4
After dinner—which was surprisingly not awkward, given the awkward conversation that came before it—Ridley walked with Archer to his cabin. The quiet rumble of thunder hinted at a distant storm, but here at the reserve, the night was clear, the dark sky crowded with a billion glittering pinpricks of light. Far more stars than Ridley had ever seen when she lived in the city. “The stars feel close enough to touch,” she to Archer, a smile in her voice.
He slipped an arm around her back and pulled her closer. She heard the matching smile in his voice as he replied, “Stretch high enough, and maybe your magic can touch the stars.”
She’d commented on the stars so many times since they’d left Lumina City that this had quickly become a Thing for them. A standard statement and response. It went
