by Wendy Knight
Crew raised an eyebrow. Katrina said, “Well, no offense, but your mom didn’t seem like the greatest source for where to get your info from.” She grinned. “Trust me, the root of all evil is kittens.”
Azura, who had just sipped her hot chocolate, choked and sputtered and Crew laughed. “Kittens?” Azura gasped. “The fluffy adorable hilarious perfect balls of fluff?”
“Yes.” Katrina nodded to Crew. “Tell her.”
Crew sat next to them, rubbing his hands together. “They’re cute to lure you in. You cuddle and bam, they claw your eyes out and try to rip off a finger. And then they get bigger and start to hunt, and you step on dead mice in the middle of the night in your bare feet.” He held up his hand. “See this scar? From the cutest kitten on the planet. One of the flat-faced, short little legs kind. Evil, through and through.”
“We had seven cats,” Katrina explained. “Every single one has attacked him at least once. Two sent him to the doctor for stitches.”
“Pure evil,” Crew said again.
Azura laughed.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Azura had gone to bed at eight, because there was really nothing else to do that wouldn’t maim or embarrass her, and amazingly enough, she went right to sleep. Maybe she was getting old and it was time for hair nets and fake teeth. Either way, her phone woke her at almost ten, jarring her out of a dream that involved a grocery store selling exotic jungle cats, except all the cats escaped and she was trying to get them back in their cages.
Until she got eaten.
She was grateful for the interruption.
“‘Ello?” she growled, putting the phone to her ear.
She sounded like one of the cats from her dream.
Clearing her throat, she tried again. “Hello?”
“Hey,” Crew said. She could hear the laughter in his voice, and it did funny things to her insides. “Were you asleep?”
She squinched her eyes shut and forced them open again, passing a hand through her hair as she snuggled deeper under her covers. “No.”
“Right.” Clearly, he believed her completely. “Well, I found Abe. But he’s leaving for home in the morning. Are you up to visiting him tonight?”
She yawned and forced herself into a sitting position, dropping the phone on her lap. She was in ratty pajamas, and her hair—apparently, she’d been very active when she’d fought those lions. It felt like she’d twirled it into a realistic bird nest. “Sure.”
“Great. Be there in five.”
“Five? Wait—” she squeaked, but he was gone. Suddenly wide awake, she flung the covers off and dove out of the bed, crashed on the floor, and half-crawled, half-scooted to her dresser. She jerked her pajama pants off and tugged on some jeans and then pulled her black t-shirt over her head.
Over her pajama top.
Muttering under her breath, she jerked both tops off and pulled her black shirt back on before scrambling to her knees to find a brush.
Her brush was gone.
It was always on her dresser.
Swearing this time, she pushed herself to her feet and sprinted around the room, throwing laundry and blankets every which way.
No brush.
She did catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror and her earlier assessment that her hair felt like a bird nest was accurate. It also looked like a bird’s nest that maybe a rat had helped build.
Azura ran out into the living room, but there was no brush in sight. She’d have to borrow Holly’s.
Checking her phone, which said Crew was probably going to be there any minute, she hurried to Holly’s room, stubbing her toe painfully on the couch as she raced by. Alternating between crying, “Ow ow ow ow” and “No no no no”, she burst through Holly’s door.
Holly was not a neat person. Not even a little. She contained her chaos to her room, a fact for which Azura was grateful, but her room looked like the laundry gods had thrown up in it. Where blankets and bedding went to die. Even on her best days, Azura wasn’t sure she would survive a trip into that room.
But on cursed days?
Not a chance.
Someone knocked on the door. Someone who was probably Crew.
“Nooo,” Azura groaned. “Uh—One sec!” she yelled louder, hoping he could hear her through the thick fiberglass.
She scanned the room frantically, hoping she could spy some sort of hair combing device from the safety of the doorway, but there was nothing. Nothing helpful. She backpedaled, still limping, and searched her room again.
Still no brush.
And it was freezing outside. Too cold to make Crew stand at her door.
Limping, a blush already staining her cheeks, she crossed the room and threw open the door. “My brush is lost,” she said by way of greeting.
He bit the inside of his cheek, obviously trying not to laugh, but his dark eyes sparkled with barely contained glee. “I—I didn’t even notice your hair.”
She heaved a long-suffering sigh and stepped back, letting him in. He breezed through the door, looking every bit like a GQ model, and smelling like heaven.
As always.
“Here.” He pulled off his black baseball cap and plopped it onto her head. Normally, it would have been too big, but with all the tangles and snarls her curls had worked themselves into, it fit just fine. “Better? Can we go now? He’s heading to bed soon and then he’s leaving early in the morning.”
Although Crew had been the one to call her, he looked decidedly not excited about the whole prospect. “I just need to find my shoes...” She turned in a slow circle, scanning the room, and then wandered off to her room, checking under the coffee table and the couch as she passed by. “Where is all my stuff?”
Crew shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Why are you limping?”
“I stubbed my toe on the couch. Or the chair. I forget which.” She found one shoe under her bed and the other in the closet and thunked herself down on the floor to put them on. A normal adult could possibly do it while standing—they were slip on boots, after all—but she was not normal and would probably somehow crash through the wall and start the apartment on fire.
