Page 17 of Feverburn

“What about you?”I asked.

“October 8th. I’m a Libra.”

“That makes sense.”

She finally looked up.“Really?”

“No, I know jack shit about that sort of stuff.”

“How capricious of you.”She tittered at her joke, walking closer to me.“I think this crystal is yours. It wants to go home with you.”

She explained the other day that crystals find their people, almost like cats. At Silver Springs, they were playing middleman. I had to fight from nuzzling my face in her cleavage as I leaned down to let her loop it over my neck. The chill of the metal chain and the heat of her hands trailing my chest longer than necessary while I straightened put me in a haze.

“What kind is it?”I asked, plucking the pendant up to look at it. It was a small crystal point encased in what looked like a mini shotgun shell that formed a pendant. It was small, no bigger than a large vitamin.

“Clear quartz with black tourmaline inclusions, also known as tourmalinated quartz.”

“It’s regular quartz, but the little black lines are the tourmaline?”I asked, squinting at the needle-like inclusions within the stone.

“Yep! It just so happens to be one of the crystalsbestsuited for Capricorns. It’s very protective. And yours,”she beamed up at me.

I tucked it under my shirt, the warmth radiating from where it hung between my pecs. I’m unsure if the magical rock or Rosie’s open affection made it blaze against my skin, but I liked it nonetheless.“Thank you. I’ll keep it close.”

Her lips parted while she stared at my hand over my chest, her gaze then lifting to mine, simmering with things left unsaid.“Close is good,”she whispered while we shared a smile.

A few nights into this torturous rotation, I was in Harley’s woodshop for our weekly brother hangout. Something about woodshops always cheered me up. The smell does it for me. So many memories and accomplishments start with sawdust. Tonight, I was helping him finish some decorative trim for the window frames in the pottery barn.

He offered me a beer and looked me up and down.“One of the Silver Springs girls already has acrushon you.”

“Who?”

His face broke into a shit-eating grin.“Dani. She started training and told Kaylee howcuteyou are painting the mural.”

“Who the fuck is Dani?”I spat.

“She worked at the diner. You know, the short one with dark hair, really girly, looks like a Kardashian.”

“I don’t want a fucking Kardashian.”

“I guess she has a madcrush. She told Kaylee she’s been trying to get your attention. But you haven’t noticed.”

I snorted in disgust. “I don’t want her attention. You know how hard dating in a small town is.”

“She doesn’t seem to care about your reputation.”

“Are you trying to play matchmaker?”I asked. He tipped his bottle to drink instead of answering.“Har, I don’t need your help getting a girl.”

Putting his beer down, he tried to remain casual.“It wouldn’t hurt to go on a date. I mean, if Kaylee hired her, she’s probably cool.”

“You don’t get to nag me. Your ass only got a girl because she bunked with you during a blizzard with no other choice.”

He smiled at the memory.“You’re not wrong.”

I picked up a rubber mallet to do something with my hands. Deciding to use Dani as a shield, I presented my real worries regarding Rosie.“Besides, what if it doesn’t work out? She’d still be in our friend group. She’d still have to work with Kaylee.”

“So what? That’s Pine Bluff. Plus, Dani already knows about the Whitney shitshow. You wouldn’t have to unpack that with her like I did with Kaylee. That’s a huge advantage.”

“Don’t talk about Whit like that. It was only a shitshow because you made it that way.”

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