Page 110 of Love, Magic and Misfortune
“That’s fine. I’ll be home.”
“I’ll spend the day with you. And sleepover?”
“Also fine.”
“And… you can do things to me with your fingers since we didn’t have time earlier—”
“Goodnight, Vi.” He laughed and pressed another swift kiss to her mouth before easing himself from her grip. She stood, huffing out a sigh.
“Goodnight, foxy.”
Just before leaving the sitting room, he turned, throwing a little smirk over his shoulder that probably wasn’t intended to read as devilish and charming, but definitely was. That was one of Violet’s favorite things about him—that in some moments, he’d surprise her and unintentionally ooze roguish sex appeal. This delicious side of him seemed to grow as he became more confident in their established situation.
It was perfect. And it was driving her crazy.
She rolled her shoulders and shook her head to clear it. First, cold shower. Second, cuddling with her sad big sister.
* * *
To Violet’s surprise,Rosie got up early the next morning (in her grumpy and hungover but sobered state) and drove back to the city. She’d only rented the van for one day and had no interest in paying extra fees to keep it the whole weekend.
Violet dressed, packed up her sketch pad and pencils, then decided to walk the forest path to Laurent House. The rain and heavy clouds from the previous day had cleared, leaving everything along the wood-chip trail glimmering and fresh with dew drops. She looked up as she walked, smiling into the sunlight peeking through the trees. Birds sang and bees zipped all around, everything moving and breathing in a joyful spring chorus of new life and freedom.
When she reached Laurent House, the soft shade of the yellow stucco made Violet grin. The color radiated in the warm light with vivid green ivy leaves trickling and weaving down the beautiful new paint job. The gate squeaked loudly as she entered, then pushed it shut. She walked up the path, pulling her key from her dress pocket.
When she was on the porch, the wild growth of daisies shuddered at her side. She paused, hesitating. But a moment later, the black cat with white paws bounded out onto the patchy grass, chasing a butterfly and narrowly missing its capture. Violet shook her head, but the cat sauntered over, rubbing his fuzzy body against her shins as she unlocked the front door.
“Good morning. I’ll put something out for you later.” The cat meowed in response, then hopped off the porch as Violet pushed the door open.
Inside, the house was silent. Everything was cool and calm as usual—the old, faded, ornate burgundy rug. The dark coatrack in the corner and the happy family portraits on the wall. She closed the door softly behind her, noting the morning sunlight flooding in from the windows of the study and living room on either side of her, the curtains drawn back wide. Welcoming.
“It’s me,” she said, walking past the study and up the narrow flight of stairs leading to the second floor. The hardwood squeaked and moaned loudly as she climbed. If Jasper had been asleep, surely he was awake by now.
Violet reached his bedroom at the top of the stairs and pushed the door open. More bright sunlight flooded the sparse room. Her first instinct was to look at the floor, but she didn’t need to, because Jasper was lying in bed on his back, half-tangled in his stark-white bedsheets. When she walked forward, he rolled, shifting onto his side and watching her approach. His hair was a mess and his eyelids heavy. “Hey.”
“Good morning.” Violet set her bag down on his bedside table before sitting on the edge of the mattress.
“What happened to Rosie?” he asked, then took a deep breath, his naked chest rising and falling, the length of his side and hip exposed as he rested comfortably.
“She needed to return the van. Can we talk about the fact that you’re not a mouse right now?” Violet lifted her wrist to check her watch: 7:01 a.m. “How long have you been like this?”
He tumbled onto his back, the bunched sheets just barely covering him as he drew one knee up, rubbing his palms against his face and up into his hair. “I changed back an hour ago. And I didn’t fully transition yesterday evening until eight fifteen. That’s ten hours total.Nottwelve like usual.”
Violet swallowed hard as she brought her hand to her chest. “Jas…”
He dropped his hands and took another deep breath as he stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know, Vi. It’s weird.”
“It’sgood,” she said, reaching and entwining their fingers at his side. “It’s wonderful.”
He turned his head against the pillow, meeting her gaze and bringing their hands up to rest against his abdomen. “Do you want breakfast?”
Violet shook her head. “You don’t have to. I’ll just make myself some tea. Do you want a smoothie?”
He grinned. “Yes, please.”
“I was thinking… Maybe I’ll try making Gram’s cannelés later today. She left me the recipe, but I don’t want to eat them alone.”
“You won’t. I’ll make sure I have room for those.” Closing his eyes, he breathed out in a heavy sigh. The time had been shorter, but mornings were always hard on Jasper. Shifting back into a human left him disoriented for a little while and he needed time to get his bearings.
