10. Cass
Cass
There was a strange jolt through my body when Linden’s lips connected with mine. It was electric, intense, and reminded me so much of the things I felt when I was trying to conjure up a storm. But instead of that roiling, chaotic feeling that usually came with the storms, I just felt… peace.
And so I leaned into it. I pressed back, my arms going around his neck before I could stop myself.
I opened my lips, beckoning him in. He took the bait easily, his tongue dancing against mine.
For one brief moment, everything else in the world fell aside.
The only thing that existed was me, Linden, and this kiss filling the January night with a heat I didn’t know was possible.
His hands came up to cup my face, and I felt the warmth of his magic seeping into my skin like sunlight.
My own magic responded eagerly, crackling through my veins in a way that should have felt chaotic but somehow felt...
right. The air around us grew warmer, and I could have sworn I felt the snow melting beneath our feet.
I broke away from the kiss, breathing hard, my forehead still pressed against his. “Why did you do that?” I gasped.
“I don’t know,” Linden admitted, his voice rough. “I just… wanted to I guess.”
I wanted to make some smart ass comment, wanted to push him away and pretend this wasn’t happening. But I couldn’t seem to make myself do it. Not when he was looking at me like that.
“We should probably get back,” I heard myself say, even though the last thing I wanted to do was leave this clearing, leave this moment where everything suddenly felt different. “Your friends are probably wondering where we are.”
“Yeah,” Linden agreed, but he didn’t move. His hands were still on my face, his thumbs tracing gentle circles across my cheekbones.
When he didn’t move, I reached up and grabbed his wrists, gently pulling his hands away from my face. “Believe me,” I said softly. “You don’t want to get involved with me. It’ll just be trouble for you.”
“I’m willing to take a chance,” he offered.
“I’m not,” I replied, hating the way those words tasted on my tongue. “It’s not worth it, I promise.”
He stepped back, and I watched as his expression shifted from hope to resignation. It was like watching someone close a door, and I hated myself for being the one to slam it shut.
“Okay,” he said quietly, his hands dropping to his sides. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is,” I lied, turning away from him before he could see through the bullshit. Before he could see how much I wanted to take it back, to pull him back down and kiss him again until the world stopped making sense.
“I need to grab some things,” he said, turning away from me. “Wait here.”
For ten minutes I waited at the heartwood tree while Linden wandered up and down the grove. I couldn’t tear my eyes away as he pushed aside the snow to gather seeds, dig up small saplings, and fill a couple small pouches with earth. The silence nearly killed me.
We made the walk back to the teleportation circle in silence as well.
The aurora had faded completely now, leaving only the stars and the distant glow of the academy in the distance.
My heart was still pounding, my lips still tingling from the kiss, and every cell in my body was screaming at me for being such an idiot.
He’d kissed me. Linden, this massive, gentle, impossibly kind dryad, had actually kissed me. And I’d thrown it back in his face like it was nothing.
Because it would be trouble. Because I was trouble.
Because getting involved with him would only end with him realizing what a complete fuckup I was and wishing he’d never wasted his time on me in the first place.
Better to push him away now than to let him get close enough to hurt me when he inevitably left.
Not to mention, my parents would have a fucking conniption about me dating a non-witch.
None of the people they wanted to be friends with so badly allowed their children to date outside of the witch circle, so I doubted they wanted me to either.
That’s what I told myself, anyway. It didn’t make the knot in my stomach any easier to bear.
When we got back to the greenhouse, Nerion and Teddy were still there, though they’d made significant progress with the painting.
I could see the outline of the ruined structure taking shape on the canvas, rendered in hauntingly beautiful shades of green and gold that somehow made the destruction look almost intentional. Beautiful. Artistic.
“You two took your time,” Nerion observed, not even looking up from his work. But I could hear the knowing tone in his voice. He knew something had happened. Somehow, he just fucking knew.
“We were just getting some specimens,” Linden said, his voice carefully neutral. “Nothing exciting.”
“Uh-huh,” Nerion hummed, finally turning to look at us.
His eyes darted between me and Linden, cataloging every detail.
The way we weren’t standing close to each other.
The way Linden’s lips looked slightly swollen.
The way I couldn’t quite meet anyone’s eyes.
