Page 7 of The Mating Magic
“The time wasn’t right. I was going to tell me parents about you at the ball, but circumstances,” hebegan.
“Instead, you left me standing there by the bar with Helen, who left as well when Drust arrived so she could fawn all over him. And then she returned after you left and asked where my invitation was, and I said didn’t have it, she called over the ogrebouncer.
“You weren’t there,” Evie continued. “Not when Helen and her twin sister Lynna took their cell phones and snapped photos of me getting tossed out on my behind. And by the end of the night, I was a social media pariah amongst dragons. Everyone knew who I was – the dragon who would never be good enough for ChaseBurke.”
The social media posts had been almost as humiliating as the eviction from the gala. She was on the ground, bleeding from her cheek, her dress hiked up to show her panties and secondhand shoes. Helen had posted on her Instadragon account,Climbing the social ladder major fail. When your darling cousin Chase’s sex toy shows up at a private social event, this is whathappens.
Evie began to see everything clearly. Oh Chase had invited her to the ball, but all the other times when family gatherings pulled him away, and he insisted they were boring events and she’d be better off having fun with her friends… and their relationship had to remainsecret…
“I guess it’s not polite to introduce your fuck buddy to family,” she saidtightly.
His jaw dropped. “Evie, it’s not likethat…”
But itwas.
“No excuses,Chase.”
“I’m not making any, damnit. You’re not a fuck buddy, vulgar as that term is. You’re mygirlfriend.”
“When we’realone…”
“All the time! I didn’t know about the photos. I’m not on social media. Drust needed my assistance with an urgent assignment regarding an older dragon who was losing his mind and running amok on the west coast, threatening to slay tourists. I went to look for you and Helen said you had left because you were too shy to mingle,” he saidtightly.
Evie rolled her eyes. “And you believedher?”
“Since you were together and getting along when I was called away, I had no reason to not believe her. And then you refused to talk to me, Evie. I wasn’t in a position to make our relationship public before thatnight.”
He sighed. “That’s not important now, Evie. But you need to know I meant no harm. Perhaps it was not a good idea to invite you to my family’sball.”
The admissionstung.
She was tired of being treated like a second-classcitizen.
Maybe if her life had been different, if she had a family and lacked a malformed right wing, she’d fit more into his social circles. Then again, Chase’s proud family crest boasted two dragons bearing lances, while the closest she came to a sign was the NO SMOKING warning in the orphanage where she’d been dumped as ababy.
Even Lacey wasn’t her blood. They’d been raised in the same foster family together, two dragons in human skin trying to survive together. Only when Lacey’s mother finally found her daughter after years of searching, and Lacey insisted on Evie coming to live with them as well, did she find a realhome.
They were closer than blood sisters. Evie would do anything forLacey.
Now she sidled closer, standing in alliance with her sister. “Lacey’s right. I am too good foryou.”
Something changed in Chase’s expression. “You are,” he said quietly. “I’m the one who’s a total cad. How I wish it weredifferent.”
His tone gave her pause. “It could be, if you had thecourage.”
Chase went to her, cupped her cheek, stroking over her skin and making her shiver. “It’s not courage I lack, but a clear path. I have one now, if you will be patient. I don’t want to lose you,Evie.”
For a moment she was tempted to reassure him, as she had many times in the past. But Lacey’s scowl and everything her sister had risked reminded her of the gap between theirworlds.
The old Evie would have simpered and done everything to get Chase back into herarms.
The new Evie would not surrender her pride. She stepped away from his caresses. They had not officially broken up, but what was the point? Was it worth it to hang onto this relationship by a slim thread, waiting on Chase as he rushed off to serve Drust? What if he left one day and never returned? Ghosted her and left her pining afterhim?
“It’s too late, Chase. You already lostme.”
“No, it’s not too late. Not for us. Everything I’ve been doing is for you, Evie.” Chase stared at her mouth as his palm encased hers. “But let’s get back to the real reason why I’m here. What Lacey has done is not only wrong, it’s dangerous. There’s a small window of opportunity to make amends. Did your sister really hope to harness enough power to become equal to the wizards of the Brehonthemselves?”
“She wasn’t the one who found the recipe for the potion or wanted to make it.” Evie stepped back. “I found it and encouraged her to experiment to have something of real value to sell at The SageShop.”
