Star Crossed Read Free Page A

to one day be as awesome as he was, and the way that the world was had inspired him to aspire to stay a student for as long as he could.
                Students, after all, didn't have to face debt and family issues and all those other external costs. He relished having the opportunity to forgo those costs and focus on his own life but there were times that he talked to his friends that he wondered if he even knew what he was giving up. He'd buried himself so deeply in his work by now, though, that he had all but trapped himself in his promises to one day date or one day take his motorcycle rides farther than state lines.
                He wasn't a biker in the stereotypical sense but he had worked hard when he was younger to earn his bike. Newspaper routes, lawn work, some errand work and babysitting had all amounted to a glorious old bike. His dad had been confused by the purchase at first, but learned how to help maintain and improve it until one day his dad caved in and bought a bike of his own to go on adventures with his son.
                Chris's grip tightened on the table before he forced himself to relax. His mother had said she forgave him for fostering his dad's interest in the hobby that had eventually gotten him run off the road. He still couldn't get the pale, cut up face of his comatose father out of his mind. For almost a week they had been hopeful that he might pull through, that wearing a helmet might have made some kind of difference, but there was no denying the lack of brain activity when they managed to bring him out of the coma.
                He hadn't taken his bike out of the garage since then, had been more devoted to his studies, and had been less inclined to search out someone else to be in his life. After all, why fall for someone if they were only going to leave you one day?
     
    ~~~
     
                “How goes the research?”
                The question seemed to jar Chris out of his thinking and Skylar smiled. He was so cute when she managed to startle him. During the time that she was answering phones and setting up appointments and guiding guests and whatever all she was asked to do by the actual masseuses he had camped out quite thoroughly at his table. There were several books open to certain pages or sitting partially open with a pen marking his place. Some were peppered with colorful sticky notes and there were several sticky notes attached to his laptop to remind him to add something or look for this other book.
                “What was that?”
                “I asked how your research was going,” Skylar said as she plopped down in the chair across from him and draped her purse on the back of the chair. There wasn’t really space anywhere else, as much as he had spread out.
                “Oh, slowly today. I keep hitting blocks or finding out that I have the wrong book for what I need or not getting enough evidence to support my arguments.” He stared at his laptop screen in accusatory consternation and Skylar giggled.
                “I don’t think it’s your computer’s fault. No need to fire it with your lasers.”
                He smiled at her and she had to mentally scold her heartbeat when it sped up. He was much too busy to bother with dating and his heart had been broken when his father died. He didn’t need someone coming along and forcing him into a relationship he wasn’t ready for.
                Even if he had the kind of eyes she could stare into all day. Their stern expression had shifted when he had looked over at her and she reminded herself yet again that the caring she saw in them was not especially for her. He cared about all kinds of people, had several friends besides her. It wasn’t at all that he liked her and she was wasting her time pining after him.
                “I guess I like to think that if I shame it into