Seth
This isn’t too much, right? Isn’t it too romantic? Rowan is coming over for dinner, sure—but my mom is here. Laurel and Nerissa are coming, too. She doesn’t seem alarmed when I extend the invitation, but I am.
The last thing I want is to put her in danger, and I can’t fight the feeling that I’m risking all of them. Everyone I love. My mom. My friends. And Rowan.
Days have passed, I’ve barely been able to sleep, and we’re no closer to figuring out who hexed me. It’s impossible. All there is to do is wait for it to wear off, and who knows how long that could take?
It feels like my life is falling apart. Appetite? Gone. Working out? Don’t feel like it. At work, it’s like I’m going through the motions.
But a night with the people I care about may help.
This is a family dinner, not a romantic one. In fact, Rowan and I haven’t had a romantic moment in days. No kissing. No hand holding. She barely looks at me. Rowan is doing something I’ve never seen her do: avoiding.
My feelings are still here, and that’s something greater than the curse. Why couldn’t this be easy? It was always simple to let go of old flings, but there’s no letting go of Rowan. She’s burrowed her way into my heart…
And I know Rowan loves me, but we haven’t addressed that either.
She shows up last to the very non-romantic family dinner. Laurel and Nerissa are already chatting at the dinner table with my mother when Rowan steps inside, shaking off her wet umbrella.
“It’s going down out there, huh?” I can’t believe I’m talking about the weather, as if her hand wasn’t around my throat just a few weeks ago.
“Uh-huh.”
My gaze floats down to her lips. It would be too much to kiss her. Even a cheek kiss is pushing it.
I clear my throat. “You worked late.”
“I know.” She runs her fingers through her hair. “Free consultation with a client went longer than expected. She had a lot of questions.”
“That’s not good.” I furrow my brow.
Rowan was doing better at relaxing before, but it seems like she’s sliding back into old habits, and I don’t know if it’s my job to call it out anymore.
She lifts a shoulder. “It is what it is. What are we eating?”
Finally, some good news: “You won’t believe it. I made kare-kare.”
“Oh?” She smiles softly, tilting her head. “That’s my favorite.”
It is—and maybe it was too romantic of me to make it, but I have to do something. Even though we’re on this weird pause, I won’t let our relationship fizzle out.
I scratch the back of my neck, and Rowan leans in. My heart races. My fingers clench at my sides as I stop myself from doing more—touching her face, her ass, anything.
Her lips brush against the shell of my ear. “Thank you.”
All right… not too romantic… everything is fine.
She pulls away quickly, chuckling. “Let’s eat.”
Nerissa clears her throat, watching us with her red, demonic eyes. “Yes. Let’s.”
I’m sure she’s curious about our relationship.
Some demons, like Donnie, spend most of their time on this plane—with the mortals, as they call us.
Others, like Nerissa, live in the underworld.
She doesn’t exactly have a choice. Her father died—something I watched happen—and she was forced to take the throne.
Now, Nerissa is the lord or ruler of some section of hell, or whatever.
I don’t understand it all, but I know she’s busy—too busy to know what’s going on in my love life, probably.
Laurel doesn’t seem to mind Nerissa being a lord.
Maybe she has some kind of power kink, and Nerissa is definitely powerful.
Laurel hangs onto her whenever she’s around, and tonight isn’t an exception. I’m lucky she doesn’t sit on Nerissa’s lap. Instead, they’re close, their hands clasped on the table. My mom sits at the head, while Rowan and I sit on the other side of the rectangular table, and…
This. This is definitely too romantic, right? Sitting here, across from another couple. Rowan still says nothing as the dinner moves on.
She’s quieter around other people, even her family, only offering the occasional comment here and there.
Laurel and I keep the conversation going, and my mom definitely helps.
She asks about work—though she doesn’t know or understand what Nerissa does—and finally Rowan has something to say. Tax season. New clients.
Laurel and I exchange a look, but we keep quiet. Should Rowan really be taking on new clients when she’s already so burned out?
“How are you two doing?” Nerissa asks, her piercing stare wandering over Rowan and me.
“We’re great,” Rowan says, perkier than before.
Fake. My beautiful girlfriend is many things, but perky isn’t one of them. She stifles a smile, bringing a forkful of food to her mouth.
I nod enthusiastically. “Great! It’s still new, but…”
“You’ve known each other for years, haven’t you?” Nerissa lifts a glass to her mouth. “Surely you should know if you want to be serious by now.”
Nerissa and I didn’t get off on the best foot—I was always a little wary of her until the end. We’re friends now, but I can’t help but think this line of questioning is her way of getting back at me. It would be funny if she were doing it to anyone else.
I glare at her playfully.
Mom is watching me now, too, and her words echo in my mind.
I’m not good enough for Rowan. Not even good enough to figure out how to break this hex, which is supposed to be temporary but has now been tormenting us for months. I want to be serious with her, but could she really want that with me?
I push the thoughts away. “We are serious, but it’s still new.”
Rowan nods subtly. Even if everyone else is applying pressure, she isn’t. We’re on the same page. The rest doesn’t matter.
“It’s good to take things slow,” Laurel says cautiously. “But they are… surprisingly good together.”
Laurel had seemed supportive of our relationship at the start, but ever since the flower incident, she’s been a problem. She gets in the way whenever we’re almost kissing, keeps me too busy with our morning and evening runs, and I don’t miss her judgmental looks.
I guess I understand it. She wants to protect her sister from my hex. I do, too.
Rowan narrows her eyes. “Surprisingly?”
Laurel shrugs. “I never thought Seth would settle down. That’s all.”
I groan.
“It’s good.” Mom gives me an approving nod and soft smile. She’s the only person at the table who doesn’t know about my hex. “They’re perfect together. I always thought so.”
I snort. “You did not.”
“I did, I just didn’t want to say anything.”
“And you were right,” Laurel says, as if she’s trying to make amends for her previous words. “It’s a good surprise.”
Though Laurel seems worried about Rowan these days, and Rowan will barely be in the same room as me… for a second, I let myself feel happy. Rowan loves me. And I think once the hex is gone, I’ll be able to say it back.
I don’t need any of them to be happy, to approve of our love, but for a night… it feels good that they do. That they may think I’m good enough, even if I’m not so sure. Rowan slides a hand over my knee and squeezes, and I melt.
But the hex still floats over my head. Taunting.
And I have to get rid of it alone.