by ERIN BEDFORD
“Hi.” I gave her a nod and then gestured my head toward the kitchen. “I’m just going to go get a drink.”
“Wait, I—” Jaron started to say, but Olivia spoke over him.
“Okay, see you later.”
I didn’t wait to see if Jaron would try to talk to me but pushed my way toward the kitchen. I could feel the magic in me making my skin hum. I didn’t know why I was so worked up. Of course, Jaron would move on. I had too, hadn’t I? Yes, of course, I have. It was just hard to see your first love with someone else. That was it. I was lonely and vulnerable without a date. It was only natural I would feel frazzled.
Instead of staying in the kitchen, I pushed my way to the patio in the back where there were fewer people. A chill came over me, and I realized that, even in Georgia, skimpy dresses in the dead of winter were not a good idea. I was contemplating going back inside or risking freezing to death when I remembered I was a witch now.
There had to be a spell to warm me up. However, what that spell was I had no idea. I could attempt one, but then again, my mom had said no magic. Did I really want to take the chance of blowing myself or someone else up because I was too chicken to face my ex and his new girlfriend?
I started to scour my brain for something I had learned at school to take the bit of the cold off, but I was coming up blank. I had just about given up and decided to brave the crowd once more when a hand touched my bare shoulder, and a warmth came over me.
Glancing down at the hand, I followed it to a smiling Dale. “You looked cold.”
“What are you doing here?” I stepped closer to him, unable to believe my eyes. For a second, I thought my wish had actually come true.
Dale brushed his reddish-brown hair out of his face as it fell over his glasses and he shrugged. “Callie text me.”
I didn’t doubt that for one second. The sneaky woman no doubt found his number in my phone at some point and did the deed for me. I’d have to kiss and smack that girl later.
“Well, I’m glad she did.” I ducked my head, feeling slightly shy now that he was in front of me. We had spent weeks messaging each other, but in real life, it was so much different, and my body reacted in such a way.
“So, why are you out here risking frostbite rather than having fun with your friends?” Dale leaned against the railing of the patio. He wasn’t dressed in his usual button-down shirt and slack combination he wore to school. The t-shirt he wore stretched across his chest, showing me that he had muscle underneath he had been hiding from everyone. The difference was intriguing and just downright arousing.
Chewing on my lower lip as I tried to get a hold of my raging libido, I glanced toward the sliding glass door. “I ran into someone I didn’t want to talk to.”
“Your ex?”
My eyes shot over to his raised eyebrows. “How’d you know that?”
Dale lifted a shoulder. “You’ve mentioned him in passing before, I just assumed that’d be it.” I nodded in response, and we grew quiet. After a moment or two, Dale asked, “Do you still love him?”
“What?” I gaped. “No, nothing like that. I mean, he was my first ... love but that doesn’t mean I care anything at all about him now.” Even I knew I didn’t sound convincing. Sighing, I leaned against Dale’s side. “It’s not that I love him. It’s just ... he’s a reminder.”
“I get it.”
“You do?” I lifted my head to look at him.
“Yes, believe it or not, I have been in love before,” he said dryly, his lips twisting into a frown.
“I can believe it.” I had no doubt about it. Dale was dreamy in that intellectual kind of way. The glasses, the attitude, the shaggy hair, and that hidden hot bod? It was any girl’s wet dream when you put all together. Not that I was going to tell him that. I had my dignity after all.
“You’d be the first.” Dale sighed and shook his head. “I’m not exactly a catch back at school. I don't work in the administration office because I want to. If not for my work study I wouldn’t be going to college at all.”
“I feel ya there.”
Dale looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “What do you know about it? You have a rich family. You only have to worry about what pair of shoes to buy. And then end up buying all of them"
I snorted. “I know its hard to believe but I don’t have much of anything to do with my grandparents. They are the ones who are rich, not me.”
“Still, at least you have more than just your personality to get you by.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Why? Because you’re not from some famous wizarding family? Believe me, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” I thought back to my grandparents and all the expectations they had for me. I’d rather have been someone like Dale. Things would have been so much easier.
Dale smiled sadly and brushed my hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering on my skin. “You only say that because you just joined our world. If you’d have grown up in it, you’d be just as stuck on status as the rest of them.”
I frowned at him. “I’d like to think I wouldn’t be, but I can’t say what kind of person I’d have been. All I know is the kind I am now.” I grasped the hand on my face with my own. “And right now ... right now, I know that you could be a human or the lowest of wizards and it wouldn’t keep me from wanting to kiss you any less.”
Smiling that masculine kind of knowing smile, Dale slid his other hand around my waist and drew me closer. His mouth descended on mine, and everything fell away. The warmth inside of me from his spell was replaced by the need for him and the touch and taste of him. I let out a moan as his tongue brushed against my lips, and I opened up to him.
Releasing his hand, I wrapped both arms around his neck, my fingers tangling in his hair like I had wanted to do since day one. He cupped the back of my thighs and lifted me onto the banister, placing himself between my legs. I’d have been worried about my dress sliding up, but his body would hide anything from being seen by onlookers.
