Page 67 of Love's a Witch
Finally, he gave Lyra a small nod.
It wasn’t a friendly one.
Lyra seemed to understand whatever he was conveying, and she shifted, giving him her shoulder.
It looked like their past was going to stay buried.
“Do you want to—”
“Nope. So, back to Knox?” Lyra said, her smile too bright, and not reaching her eyes.
“There’s no ‘me and Knox.’?”
“Yet you were snogging him in the closet at Mystic Munchies today.”
“What?!” Raven exclaimed, her face lighting up with interest. “Tell me more. In great detail, please.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I rushed out in one breath. “My brain short-circuits around him. All rational and reasonable decision-making abilities fly out the window, and suddenly I find we’re attached at the lips. And then I don’t want to stop, and if my magick weren’t misfiring left and right, I probably wouldn’t stop. And what does that mean? I have no clue. Like, I can’t possibly consider a future with this man. I can’t live in a castle. I’m not fancy. It’s just not… No. This is not a viable or smart option for me.”
“And yet.” Lyra patted my back, trying to soothe me. “You lose your mind when he’s around, and he clearly does with you. He told his mum he wants you to be his partner.”
“He said what?” Raven screeched, and the men all glanced at us.
“Shut up.” I grabbed Raven’s arm and bowed my head, surprised to find a giggle bubbling up in my throat. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d giggled about something, let alone about a man. This was… well, it was fun. It was fun to sit and have a drink with a girlfriend and giggle about our relationships. Here, in Briarhaven, I could be myself. I had a history here, people who knew me, and we didn’t have to constantly cover our tracks or try to explain away weird occurrences that our blood curse made happen. This felt… safe. And right.
Oh my goddess, did I want to actually stay in Briarhaven?
Mum would have a fit.
The thought alone cheered me a bit.
“Sloane, that’s serious. Knox does not have long-term relationships. If he told his mum that, he must really like you.”
“Oh, please, he barely knows me. I’ve been home all of five minutes, and I’m just the shiny new toy in town.”
“I don’t think so, Sloane. I think he’s serious,” Lyra said, stirring her drink, which had come served in a copper mug.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter if he’s serious or not. If we can’t break the curse, we’ll have to move on.”
“Unless we can get the coven on board to do whatever magick they did to keep your mum here as long as they could,” Raven pointed out. “I’m told it was exhausting, but they did it because she was part of the coven.”
“Are you saying that even if we can’t fix this curse, maybe the coven will be powerful enough to help us stay in one spot?” Lyra speared to the heart of the matter.
And for once, I felt optimistic.
“Aye, assuming Mandy will sign off on it. She’ll be a hard one to convince.”
“And you need the president of the Charms to be the one to have the last say?” An idea bloomed—not a comfortable one, and I’d need to discuss it with Broca.
“That’s the nature of the coven. Head boss has final say and all that.”
“Duly noted.” Raising a finger to signal Liam that I was ready for another, I leaned back in my chair. Despite my determination to ignore Knox, I couldn’t help but glance at him as he gestured animatedly to Rab.
I wanted to lick that man up like an icy scoop of pistachio gelato on a hot summer’s day. Forcing those particular thoughts from my head, I refocused on the conversation.
Bloody hell, but it looked like I was going to give this a go. I was going to actually try to help us stay in Briarhaven.
“But why did they stop helping Mum, then?” Lyra asked, drawing my attention back.
