Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
IZZY
“So what’s the plan?” I ask as soon as Ethan separates from us.
He’s going to take Reid’s car to the mall and then pick us up later tonight—if we don’t walk home first.
Since we’re already downtown, everything is in easy walking distance.
Reid and Emery exchange a look, and the latter grins.
“Do you want it to be a surprise, or do you want us to tell you?”
My heart thunders in my chest at the prospect that they planned this ahead of time. I don’t know why I believed it was a spur-of-the-moment decision.
“Will I have to be blindfolded?”
Emery waggles his eyebrows. “Only in the bedroom.”
Reid whacks Emery across the back of the head. “Bad dog.”
“Oww.” Emery rubs at the abused flesh with a frown. “That hurt, asshole.”
“Good.” Reid folds his arms over his chest and smirks.
“Okay, enough, boys!” I wiggle my body until I’m able to fit between them, then I link their arms with mine. “Let’s go.”
I begin to drag us forward, but Emery digs his heels in, stopping me.
“Wrong direction, pretty girl.” With his arm still linked with mine, he spins us around, consequently dragging Reid with us.
I eye the street in front of me suspiciously, noting the storefronts. “There’s nothing down here.”
“Oh, but there is. Ye of little faith.”
Emery and Reid exchange a look over the top of my head. There’s something distinctly…devious about their expressions. I don’t know if I feel uneasy or excited. Perhaps it’s a mixture of both.
Reid and Emery are one combination of men I’ve never considered before.
Reid is usually so surly, so quiet, so…angry.
Emery, on the other hand, wears a flirty mask designed to keep the rest of the world at arm’s length.
I may just be the only person in the world who sees them as they are, not how they present themselves.
“You okay with walking? It’s a little bit of a trek.” Emery takes in my jeans and sweater ensemble.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I wave away his worries.
It’s a little chilly, but it’s nothing I can’t deal with. I’m just grateful it hasn’t yet started to snow beyond a few light flurries here and there.
“So how about we play twenty questions?” Emery releases me to walk backwards, keeping his verdant-green gaze trained on me.
“Is this the date?” I tease. “It’s feeling rather…date-ish.”
“You really think this would be how I’d woo you? Walking down the street and making small talk?” Emery places a hand to his chest dramatically. “I can assure you, my dear Isabella, that I’m a much better woo-er than that.”
“Surrre you are,” Reid drawls sarcastically.
“Oh, you shush it, you overgrown man beast,” Emery says lightheartedly, then he turns towards me. “So…twenty questions. Let’s start with…what’s your favorite color?”
“This isn’t how you play twenty questions, but pink,” I answer automatically. “Sometimes yellow.”
“Pink and yellow.” Emery’s eyebrows arch. “Wouldn’t have expected that. You definitely seem more like a…purple girl.”
I throw my head back in laughter. “What the fuck does a purple girl look like, Em?”
The tips of his ears pinken. “I-I don’t really—”
“Yes, Emery.” Reid smirks. “What does a purple girl look like?”
I swear Emery’s entire face is as red as a tomato. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the flirty shifter this flustered before.
“MY FAVORITE COLOR IS BLUE!” he blurts, practically screaming.
Reid and I exchange a look, and he snorts. “Dude, no need to yell.”
“I hate you all.”
The three of us continue walking to the mysterious destination while Ethan peppers questions our way.
I find out that Reid’s first job was working at an automobile shop and that Emery wanted to be an astronaut when he was younger—until he realized he’s deadly afraid of heights.
Reid hates country music but loves classic rock, and Emery is obsessed with anything that has a beat.
Surprisingly, before Reid was cursed, he used to be a singer.
A really, really good singer, according to Emery.
Though he hasn’t sung a single song since Dyson placed the spell on him.
That makes me sad. And once again, I vow to convince Dyson to lift the hex—or find a way to fix Reid myself.
It’s not fair that he’s punished for a crime he didn’t commit. If anything, Michelle should face repercussions for sexually assaulting Reid and then lying about it.
Just thinking of that evil bitch makes my blood curdle and my veins scorch.
I hear the surprise before I see it. Laughter and happy screams fill the air.