“Need help?” Crew leaned against her doorway, his coat pulled tight across his shoulders as he crossed his arms over his chest and grinned down at her.
She shook her head, words failing completely. With the living room light behind him, he looked like some sort of incredibly hot fallen angel.
Chuckling under his breath, probably fully aware of how he affected her because he affected everyone that way, he held out his hand. She took it and let him pull her safely to her feet. She hesitated there, her hand still in his, staring up at him and breathing hard.
Apparently, climbing to her feet had been strenuous.
His grin softened and his eyes searched her face. Her brain, stupid as it was, froze so all she could think was that no man should have eyes that could read her very soul.
“We should get going,” he said softly. “I don’t want to miss your chance.”
Going. Going? Going. Right. Abe. Kissing the stranger. Fun stuff.
She edged around him, her heart beating way faster than was necessary, and grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter. “Ready. Lead the way, Sir Galahad.”
ABE lived in student housing three miles from Azura’s house. She could have walked there if it hadn’t been snowing and below freezing, but she probably would have tripped over every crack in the sidewalk...and she probably would have gotten hit by a car along the way too. Plus, it was comforting having Crew there when she was going to kiss strange guys.
That’s a weird sentence.
“Nice place,” Crew remarked, picking his way through the red plastic cups and random garbage littering the halls. “I don’t know how their RAs let them get away with this.”
“Maybe they tied their RA up and locked her in the closet.” Azura shrugged when Crew looked at her in surprise. “It could happen.”
“Crew, welcome.�
�� Abe stood at the top of the stairs. He was more attractive than Evan but paled in comparison to Crew. His hair was longer and, at the moment, as matted as Azura’s, but he’d been well-groomed at the party. Taller than her, which wasn’t that easy because she was almost 5’9”, and skinny. No muscles to pull his band t-shirt tight across his shoulders like all of Crew’s did.
So...she compared everything on the planet to Crew now.
That wasn’t alarming.
Not alarming at all.
“Is this the chick who wants to kiss me?”
Crew’s hand tightened on Azura’s where hers rested on his other arm. “She just wants to break a curse.”
“I’m not a chick either. Do I look small and yellow to you?” Azura glared up at him. Already, kissing Evan beat kissing Abe.
Abe grinned, pushing his dull brown hair over his shoulder. “Feisty one. I like that. This will be fun.” He bounded down the stairs toward them, and reluctantly, Crew let go of her arm and she raised the mistletoe she’d brought along from his truck.
“Wait. I feel like I’m wasting an opportunity here.”
“Here it comes,” Crew muttered under his breath. She glanced sideways at him, but he was staring at something above Abe’s head, the muscle twitching in his jaw.
“Really, it’s late, so let’s just get this over with and you can go to bed.”
Abe grinned. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Seriously, dude...” Crew started, his hands balling into fists.
Abe laughed, holding up both his hands. They were caked in what Azura really, really hoped was chocolate. “Okay, that’s a little forward of me and I don’t want Crew to tear me to shreds. You’ve seen what he can do on a football field, right? Guy’s a monster.”
Azura rubbed her temple with her free hand, the other so tight on the mistletoe it threatened to snap. “I didn’t have time to go to any games this season but last year, yes. I saw what Crew could do on the field and I don’t think that classifies him as a monster when he’s just doing his job. What do you want so we can go?”
Crew’s fist relaxed and he grinned. “Aww, you watched me play football?”
“I watched football. You were there. Abe, where are we on that kiss?” she snapped.
Crew laughed, strangling it to a choke when she hissed at him.
“Hear me out. One date. That’s all I’m asking. One date and we’ll end with the perfect curse-breaking kiss. Unless you want more.” He waggled his eyebrows and Azura had to smother the desire to rip them clean off his face.
“You’re leaving tomorrow. Christmas is in five days. You won’t be back in time to break the curse.” She couldn’t believe she was even having this argument.
“Fine. We go tonight.” Abe’s face lit up in triumph.
“Abe, come on. You wanted to kiss her at the party. Why are you doing this now?” Crew stopped next to Azura, his quiet strength giving her courage.
Abe shrugged, rocking back on his heels, so smug. “I have her just where I want her, right? Can’t waste these kinds of opportunities.
“Or,” she started sweetly, advancing on him. He was barely taller than her and if she’d worn heels, she would have towered over him. Always, always wear heels! “I kiss you now, under this mistletoe, and I don’t tear you to shreds while Crew stands by eating popcorn and laughing, probably.”
“Whoa.” The light died in Abe’s face. “That’s harsh.”
“You try to coerce a date out of me, harsh is what you get. Had you asked nicely without trying to threaten me, I probably would have said yes,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Where’s that popcorn?” Crew patted his pockets and scanned the room, but no popcorn machine magically materialized in the corner.
Abe’s head fell to his chest in defeat and he nodded. “Fine. Sorry. Maybe I can hit you up when I get back to town? When are you coming back?”
“I’m not leaving.” Azura held up the mistletoe. Crew jerked toward her in surprise, but she ignored him. “Hurry up.”
