Page 45 of The Third Baseman

“Open the top; there are two little cups inside,” he instructed, mistaking my shock for… I dunno.

For most of the day I’d expected Jupiter to cancel; to either not show up or message to say he couldn’t make it. That was my headspace until the thirty minutes before I came up here, which was precisely after he’d messaged to say he’d be here in thirty minutes. So I was still getting used to the fact that Jupiter Reeves and I were sharing car rides, drinking the same coffee, taking up the same space. Never in a million years could I have told you this is how my evening would end – with Jupiter Reeves on my rooftop, drinking hot chocolate he’d made, and eating snacks he’d packed.

And while I was now certain I wasn’t dreaming, I couldn’t promise I hadn’t fallen into a black hole to an alternate universe.

“Here I’ll do it, you lie down.” He took the thermos from me when I didn’t move quickly enough, and poured out two little cups, steaming with sweetness. “Scooch over.”

I shuffled from the spot I’d positioned myself on and took the hot chocolate. Our fingertips brushed together, and a single current of static shot through my body making me gasp, and him chuckle.

I sipped my drink to distract myself from the whorls of energy spinning through me. I could feel it spiraling through my veins into my bones, and making its presence known as that single spark grew and grew, until I was convinced I might burst.

Did he feel it too?

A sudden gust of cold air slapped me round the face bringing me back into my body, and the bag of popcorn being ripped open had my head turning toward him. He thrust it at me, and I snatched up a handful.

“Thank you,” I smiled. “Okay, lie back.”

I switched off the flashlight and joined him as our eyes adjusted to the near total darkness. I could only see him out of my periphery looking up into the sky, but I could see his mouth open slightly, a smile cresting on his full lips. The solidity and warmth of his body had me wondering if we’d ever use the blankets.

I’d never had so much trouble focusing, though I’d never had a distraction quite like the one I had now, and mustered all my self-discipline to turn to the task in hand.

I pointed up at the sky slightly to the left of him. “Okay, you see those three stars in a row?”

His head shifted the tiniest fraction. “Yeah.”

“Then the two above and the two below, so it’s almost an hourglass shape?”

“Yes,” he replied after a beat.

“That’s Orion; he’s the hunter of the skies. The stars on the top left and bottom right are some of the brightest. If you look for him on any given night, you can almost always figure out the rest of the constellations.”

He said nothing, but his soft breathing next to me urged me to continue.

“Now if you look a little higher, can you see another bright star, kind of on its own?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“That’s Polaris, the North Star. It’s directly above the North Pole and stays in pretty much the same place every night. Sailors used to use it for navigation.”

“This is so cool.” His head turned on the beanbag to face me. “Marnie, how do you know all this? Did someone teach you?”

I tipped my head to face him, immediately turning back when were practically nose to nose. I hadn’t realized we were lying so close, close enough that I could feel his hot breath on my cheek.

“I mostly taught myself. I’ve always been fascinated with the night, since I was little. Everyone else was scared of the dark, but for me, that’s when the stars came out. And as soon as I knew I could make stars part of a job, I wanted to do it, before I even knew what the job would be. I read books, and I’ve taken some advanced classes, but I still don’t know a fraction of what there is to know.”

He was silent for long enough that I could tune into the sound of my own heart,thud, thud, thud.It had finally slowed down for the first time since Jupiter had climbed up the tree onto the roof.

I sucked in a breath. I wasn’t positive, but I swear one of his fingers brushed against my hand.

“You’re really cool, Star.”

“Thank you,” I replied, because I wasn’t sure what else to say, except, “Hey, you wanna see something else?”

“Hell, yeah.”

I sat up and peered through the scope, twisting and turning the dial until I found what I was looking for – a beige striped mass surrounded by a bluish glow. “Here, look at this.”

He leaned forward, kneeling instead of sitting, “Whoa, this is so awesome. What is it?”

---