“What in the…?”
Bright, twinkling lights come into view, and through the trees, I can just make out the top of a Ferris wheel.
“A fair?” I widen my eyes.
Emery bounces with unbridled excitement. “It’s not a huge event or anything, but the other high school in town throws this event every year as a fundraiser. There are a bunch of games and a few rides. What do you say? You in?”
My lips curl in a wide, genuine smile. “Of course I’m in.” I turn towards Reid. “What about you, big guy? You in?”
Reid’s eyes emanate nothing but warmth as he stares down at me. “Lead the way.”
Reid and Emery split the price for my admittance then purchased a huge bundle of tickets we can use for games and rides.
Emery reminds me of a kid in a candy store as he races from stall to stall, vibrating with excitement.
“We need to try this game! No, this game! No, wait, this game! Oh, what the hell. Let’s do them all!”
Reid and I trail along after him at a much more leisurely pace.
“Why does it feel like we’re following after our ADHD son?” I muse conversationally to Reid.
Emery pauses a short distance away, where he’s on his tiptoes to study the collection of prizes dangling from the booth. “Hey! I heard that!” To me, he adds, “Just so you know, I don’t have a mommy kink.”
That may be true, but I suspect Emery has a different kink—a kink he still doesn’t fully understand.
Just to test out my theory, I wave him back to me, and he returns willingly, sporting a huge, beatific smile.
“You’re such a good boy, Emery,” I coo, and he flushes, his eyes flaring with heat.
Interesting.
Very, very interesting.
Maybe the twins aren’t so different after all.
Reid, oblivious to my thoughts, scans our surroundings. “Where to first?”
Emery opens his mouth to respond then glances at me and snaps it shut. He stares at me imploringly, allowing me to choose, even though he’s practically bursting with excitement.
I decide to put him out of his misery. “Em? Can you choose what we do first?”
A wide grin pulls up his lips, and he races towards a stall. It’s some sort of shooting game, where you’re supposed to hit a target, which causes your horse to move. The first horse to the finish line wins.
“You ready to get demolished, pretty girl?” Emery asks, dramatically cracking his knuckles.
I snort. “You wish.”
“I’m not going to go easy on you. Not like our chivalrous Reid here.”
“Chivalrous?” Reid stares at Emery incredulously, then turns towards me. “Sorry, baby. I’m going to crush you. You’re not getting any help from me.”
“I don’t need help to destroy you.” I aim my gun at the target and listen to the countdown.
“Surrrre you don’t,” Emery drawls. “I love your confidence, but—”
The mechanical voice tells us to go, and I immediately aim the water gun at the bull’s-eye. My horse begins to maneuver forward—at a much faster pace than Reid’s or Emery’s.
The game ends, announcing me as the winner, and I bring the gun to my lips and blow on the tip. Reid’s eyes heat, turning molten, but Emery is oblivious, staring at the horses with an incredulous expression.
“How did you…? You know what? I’m not even surprised anymore. I have a feeling you’ll kick my ass at every game we play.” He shakes his head with a rueful chuckle.
The attendant—a high school girl who stares at Emery with hearts in her eyes—allows me to pick my prize, and I choose a tiny stuffed animal with a crooked bow tie.
“Here.” I smirk as I hand Emery the bear. “I won you a prize, my little darling,” I coo dramatically.
Emery flutters his eyelashes. “Thank you, my little pookey bear. I’ll treasure it always.”
“You guys are weird,” Reid points out, though his eyes glimmer with obvious amusement.
“You’re just not on our level,” Emery retorts.
The three of us move from stall to stall, playing games and checking out the various booths.
I beat them at every game, even when the bastards try to cheat and distract me.
Emery purposely brushes against me, eliciting a fresh round of goose bumps, or Reid grazes his fingers against my thigh.
It’s totally not fair, and I vow to myself that they will never, ever win against me. Ever.
The only stall we skip is the kissing booth, with Emery loudly exclaiming, “No way in hell!”
I can’t help but chuckle as the boys herd me away.
