Page 478 of Lodestar

Star:Because you’re a smart woman.

Alessa:Sigh. I want more than a promise of doing better, Katina. You’ve been given a wonderful opportunity at that school. I have to go through a special course just to get a general education certificate so that I can go to college.

Alessa:You’re very lucky, and if you get suspended or expelled for behaving like an animal, then think about how disrespectful it is to Star, for paying your fees, and to me, who can never have an opportunity like you’re throwing away.

Kat:I’m sorry, Lessie. <3 I never thought of it that way. I promise I won’t be reckless again. Thank you for everything. xoxoxoxoxo I’ll try to be a good girl from now on. <3

Star:And try to get that B in English up to an A, yeah? Otherwise, I’ll never hear the end of it from Savannah.

Kat:I’ll try. <3 <3 <3

Star:Good girl. So… five days of no Switch. ;P

Maverick:I see what you did there. Soft touch. Still, I agree.

Maverick:That’s a fitting punishment. ;)

49

CONOR

While date nightswith Star always ended with a bang, they were definitely outside of my comfort zone.

The ones that I didn’t plan, at any rate.

The first with her at the wheel was a soccer match, the second, a nightclub when I goddamn loathed techno music, and then there was tonight.

We were attending the opera.

The fucking opera.

My rock-loving self was going to watchCarmenat the Met when I’d prefer to stick pins in my eyes.

The woman had better know how much I goddamn loved her.

I wasn’t about to argue, not after surviving our first period together with my head intact, and especially not knowing how the date would end, but still,thefucking opera?

When I tugged on my bow tie for the twentieth time since she’d collected me from the Saturns’ stadium where my brothers and I had been talking strategy for the last few hours, she grabbed my hand, dragged it to my side, then quipped, “You’re worse than Kat on school picture day.”

My nose crinkled. “When was the last time I wore a tux, do you think?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Your communion?”

I grinned. “I’m not that bad. I think it was Eoghan’s wedding. Savannah might have been a bridezilla but she didn’t make me wear a bow tie for more than the photos.”

“And now she’s earned your undying loyalty?” The twinkle in her eye told me she wasn’t unhappy about that.

“I like her. She’s a freak so I’m comfortable with her. Plus, she makes Aidan happy.”

Her gloved fingers swiped across my jawline. Some men might have preferred the silk against their skin, but I preferred Star’s calluses. She wore her history in her hands, on her palms, and I preferred her at her most raw.

“You’re a sucker for family.”

The tender touch and the mocking words were discordant, but I smirked anyway. “And you like me so that means you’re a sucker too.”

She snorted. “The logic is far-reaching but I’ll accept it.”

When she shifted in her seat, I said nothing, well aware that in these moments leading up to our ‘dates,’ she turned inward. Becoming somber.

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