Nova
The city looked softer after midnight.
Streetlights blurred gold against the windows while smoke curled lazily through the car between us.
Maria's graduation party had finally ended, leaving behind ringing ears, aching feet, and the kind of exhaustion that only came from laughing too hard for too many hours straight.
Daisuke drove one-handed through the sleeping city while the other rested near the steering wheel, a blunt burning slowly between his fingers.
The ember glowed briefly whenever he inhaled.
Then faded again.
I watched the smoke disappear through the cracked window before realizing he'd caught me staring.
A small smirk pulled at his mouth.
"You want a hit?"
I laughed softly and shook my head. "No, I'm good. I had my fun the first time I tried."
He chuckled. "I remember the coughing fit."
"Don't remind me," I said, shaking my head in embarrassment.
His laugh came quieter this time, warm enough to make me smile without meaning to.
The sound settled comfortably between us.
He glanced over at me for a second longer than necessary before looking back at the road.
His grin flashed briefly in the dark.
God.
I missed him.
After the club, he'd asked if I wanted to see his apartment.
I said yes before overthinking it.
Then followed him back to my house so I could grab clothes and pretend I wasn't completely aware of what staying the night at a man's apartment usually meant.
The city lights stretched wider the farther we drove downtown, buildings climbing higher around us until he finally pulled into the underground garage of a high-rise I definitely couldn't afford to look at for too long.
I blinked slowly as we stepped out of the elevator into his apartment.
"Oh."
That was all that came out at first.
The entire place looked like him somehow.
Dark wood.
Black marble.
Low warm lighting.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city like the skyline belonged to him personally.
Clean, too.
Suspiciously clean.
I turned toward him slowly.
"You hired somebody, didn't you?"
He looked offended. "You think I can't clean?"
YOU ARE READING
The Supernova Effect
RomanceSummer starts with an explosion-like a star collapsing into light-and lingers long enough to remind us what warmth once felt like, She was my summer. ... For over six years Daisuke has been grieving, living in denial getting high everyday, holding s...
