She was too fucking adorable.
Sandalwood. He’d never forget that scent as long as he lived. Arms wrapped tight around her body, he cuddled with her. “When I was young, I had a big fight with my father, who called me useless. My mother lit into him, but the damage was done. I always felt like the odd man out in the crew. Maybe because I was the youngest. Cal was the favorite, Tristan handled Dad in this controlled way that worked, but I was a bit of a hothead. Anyway, my mother came to my room while I was sulking and trying to lose myself in video game world, and gave me a telescope. Nothing big, it was just a simple handheld one.”
The feminine body above him stiffened, but he kept talking.
“She said the world is bigger than my problems, and I needed to remember who I really was. Inside. Not who I wanted to be for my father, or her, or anyone else. She took me outside and showed me the stars. Should have been boring, right? But not the way she taught me. She’d tell me stories of the constellations and the Greek myths. Each night, I’d look forward to more. I finally got a real telescope, and when I got stressed or pissed off, I’d go study the sky and this peace would come over me.”
She didn’t answer for a while, seemingly wrapped up in her own thoughts. Her voice was soft when she finally spoke. “My father loved the stars. He’d take me on these camping trips out in the mountains, and we’d pitch the tent together and look at the sky. He’d make up funny stories for me, and then he got me all these books that explained the constellations. I got hooked. I almost majored in astronomy, but ended up dropping out of college and hitting the road. Saw a lot of night skies in my travels, and though I was still pissed at him, I feel like he was watching out for me in those stars every evening.”
He wanted to ask why she was mad at her father, but now wasn’t the time. They shared so many things from their pasts. Maybe that’s why he felt so close to her? She’d experienced the death of a parent. She’d lost herself for a while and rediscovered her footing. She loved the stars and liked to run her business her way, following her unique vision without compromise. Each quality was a mirror image of his own.
“Dalton?”
“Yeah?”
“Tell me a story.”
Her voice was tinged with sadness and memory. He lifted a finger toward the night sky. She wasn’t looking for a lesson, she was looking for comfort, and he intended to give it. “There’s Scorpius, one of my favorite constellations.” He traced the outline, which was right in the center of the Milky Way.
“Why is it your favorite?”
“Ah, I’ll tell you the story. But first we must find Orion.” He made a line to the opposite side of the sky. “Which is right here. There are mixed tales regarding what happened with Orion and Scorpius, but this was the one I was first told. Orion was known as the great hunter, so one day he was out hunting with the goddess Artemis and her mother, Leto. Seems he was feeling quite confident in himself, so he began boasting that he would kill every animal on Earth. Pleasant, isn’t he?”
“Quite.”
“Now, Artemis was a fine hunter herself, and challenged Orion’s skill, but his threat against the creatures of Earth pissed her off. Don’t piss off a goddess. Especially one who is a protector. To make her point and topple Orion from his pedestal forever, Artemis and Leto sent a scorpion to do battle with him, and after an epic fight, Orion was killed. Now, the gods enjoyed their entertainment, much like the Romans adored their Colosseum, and Zeus was so amused by the fight, he decided to raise the scorpion to heaven.”
“Poor Orion.”
“Yes, indeed. But Artemis wasn’t done making her point. She asked Zeus to send Orion up to heaven along with the scorpion, and Zeus agreed. Now Orion is the warning to all peasants below to watch their foolish pride. A warning, I think, we all need. At opposite points of the sky, the constellation Scorpius rises in the east and Orion sets in the west, fleeing from the scorpion for all eternity in a visualization of tragedy.”
A sigh released from her lips. “You tell a good story. Why is this your favorite constellation?”
The night squeezed around them in a lover’s embrace. “Antares. The fifteenth brightest star in the night sky.”
“Yes, of course. It gets confused with Mars a lot because it’s red and a supergiant.”
“The heart of the scorpion. Completely badass and destined for doom.”
She twisted a bit to look up into his face. “Scientists say it’ll soon run out of fuel to burn, right?”
He nodded. “It’ll collapse and explode into a supernova. Whenever it happens, tomorrow or a hundred thousand years from now, it’ll be a sight to see.” Dalton gently stroked her hair away from her face. “You remind me of a Scorpio.”
“Alas, I’m just a simple Aquarius.”