Somewhere in the distance, I could hear shouting of some kind, but I didn’t care enough to come up from the consuming feeling of Dale’s mouth on mine. As close as we were, I wanted more of him. I had told Callie that I hadn’t planned on letting anyone see my thong that night, but Dale had lit something inside of me that made me want his hands on more than just my underwear.
A booming sound followed by another and another, startling me from Dale’s lips. We both looked up and saw the dark sky filled with multicolored sparks of light. Fireworks.
I could see over Dale’s shoulder that the people inside were partying harder than ever, many of them making out with their dates or whoever was closest. We’d missed the countdown, but with the guy in front of me making my whole-body tingle, I couldn’t bring myself to really care.
“Happy New Year, Max.” Dale grinned down at me before brushing his lips against mine once more.
“Happy New Year, Dale.”
Chapter 5
After New Year’s, school couldn’t come any faster. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to show anyone but my passed-out best friend my underwear because Dale had to leave right after the fireworks. However, now that school started today, I hoped to remedy that.
“Max!” Trina squealed, jumping up from the floor and a pile of things to hug me the moment I entered our room. “How was your break? Tell me everything!”
I hugged her back and giggled before throwing my bag onto my bed. “It was okay. The same as usual except now my mom does magic openly in front of me. Oh, and my grandparents came for Christmas.”
Trina made a face. “Ew, I bet that was fun.”
Unzipping my bag, I laughed bitterly. “Oh, you know it was. They got into a fight not even five minutes after that got there.”
“Still trying to make you do a coming out thing?” Trina asked, combing a pick through her hair. Over the break, she had streaked her usual ebony afro purple and teal, it looked cool and matched the outfit she had on perfectly. It always did though
. How did I end up with such fashion-forward friends when I was lucky to match my socks on any given day?
Sighing, I sat on the edge of my bed. “Yeah, they got me this really pretty dress and then got into the whole not-so-subtle ‘you could wear it for your coming out’ thing while also trying to take over my life by offering to pay my tuition. Hence the fighting.”
“Better than my house. We have fighting non-stop, but with that many of us in one house, it’s kind of expected.” She grinned and sat on the floor, crossing her legs as she went back to organizing her things.
“I bet it’s fun, having that many siblings.”
“Pfft. No. I mean, yeah, I guess, if you like sharing all your things and getting hand me downs. But then there’s the whole bonding thing. You’re never lonely cause there’s always someone to talk to and get into trouble with.” Trina grinned from ear to ear as she talked about her family. I could tell she really loved them.
“Well, the closest thing I have to a sibling is Callie.” I slid down to the ground to sit across from her. “She’s usually the one getting me into trouble.”
“She seems the type.” Trina giggled. “Did she go back to Brown already?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but she’s coming back during Spring Break. I hope you’ll get to hang out with us this time.”
“Oh, for sure.” Trina shook her head up and down. “I’d much rather go to a party than watch my parents play charades until midnight.” She sighed. “One of these days, I swear I’m going to get my kiss at midnight.”
Her talks of New Year’s brought back my own memories. Now that I was back at school, Dale would be here. I itched to message him and ask him to meet up, but I didn’t want to seem like a bad friend who makes their whole life about the guy she liked ... or guys in my case.
“What’s with that face?”
I blinked and stared at her knowing look. “What face?” I touched my cheek thinking I could somehow change whatever it was she saw.
Trina moved to her knees and poked my cheek. “That ‘I got laid and can’t stop grinning about it’ kind of face.”
My skin heated and I shook my head. “I didn’t get laid.”
“But ...?” Trina prompted, and I wrapped my arms around my knees, drawing them up to my chest, grinning despite myself.
I started to explain about New Year’s, but a knock on our open bedroom door interrupted us. Ian leaned against the door frame looking as yummy as ever. The kind of shirt Dale had worn at the party was the kind I was used to seeing Ian in. It clung to his pecs and made it impossible not to notice how ripped he was. Tight black jeans hugged his hips and sat over the biker boots he always wore. I swore if he didn’t end up having a motorcycle, I would swallow my own tongue.
“Am I interrupting?” Ian smirked, raising one beautifully sculpted brow, his green eyes swirling with amusement.
“No, no.” Trina jumped to her feet, her eyes darting between the two of us. “I’m just going to go get a snack. You want anything?” I shook my head, and she beelined it for the door. As she squeezed by Ian, she made an obscene gesture of what she thought I should do with him while she was gone that made my face burn.
When she was gone, silence filled the room, and I shifted on the floor. Ian, ever the one to make a space seem like his own, meandered into the room, his eyes taking everything in.
“How was your holiday?” I asked him out of the blue, not sure what else to talk about. He was hot, but we didn’t know that much about each other, something I should probably be working on to fix and not just thinking with my girl bits.
Ian glanced over his shoulder from where he was looking at Trina’s collection of hair bows. “You really want to ask me about my vacation?”
I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. You don’t really talk about yourself besides to tell me how fascinating and hot you are. Or to complain about your brother.”
The mention of his brother made him frown slightly. “Okay, so ...” He sat down on Trina’s bed and leaned forward on his knees, his eyes intensely focused on me. “What do you want to know?”
