked with the PowerPoint presentations during sex education week. He’d ducked his chin and pressed a hand to his mouth, but not before I saw that brilliant smile.

And the second time, it was in my garage last month.

A friend from music class suggested we start a band with his girlfriend. All three of us play guitar, but I also have a love for drums. Before our first jam session, we discussed the style of music we wanted to play. It didn’t take long for us to agree on our passion for rock music. Shortly thereafter, I sat behind my drum kit while Trip and Hailey shouldered their guitars.

And then the garage rattled with the thumping bass and wail of our instruments as we played a song from an early Nirvana album. It had been pure bliss.

Or so I thought.

Until I peered up and was captivated by the massive, blinding smile on Levi’s lips. Aimed in my direction.

Fuck… I see that smile every time I close my eyes now. I jerk off to that smile no less than three times a week. I lose myself in fantasies of the future because of that damn smile.

My lungs expand as I silently, slowly suck in a deep breath. Swallowing on the exhale, I set my guitar down. “Wreaking havoc on the town?”

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