“Well, Teddy and I probably won’t be here much longer.
It’s getting too dark to paint.” Nerion looked between Linden and I.
“We’re gonna break into the athletic building and go swim. Want to come?”
“I probably shouldn’t be causing any more trouble,” I said quickly. “I’m on thin ice as it is with the Dean.”
“You should go,” Linden said, and I hated how quickly he said it. Like he was relieved to have an excuse to get away from me. “I should stay and put this stuff away. You can go though. We’re done for tonight.”
Nerion’s expression shifted to disappointment, but he didn’t push Linden. He and Teddy started packing up their supplies, and I helped without being asked. Anything to keep from looking at Linden, from thinking about the way his hands had felt on my face or how much I enjoyed that kiss.
“Come on, Cass,” Nerion said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “You look like you could use a swim. Clear your head or whatever.”
I knew I should stay there and face whatever I was feeling toward Linden. But the coward in me won out, and I found myself following them toward the athletic building anyway. Better to run than to stay and face what I’d just thrown away.
As we walked across campus, I could feel Nerion’s eyes on me.
He was definitely going to ask questions, and I definitely wasn’t going to have answers.
The smart thing would be to just tell him to mind his own business, but something told me that wouldn’t stop him.
Nothing seemed to stop that guy once he got curious about something.
“So,” Nerion said as we reached the athletic building, “what happened in the grove?”
“Nothing,” I said flatly.
“Uh-huh.” He pulled open the heavy door. “That bad, huh?”
“It wasn’t bad,” I shot back, immediately jumping to Linden’s defense.
“So something did happen,” Nerion grinned. “Spill the beans. I want every detail.”
“He showed me the grove,” I finally said as we walked toward the pool. “It was... nice. Pretty. The northern lights were cool too.”
Nerion raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”
“That’s it,” I confirmed, stepping up to the edge of the pool. “It was pretty uneventful.”
Nerion stepped up beside me. “Uneventful, huh? Is that why you and Linden wouldn’t even look at each other?”
“Because we’re both tired,” I said, stripping off my shirt and kicking off my boots. “Long day of work. Not everything has to be some big dramatic thing.”
“Right,” Nerion said, clearly not buying it. “And I’m sure the fact that you two were gone for nearly two hours just to grab some plants has absolutely nothing to do with the way you’re avoiding eye contact with me right now.”
“It was a long walk to the grove,” I countered.
“Sure,” Nerion nodded, stripping off his clothes. “A long walk.”
Teddy stepped up beside him and began to strip as well.
I realized, fairly quickly, that neither of them had swimming trunks.
I expected them to just swim in their underwear.
However, Nerion, clearly the most unshy person in the world, was naked in a matter of seconds, dick to the wind before he dove into the pool.
Teddy glanced over at me with a grin before kicking off his underwear as well and falling backward into the pool.
I stood there for a long moment before I decided, fuck it, and stripped down to nothing as well. When in Rome or whatever. I dove into the pool along with them, but kept my distance. The only reason I was there in the first place was to get away from Linden.
“So did you two make out or fuck or what?” Nerion asked when he resurfaced, his voice reverberating off the tiles.
“Oh my god,” I sighed. “Can’t you just drop it?”
“No,” he grinned. “Linden is my best friend. I have to look out for him. And sometimes that means making sure he gets laid.”
“Is that what this is all about?” I asked, glancing over at the pair of them. “Getting your friend’s dick wet?”
“It’s not just that,” Teddy replied this time, cutting off Nerion before he could speak. “Linden is shy and pretty solitary. Dryads are like that. But he works really hard, and he helps everyone else before taking care of himself.”
“So you want me to sleep with him? As what? A consolation prize?”
“I’d like him to have sex at least once before he leaves college,” Nerion grunted. “I thought he was going to hook up with that chick last year, but nothing came of it.”
“Are you telling me he’s a virgin?” I scoffed. “A big muscular handsome guy like that hasn’t just had people lining up to suck his cock?”
“As far as I know, nobody has. And he tells me everything.”
“And you haven’t slept with him?”
Nerion, for half a second, looked almost offended. “Oh believe me, I offered plenty of times. But he never wanted to.”
Teddy stared at his boyfriend for a long moment. “I didn’t know you offered him that.”