Putting me on the spot the way he was, I found myself scrambling for something to ask. “How about your major? You’re doing the dark arts, right? Like blood magic?”
Ian’s face seemed to close off, his eyes darkening at my topic of choice. “Yes, I am studying the dark arts.”
Seeing he wasn’t going to give me anything more on it, I tried something else. “What did you do for break? Did you and Paul spend time together with our parents?”
“No, our parents were in Aspen. Paul stayed at school for some teacher’s pet convention,” he muttered, clear resentment filling his words. I wondered what had happened since our last conversation. They had seemed so into getting their relationship back on track, but now it seemed like they were backsliding.
“Then what did you do?” I found myself inching closer to where he sat, not liking the sad and lonely look on his face.
Running a hand through his dark hair, the corner of Ian’s lip curled up. “I read and thought about you.”
My eyes widened at what he was clearly trying to instigate, but I focused on the other part. Get to know him, not his soul-consuming eyes, or the way his tongue darted out to wet his lips. Come on now, Max. Get in the game.
“Reading, huh? You read a lot.” I cleared my throat and looked away from him.
“Sometimes. Mostly research for school but sometimes poetry. I particularly enjoy Edgar Allen Poe.”
“So, the dark stuff.” I smiled, palming my legs to keep my hands from sweating. “I’m sensing a theme here.”
All of a sudden, Ian slipped off the bed and knelt close to me. The heat of his breath hot against my skin. “Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.” Ian’s words brushed against my lips as he leaned in my eyelashes fluttering with each breath.
“Who said that?” I murmured curious but not so much that I paid much attention to his answer.
“Poe,” Ian told me, his hand curling along my jawline, his thumb tracing my lower lip. “Do you like it? Is it too dark?”
I shook my head slightly, blinking up to meet his gaze. “It’s pretty. I didn’t know he was such a romantic.”
Ian chuckled, it rumbled through his chest and into my legs where he pressed against. “He was just a man like anyone else. Nothing dark or dangerous about him ... or me.”
It was my turn to laugh, bringing our mouths to barely touch each other. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“You think I’m dangerous?”
Smiling, I grabbed the front of his shirt in my fist. “Hazardous.” Pulling him toward me, our lips finally converged into one. All the teasing had been too much for me, it took much of my strength not to straddle him right there with the door open and everything. Trina would have been so proud. Callie too. The hussies. Though at the rate I was going, I was well on my way to becoming an exhibitionist. With that thought, I limited myself to a few passionate moments of lips locked before releasing Ian to breathe.
“Well, well, well,” the voice of Satan’s mistress herself snickered. “Look what we have here.”
Looking toward the door, I scowled at Sabrina Craftsman, witch bitch extraordinaire. “What do you want, Sabrina? Lose your talking cat?”
“Cats give me hives, not that you care.” Sabrina sniffed before she gave me a nasty grin, waving her phone in the air. “However, I’m sure your boyfriend Dale and the rest of the school would love to know you are locking lips with black sheep of the Broomstein family not even after being thirty minutes on campus.” She tapped her face with her phone pretending to be in thought. “Or is it Paul? I just can’t seem to keep up with your love life.”
Gritting my teeth, my fingers began to crackle with magic, and I longed to lash out at her. Ian grasped my hand with his, giving me a warning look. He was right, that’s what she wanted. Taking a deep breath, I let it out with an exhausted sigh.
“Go ahead, Sabrina.” I stood up from the floor, crossing my arms over my chest. “Send it to everyone you know, I’m not ashamed. I like Ian. So, yeah, I kissed him. And you know what,” - I pointed a finger at her, placing my hand on my other hip - “I also like Paul and Dale, and there’s nothing you can do to make me feel bad about it. Just because your capacity to love is limited to one person doesn’t mean mine has to be.”
Sabrina leaned back as if I had hit her, her mouth gaped open in shock. “Wow, I never expected you to be so brazen about your promiscuity.” She smirked and flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder. “You might think you’re top shit right now, but once this gets out, you’ll be back licking the ground I walk on. Right where you and your human-loving mom belong.”
I stepped toward her, but Ian’s hand on my arm stopped me. I didn’t even notice he had stood up until now. He distracted me long enough for Sabrina to slip down the hall well on her way to tell the world of how unworthy I was of my position.
“Why’d you stop me?” I glared at Ian. “I could have taken her.”
Ian rubbed the back of his head, a frown marring his face. “Yeah, and get in trouble for attacking a student unprovoked. Last time Sabrina attacked you first, but if you attack her for just being a bitch.” He shook his head, his hands opening up to either side. “I’m not sure you want to go using your family name to get out of that one. You might want to save that for when you really have to use it.”
I realized he was right. I didn’t want to be calling in any favors to my grandparents, especially not for something as petty as burning all the skin off of Sabrina’s smug face. I had to save those kinds of favors for when I was in dire need, which sadly looked like it might end up being sooner rather than later.
“So ...” Ian drew my attention back to him, a salacious expression on his face. “You like me, huh?”
I snorted. “Of course, that’s the part you lock onto, not that I like your brother and Dale too.”