Once we finish playing most of the games, we set out for the rides. There aren’t a lot, considering it’s a high school fair, but we manage to spin around on teacups and sway back and forth on a pirate ship. When we reach the line for the Ferris wheel, I notice Emery’s face is unusually pale.
“Aren’t you afraid of heights?” I whisper to him, remembering our conversation from just a couple of hours earlier.
“Nah.” Emery tries to wave away my concern, but sweat drips down his forehead, belying his words. “I’ll be fine.”
“Em.” I give him a reproachful look. “Don’t be silly. Why don’t you wait for us over there?”
“You won’t be upset?” Em sounds genuinely concerned.
“Of course not.” I take his hands in mine and give them a squeeze. “How about afterwards we go on a ride, just the two of us? Maybe the teacups again?”
Emery still appears indecisive, before he finally nods, relief evident on his face. “Yeah. Okay. Yeah.” He leans forward to plant a chaste, gentle kiss to my forehead. “I’ll meet you afterwards.” He turns towards Reid and gives him a challenging stare. “Keep an eye on our girl, okay?”
“Always,” Reid vows with a solemn nod.
I roll my eyes, trying to ignore the fluttery sensation in my stomach.
I don’t need anyone looking after me, but… But sometimes it’s nice.
Emery ducks under the rope line and races towards the game stalls. I wonder if he’s going to practice them in an attempt to beat me at a later time.
I snort.
As if that would ever happen.
Reid and I stand in companionable silence, so close that our fingers brush. When we finally reach the front of the line, a strange, prickly heat has pervaded my body. I feel flushed and hot and desperate, and it’s all because of his pinkie caressing mine.
The attendant—a bored-looking man who’s probably a teacher or a parent—volleys his gaze between the two of us. “Two?”
“Yes, please,” I say, and Reid simply grunts.
When the Ferris wheel comes to a stop, Reid helps me settle in the swaying seat before sitting beside me, his thigh flush against my own. The attendant places a bar over our laps, reminds us not to rock the seat, and then starts the ride once more.
Up we go, the twinkling stars blazing beacons above. Everything is so beautiful, so peaceful, so surreal.
“Wanted to talk to you,” Reid rasps out, and when I glance at him, his head is lowered, red in his cheeks and on his neck. “Alone, I mean.”
I chuckle and gently nudge him with my shoulder. “We’re alone now.”
“Yeah.” He distributes his weight, unintentionally causing our tiny cart to sway.
For a long moment, he doesn’t continue, but that’s okay. I know he needs time to gather his thoughts.
“I’ve been thinking.”
“Uh-oh. That’s dangerous,” I tease.
He rolls his eyes, but his lips quirk upwards, and I can tell my joke helped dissipate some of the tension saturating the air between us.
“I want…” Reid focuses on his hands, which rest on his knees, his knuckles littered with scars and scabs.
“You want?” I press.
“I want to try,” he says in a rush. “Us, I mean. The mating thing. I want to…try. If you want to.” He glances up at me, and our eyes meet, a bolt of heat slashing through me. “I know I’m not… I know that I’m…” He gestures helplessly down at himself. “But I want to… I want to…”
“You want to date me?” I supply, phrasing it as a question.
Reid bites down on his lower lip and nods once. “Yes. I want to date you.”
My heart begins to pound even faster. I can scarcely believe what I’m hearing.
“And you’ll be okay with me…?”
“Dating other men? Your mates? Yeah.” He swallows. “I…like you, Izzy. I really, really like you.” He scrubs a hand through his greasy garnet hair. “I understand if you don’t… If you don’t want…”
I lean forward and plant my lips to his.
Reid instantly takes control of the kiss, wrapping my hair around his fist and twisting my head the way he wants it to go. Lightning erupts in my veins, and fire prickles through every nerve ending.
The kiss is perfect and beautiful and so incredibly heartbreaking, because I can tell Reid is surprised—even though I’ve kissed him once before.
Reid still doesn’t believe he’s deserving of love.
I’ll just have to work hard to change that mentality.
“Is that a yes?” Reid asks, breaking the kiss to stare intently into my eyes.
The emotions swirling in his gaze are a sucker punch straight to the gut.
“That’s a hell yes,” I say, then I grab his face to kiss him once more.