Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

It was 0 dark thirty, but I was up, getting the coffee going, wishing I had the guts to tell CoralineAsIs about the dream I'd just had with the two of us. Yeah, HOT 🔥. I'd woken up in the night, restless, and looked at her stream site for a little recon.

I saw her picture.

And her music videos.

And couldn't stop looking at her.

Cora was— well, not my type, exactly. But not, not my type. So, not petite and girly, but not burly either. Mature-looking for twenty-four, and sturdy. Not classically pretty, but with hair styled and make up applied, she looked put together, even if her features were slightly masculine. And she played piano like it was all that she was.

There was a video of her in a rowdy bar in Texas singing a song I'd never heard but couldn't stop humming.

"Son won't you play me a memory?

I'm not really sure how it goes.

But it's sad, and it's sweet, and I knew it complete

When I wore a younger man's clothes."

When Cora threw her head back and sang that song with abandon, it pulled on something deep inside me, and I didn't want to look away.

"Won't you play me a memory?" What a line! I didn't know the song, but the title was "Piano Man," and it was very, very lounge-y and suited Cora perfectly.

Her music wasn't just pub songs, though. She played Lucouna's "Andalucia" like the song was written for her. It was a favorite of mine to play, and uncommon, so finding it on her site was a delightful surprise that drew me into her orbit in ways I couldn't ignore.

Right, another obsession for Sam. Whooopieeeee! Eye roll at myself.

Then there was the steamy dream and what I did after that I can't describe here, but you catch my drift.

Ummm. The coffee was good. Every scent and flavor seemed a little sharper with a crush in the air. I turned to look out the window and was surprised, but not.

Fluffy flakes of white were drifting lazily from the sky and making me smile. First snowfall.

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I pulled on sweatpants, my knee-high boots, coat, and hat and ran downstairs and outside.

Yeah, it was August 28, 2859, but this was Wyoming, and snow in late summer wasn't unheard of. I couldn't help the joy that rose at the pink sky as I lifted my face and let the frozen miracles kiss my cheeks.

Wrapping my cold fingers around my mug, I took a sip of coffee and savored the bite of it going down my throat, pushing down the emotion that wanted to spill outta my eyes. That familiar feeling of wishing there was someone next to me to smile at, to share the moment with, to slide palm against palm and twine fingers together rose up.

So I lifted my face back to the sky and whispered, "Someday, someday," as the song line won't you play me a memory? flowed through my mind over and over.

When I got back inside, coat, boots, and hat forgotten, the snow'd stopped and my pad Pinged.

HC: OMG! Are you awake? Look at "What's For Dinner!!!"

Ayela: brb

I flicked open Purple Road's Poetry Contest entries and saw that "What's For Dinner" was #20 in the line up!

Ayela: LOL. Good god, irreverent humor pays

HC: LMAO

Ayela: me too! oh god, Sam, WTF were you thinking, girl?!

HC: delete that, and I won't remember

Ayela: shit

HC: Already forgotten. What're you doing up so early?

Ayela: first snowfall

HC: WTF?! It's summer!

Ayela: exactly

HC: lol. I'll never understand people who live there

Ayela: great. we can stop being friends

HC: lol. low blow

Ayela: you started it

HC: this is a stupid waste of time

Ayela: you still started it

HC: LMAO. again. When're you posting another funny poem?

Ayela: don't pressure my muse. she's a fickle thing

HC: can't argue with that. Did you get the sheet music from Cora?

Ayela: uhmmm hmmmm

HC: 👀

Ayela: ❓

HC: guess I was hoping for more

Ayela: what are you, cupid?

HC: I KNEW IT!

Ayela: knew what?

HC: my two fave single gals . . .

Ayela: you assume I'm single

HC: 👀

Ayela: lol

HC: is that all I'm getting?

Ayela: 🤐

HC: lol, okay. well, I'm happy with that much. I'm betting on sparks

Ayela: a man can dream

HC: oh, I've read Moons Dancing, so I know about your dreams

Ayela: gross, grandpa!

HC: tru dat

Ayela: have a good day, HC

HC: you too, Ayela

SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, FUUUUUUUUCK. I told HC my NAME????!!!! WTF, Sam. Bad! Bad, Sam! DMs before dawn were a bad idea.

Finishing my coffee, I printed the sheet music CoralineAsIs'd sent me last night, tucked it into a book of Brahms scores, and slid it into my shoulder bag by the front door so I wouldn't forget to take it with me to Nanna's house.

Then I rinsed my coffee cup and curled under a blanket on the sofa, reading through a chapter of Moons Dancing that still needed some work. Ping!

HC: forgot to tell you. Here's 8 more chapters

Ayela: lord, HC, how much cocaine did you drop?

HC: lol, IV coffee drip. enjoy

Ayela: I always do.

Perfect. I finished the chapter I was working on then opened HC's Shapeless Poetry manuscript, settling in with my two favorite Seattle girls. A cozy start to a snowy morning.

Mind you, there weren't enough fluffy flakes to stick to the ground, and by the time the sun came up, it was over, but I'd been there to see it and make a wish. That was what mattered.

And that wish definitely mattered. The Cosmos cared about simple things like day dreams and wishes on first snowfalls. But that's a different story for another time. If you're lucky, maybe I'll tell ya about it someday.