Page 34 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Midlife

Come get me.

For a second, my heart stopped beating. Was he in trouble? I quickly fired off a text.Are you okay?

They’re yelling.

I gritted my teeth. I would pop those helium tits if they so much as raised their voices at my son.At you?

At each other.

I inwardly smiled. I couldn’t deny the satisfaction of knowing not all was sunshine and daisies in Homewrecker Barbie’s Dreamhouse.Okay,I texted back.Be right there.

Perfect. Now I wouldn’t need an excuse to get my son early. We could fly to Italy, free Ric, then defeat a succubus, and Colin wouldn’t be the wiser. Sad that he wouldn’t notice that his son would be chasing demons in another country. Three cheers for negligent fathers.

AFTER I PULLED INTOColin’s drive, I hung my head with a groan. What was I doing chasing my lover into Europe? What if I couldn’t convince the Tribunal of his innocence? Or worse, what if the succubus followed us? What if this was all part of the demon’s plan, to send us scurrying like frightened mice, running from our hole and exposing our magic to the world?

I hurried up the stairs to Colin’s house and rang the doorbell that played a replica of Big Ben’s gong. Colin’s parents had picked out the ring, thinking it sounded high class. I thought it sounded tacky and didn’t fit the modern style of the home, but what did I know?

I heard footsteps echo on the other side of the door before Colin threw it open. His eye circles were worse than mine and his eyes were bloodshot from either crying or he had suddenly become allergic to silicone and Botox. I took a big step back, fanning the air when I was hit with the powerful smell of hisantiseptic mouthwash. He’d used that prescription mouthwash when we’d first met, and only because his fraternity brothers had named him ‘shithole breath.’ Once we became a steady couple, he quit doing the mouthwash. I guess he felt he didn’t need to impress me anymore. He hadn’t used it again...until today. I wondered why. Had Homewrecker Barbie finally told him his breath smelled like a leaky colostomy bag full of troll shit? Perhaps that’s why they’d been fighting.

He gaped at me. “What are you doing here?”

I folded my arms, impatiently tapping my foot. “You look like shit, Colin. What’s going on?”

He shrugged then looked away. “Felicity and I had a fight.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Did Des see?”

He still couldn’t make eye contact. “Some of it.”

I clucked my tongue. “Just great.” I whipped out my phone and checked the text from Des telling me he’d be right down. I’d already texted him when I’d pulled into the drive.

“You’re taking him?”

“Yeah, I’m taking him.” I waved toward Colin as if I was shooing a stray gnome. “I don’t want him caught up in this.”

“You’re a good mother.”

I nearly choked on my own spit. “Thanks?”

Colin awkwardly toyed with the doorknob, running his thumb over the handle like he was trying to scrape off the paint. A shudder coursed through me when I remembered that thumb doing the same to me. He was never any good at foreplay. I could’ve painted a red X on my clit, and he still wouldn’t have found it. Ric, on the other hand. Sigh. I needed to break him out of jail.

“I should’ve been a better husband to you.”

My jaw dropped. “What?”

His bottom lip hung down in a pout. “I didn’t realize how good I had it with you.”

We seriously weren’t having this conversation now. I impatiently crossed my arms while trying to look over Colin’s shoulder. What was taking my son so long? “It’s much too late for regrets, Colin.”

“Do you have a new boyfriend?” He continued to thumb that doorknob like he was trying to give it an orgasm. I wondered how long before the doorknob yelled at him to stop and broke out a vibrator instead. “Des said you were going on a date.”

I worked hard to unclench my jaw. Why in Hades was he doing this now? “I don’t feel comfortable talking about my dating life with you.”

“A shifter.” He nodded to the right side of my neck. “Judging by the bite marks.”

“Merlin’s balls!” I slapped a hand over my neck and whispered a concealment spell. Why hadn’t I noticed when I was getting ready? Or better yet, why hadn’t Ethyl told me? She could spot a stray chin hair from a mile away, yet she let me go to Colin’s house with a bite mark on my neck?

“How serious is it?” Colin whined.

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