Page 59 of With This Witch
“Are wejustfriends?” he asks.
Petra’s eyes go wide. “I thought that was the agreement when we entered into this. Friends first.”
Okay then.
“It was, but then we started fucking, and I don’t know about you, but I’ve never fucked a friend the way you and I have been going at it.”
Her face flushes. The rose on her cheeks reminds him of how she looks right after coming.
“Friends with benefits is a thing. We have to be friends first, Lach. I can’t risk losing you. I won’t be able to handle it when you inevitably leave. So, yes, we arejustfriends,” she says, stressing the word so that Lachlan feels his heart break a little. Here, he thought he was in love. It turns out he is. But she sees them asjust friends.
“Wait. Who said anything about me leaving?”
“No one did. But that’s just what men do. They leave.”
“Where do you get that idea from?” he asks, shocked at the level of certainty in her voice.
“Everywhere. My dad, every guy I’ve ever dated or cared about. They’ve all just left. If I let myself care about you that way, you’ll do the same. And I won’t be able to come back from that, so I can’t be anything more than just friends with you,” she responds, her eyes filling with tears.
There’s that word again.Just.He hates that word.
* * *
The following days are cooler between them. He wants nothing more than to reach out, to shake some sense into her. Make her see what’s standing right in front of her. Her past has led her to believe that she can’t have anything worthwhile because it will eventually end, and, in turn, she refuses to open up to him.
His heart aches, longing to return to before he tried to define what was happening between them. He’s been spending more time at the Acorn, and he’s been extra surly with Daisy and the other staff, for which he’s had to apologize many times.
She received another summons, why and for what neither of them knows. As the council meeting looms, he found Petra shorter with him. Her whole future rests on these meetings, and he’s trying his best to be supportive. Despite how hot and heavy they had been, they’d barely watched a movie together, so sleeping together certainly wasn’t happening. However, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t caught her lingering glances.
“You ready?” Lachlan asks, walking into the hall from his bedroom as he buttons up his shirt before tucking it into his pants.
“Just need to finish my makeup,” Petra calls back.
Lachlan makes his way to her room and stops in the doorway. He rolls his sleeves up to his elbows and catches Petra watching, her eyes hungry, as he does. He smirks back at her, letting her know he sees her, but she doesn’t falter under his gaze. She may say she wants to be friends, but she’s not hiding the fact there’s more there, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. He raises his left arm and rests it above his head, leaning against the doorframe.
Petra finishes perfecting her dramatic look and approaches him, stopping when she lands under his raised arm. She leans back against the frame and looks up at him mischievously.
Oooh, she’s good.
He looks down into her beautiful green eyes, raising his hand to rest gently on her face. He leans in, stopping just before meeting her lips. “You’re going to knock them dead.”
Is it mean to tease her? Maybe. Is he still going to do it? Absolutely.
“We should get going,” he commands, adjusting his crotch as he walks away.
He hears Petra fall into step behind him. As they open the front door, the view shifts from the regular snow-covered trees along the street into the council chambers. Petra takes a deep breath beside him and entwines her fingers with his, instantly settling the bundle of nerves in his core and blooming warmth in his chest while he acknowledges her silent request for support. As they step out the door and into the council chambers, his councilor mask slips into place.
CHAPTERTHIRTY
Petra
The first thing Petra notices when she emerges into the council chambers is that there is an audience this time.
“Why is there an audience?” Lachlan murmurs, more to himself than her, echoing her thoughts.
The benches in the room are filled with supernatural community members. She can see parents and caregivers from the childcare where she works. Worked? She still hasn’t been back to work, and she misses it. As much as she hopes to take the Premier Witch seat, she’s not sure how she’ll balance her work with council duties. She spots the vampire twins who own the coffee shop down the street from her apartment, the goblins from the market, and many of her coven members.
“Welcome!” a voice booms out, calling her attention to the front of the room. “Thank you for joining us. When issues impact the community’s well-being, we must have its members here.”