Reluctantly, casting furtive glances at Azura’s hands as if he expected cat-like claws to sprout at any moment, Abe inched forward. “So you’ll call me then?”
Crew looked away, his hands shoved back into his pockets just as Azura closed her eyes. Abe’s lips were dry and harsh against hers, his breath smelled like—yes, like chocolate, thank the heavens—and the rest of him smelled like stale food and sweat.
Not a great combination.
When his tongue snaked out, brushing against her lips, Azura was done.
Jerking back, she scrubbed her hand across her mouth. “Thank you,” she ground out as politely as possible.
“Did you just try to stick your tongue down her throat?” Crew growled, not politely at all. “Are you serious with this?”
She laid a hand on his arm, lightly tugging him away. “Two down. Two to go.” She didn’t look back at Abe as she half-dragged Crew from the common room and back out into the cold.
“Call me!” Abe yelled after them.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“You okay?” Crew asked as he shifted the truck into drive to take her home. Azura was still trying to scrub any trace of Abe from her mouth and he was worried she might split open her already split lip or something.
She glanced at him, green eyes sparkling. “I’m fine. Are you okay? Because that seemed pretty traumatic for you back there.”
Crew shook his head, still disgusted with Abe’s behavior. “I can’t believe he acted like that.”
Azura laughed lightly, leaning back against the seat. “This is just another day for every girl on the planet. A guy gets the upper hand, he’ll force it down her throat. Every time.”
“I’m pretty sure you mean some guys. I’m rather offended to be lumped into that category.” Crew’s lips twitched to the side in displeasure.
“Some guys, yes. Not everyone is a Galahad, but they’re not all as creepy as Abe either” she laughed softly.
“I really, really like this nickname you’ve come up with. I think I might permanently change my name to Galahad. All the ladies will love that.” He winked at her in the darkness and she raised an eyebrow.
“You know Galahad never married and was probably celibate, right? He was the only one pure enough to search for the Holy Grail.”
He choked on his own cleverness, nearly driving the truck off the road. “I...did not know that.”
Azura’s laugh lit the car, shattering the darkness. It was a beautiful sound, better than his favorite song, better than any so-called musical bird. Better than the rain against the cement or a waterfall in Hawaii. It almost, almost diminished the pain from the fact that she’d nicknamed him after a celibate knight. There were probably—what? Ten other knights at the round table? Twelve? She couldn’t have picked one who was not going to die alone to name him after?
“But he was the bravest and the kindest,” she said quietly, as if reading his thoughts. “And everyone’s favorite.”
“Sure, sure,” he muttered, and she laughed again. He grabbed the sound and tucked it away for when she was gone. “Can I ask you something?”
She watched him out of the corner of her eye. “I guess?”
“Are you really staying here alone for Christmas?”
She spread her arms wide. “Anti-Christmas grinch, remember? I stay home and watch horror movies for Christmas.”
“You watch horror movies alone?” He gasped, trying to steal another laugh, and was instantly rewarded. “That’s brave.”
It didn’t seem to bother her, at least on the surface, but the way she fell silent after, the way she stared out the window into the dark night lit by thousands upon thousands of Christmas lights on every corner and every street—well, he wondered how fine she actually was.
“Can I ask you something else?”
She turned away from the window, eyeing him suspiciously. “You have a lot of questions tonight.”
“I’m a curious guy, Butterfly.
So?”
“Stop calling me Butterfly and you can ask whatever you want,” she sighed, but it lacked any anger.
Crew pointed a finger at her nose. “You named me after a celibate knight. Pretty sure a gorgeous insect is not that bad.”
She rolled her eyes, swatting his hand away. “What’s your question, Galahad?”
He frowned at her momentarily before he had to turn back to the road. “Are you doing okay, money-wise? I mean, you lost your job and—”
Azura smiled. “You’re sweet.”
He pursed his lips, eyebrows drawing together. “I am sweet, yes. That’s not an answer to my question.”
“I drive a beat-up car and I’ve worked a paying internship for two semesters. Before that, I worked two jobs. I have a roommate in a teeny tiny apartment. While I do have a weakness for shoes, everything else goes into savings, and I have a scholarship that pays all of my tuition, books, and most of my living expenses. I’ll be okay until I break the curse and can find another job. It’s sweet of you to worry about me.”
“Girl, you’re a walking disaster. All I do lately is worry about you.”
And she had absolutely no idea how true that was. She occupied more of his waking thoughts than anything else. Her story had broken him, torn his soul ragged. He’d tried so hard to pretend it was no big deal, because that was clearly what she’d needed at the time, but ever since, he’d wanted to protect her from every Christmas candle and bad memory they’d come across.
And she’d named him after a celibate knight.
CREW hit the gym at five the next day. His phone stayed in his locker where it couldn’t distract him. By the time Crew was done with his workout, he had fourteen missed calls and twice as many text messages.
His heart stuttered to a stop in his chest. He’d left Azura safely inside the night before, and she’d said she was going to bed. But what if she’d gotten up? What if she’d attempted to go somewhere on her own and she’d somehow fallen into oncoming traffic or gotten mugged by a Christmas elf or run over by reindeer?