Page 57 of A Witch and Her Minotaur
There’s another moment of tense silence. Alina continues to stare down at me.
Then, with a big whooshing sigh, she collapses onto the couch next to me, looking both tired and relieved. “You,” she says at long last, putting her fingertips to her temple like I’m causing her a headache, “have alotof explaining to do.”
“Can I at least do it after breakfast?” My stomach grumbles as if to prove my point.
But Alina shakes her head. “Nope. Now.”
“OKAY, WAIT.” MAEVE SITS FORWARD on the couch and levels her storm-purple eyes on me. “He didwhat?”
I just finished telling them about last night, including my stretching session with Cairn. Now Maeve is acting like it’s the most interesting thing in the world, while Alina justshakes her head some more and Poppy looks like she’s not sure whether to be horrified or not.
“He stretched me,” I say again. “You know...” I mime the movements he did with his thumbs, and Maeve laughs again while Poppy covers her eyes and Alina puts a palm to her forehead in obvious exasperation. “He said we have to before he’ll fuck me.”
“Lyra Wilder,” Alina cuts in, “youcannotfuck the groundskeeper.”
My gaze flashes to her. An ember flickers to life in my belly. “Why not?”
“You know why not. It’s forbidden for students and faculty to have romantic relationships. If you get caught, you could getexpelled.”
“And he would probably be fired,” Poppy adds.
“And the whole purpose of your community service with him is tonotget kicked out, remember?”
I clench my teeth and glance away from Alina, choosing to stare into the fire instead. “Of course I remember.”
“Then why are you taking this chance? It’s dangerous forbothof you.”
My fingers stroke Juniper’s soft fur aimlessly. “I know.”
I’m not sure what to say. Alina’s not wrong, but I can’t bring myself to accept what she’s saying either. The thought of not touching Cairn again, not kissing him and being held by him and waking up beside him, makes my stomach feel queasy.
“Do you really like him?” Poppy asks. She’s mostly been quiet—she tends to get shy when we talk men and sex—butright now she’s looking right at me, holding my gaze despite her cheeks still blushing pink.
I bite my lip. Glance into the fire. Bite my lip again.
“Oh my goddess,” Maeve says. She leans into the cushions and tosses her arm over the back of the couch. “You do. You’ve fallen for the minotaur.”
Without saying a word, I nod.
Because I have. At first, I thought he would just be some grumpy asshole I had to put up with every Saturday. I just wanted to get through my community service and be done with it. But slowly, I started seeing him,reallyseeing him, and he started seeing me. And now I can’t go back, even if I know I should.
“I know it’s risky,” I say, letting my eyes flick to Alina. Some of the anger has gone from her gaze, but her lips are still pursed into a stern pout of disapproval. “But I don’t want to stop. And I don’t think he does either.” My shoulders rise and fall on a sigh. “I really like him. More than anyone else I’ve been with. And he sees me.” I bite my lip again, rolling my thoughts around before putting them into words. “This might be weird, but it feelsreal. He feels real.”
All three girls regard me in the quiet. I wait for Alina to reprimand me some more. But instead, she lets out a long sigh.
“Shit,” she mumbles. “Leave it to you to fall for a faculty member. I expected this from Maeve, not you.”
This gets me to laugh. “Yeah, I know.”
Maeve just arches a brow and smirks at us.
Suddenly, Alina leans forward and snakes her arms around my neck, pulling me into such a sudden hug that Juniper tumbles out of my lap and onto the soft couch with a squeak. Alina squeezes me tight and mumbles, “I’m sorry I was so mad. I was just so worried about you. You can’t do that to us again.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I put my arms around her waist and return the hug. “I won’t. I promise.”
With a sigh, Alina removes her arms from my neck and reaches down to give Juniper an apologetic scratch behind the ear. “Sorry, Juniper.”
Juniper squeaks to me, and my lips pull up on one side. “She says you owe her a cinnamon bun.”
