Chapter 20
Sara and Haley were waiting for me at the breakfast cart. “Well, hello there,” Sara said as I stumbled toward them. “Look
at what the cat dragged in.”
My head felt heavy, and the mirror hadn’t been my friend this morning, but there was no containing the pure contentment radiating
from me.
Logan was in the running for Mate of the Century, eclipsing even my favorite book boyfriend.
“You just missed Belle,” Haley said, and I jerked my head up, focused on more than my sexy spellcaster. “She took off for
class but said she’ll catch us at dinner.”
“She’s really back?” They both nodded. “Did she seem upset with us?”
Sara shook her head, brow furrowed. “No, actually. She was normal Belle and asked about you and everything. It was weird after
her icy shoulder over winter break.”
Haley handed me my coffee and breakfast bagel. “Don’t stress, Pais. We’ll figure it all out in time. Today, you have nothing
more to worry about than class and your mate.”
“Speaking of,” Sara said around a bite of her sandwich, chewing and swallowing quickly. “We stopped by your dorm this morning, and to our surprise, no sign of Paisley Hallistar. Already shacking up like an old married couple.”
Tingles crossed my skin at the memories of last night.
Logan was insatiable, and even in the moments when he loved me to the edge of my sanity, I was desperate for more.
“I’m going to need some of this married life,” Sara said with a sigh. “Even your facial expression is giving me feelings I
don’t know what to do with. Needs and wants I am way too young to consider.”
“You’re the perfect age, pretty witch.” Tobias popped up behind her, and she let out a shriek, almost losing her coffee.
Noah and Logan arrived a few seconds later, interrupting whatever scathing reply Sara was working on. Tobias leaned over,
took a bite of her sandwich, and she stared at him like he was an alien lifeform that had just suggested they fuck to save
the planet.
Logan nuzzled against my neck. “Hey, Precious,” he rumbled, still sounding half asleep. “You weren’t in my bed when I woke
up.”
“I needed to shower before classes today,” I said with a laugh, letting myself rest against him. For two reasons, one of which
was exhaustion, and the other was the pure need to be close to him. He took my weight as if it were nothing, his hands tracing
gently down my sides.
It felt so fucking good that I almost purred at the sensation.
Our friends laughed and joked around us, and I chuckled at Sara holding her sandwich protectively against her chest as she
berated Tobias. Not that he appeared to mind, his eyes were locked on her face in a way that said he was deep into his feelings.
I hadn’t eaten my sandwich yet, and when I lifted it up to Logan, he made an appreciative sound as he took a bite. He nudged it back toward me then, silently indicating it was my turn. Sharing food with him felt intimate, and I couldn’t love these little couple-y moments more.
“I finished your book,” Noah said as he sidled up beside Haley.
Which reminded me that she hadn’t shared any books with me in ages.
“Excuse me.” I straightened and glared at her. “Are you book-cheating on me with Noah?”
Haley’s eyes were flat-out laughing, even if she did nothing more than smirk. “Kind of figured you wouldn’t have time at night
for reading. You’re living out your own romantasy anyway. You don’t need the made-up ones.”
I slammed my palm against my chest and narrowed my eyes on Noah. “Don’t get too comfortable, big guy. She loves me more than
you.”
Haley couldn’t hold back her laughter this time. “Absolutely the truth. Witches before . . . uh . . . warlocks. It doesn’t
rhyme, but you get the point.”
Relieved that we’d sorted that out, I relaxed against Logan once more, only to find him watching me with a look that said
he was seeing into the softest, more sacred parts of my soul . . . and he liked what he saw.
The air crackled between us as he lifted the hand holding my sandwich. “Eat, Precious.”
I took a bite, and even cold it was still delicious. Before my next bite, Logan reached out and wrapped his hand around mine,
and the sandwich was once again hot and steaming.
“You’re so much more than I expected,” I whispered, staring at his perfect side profile. I wasn’t sure Dad was even this attentive
to Mom, and he was the warlock I’d measured all others against.
Logan’s touch heated my skin too as he wrapped his fingers gently across my throat. Possessively. “I’ll always be more,” he said. “And you need to eat. You don’t take care of yourself, which is okay, because you have me now.”
He refused to take another bite and didn’t let me leave until I’d finished everything.
“I’ve got alchemy and Attack and Defense this morning,” I said when we eventually headed for class.
His smirk told me everything. “Same.”
The rest of the day was a repeat of yesterday, with Logan shadowing me through the classes, all of which were easily within
the scope of my limited abilities.
“Wanna hang in the gym for another couple of hours?” Logan asked after our fight class. I’d just emerged from the locker room,
showered and in my uniform. “I’m going to get a quick session in.”
“Sure,” I said, not wanting to be away from him. “I can get started on some assignments while I wait for you.”
Okay, I was mostly going to ogle him for the full workout because he’d have his perfect body on display. But he didn’t have
to know that.
We entered the weights room together, and by the time I sat against the wall with my alchemy text and a notepad, Noah and
Tobias had joined Logan. All of them wore fitted shorts and tanks, and I tried not to groan at the sheer level of ripped,
gorgeous warlock assaulting me.
Tattoos. Muscles. I wasn’t witch enough to look away.
Neither was Sara: “Fuck me dead.”
Everyone in the gym spun at her loud exclamation.
She stood in the doorway, her bag spilled at her feet as if she’d just dropped it. Her eyes were wide and she was staring
at Tobias, who was in the middle of taking off his sweat-soaked tank top.
“Sorry, she’s having a seizure,” Haley called as she leaned down and gathered up the fallen bag.
Sara shook her head, cheeks fire-engine red, as she pulled herself together and strolled past the hot warlocks, heading straight
for me. Tobias’s eyes were dark and predatory as he tracked her, and I wondered when their banter was going to turn from annoying
snark to sexy fucking. Again. Without the help of witch wine this time.
Sara sat at my side, back to the wall, unnaturally silent. “You okay?” I said with a laugh. I turned to Haley. “Did she really
have a seizure?”
Haley rolled her eyes as she settled in the empty spot on my other side. “It’s quite possible her vagina did.”
That snapped Sara out of her daze. “How could you hold out on us, Paisley?” she whispered. “How. Could. You?”
I laughed so hard that I drew Logan’s gaze. “The guys surprised me with this random gym session. But . . . it wasn’t like
I could turn it down.”
Sara slumped against the wall. “Toby rocks around in ten-thousand-dollar suits, but he should just be naked . . . all the
time?” Logan and Noah chose that moment to ditch their shirts as well and she choked. “What is actually happening here?”
“They’re weirdos who love to lift the equivalent weight of cars for fun,” I said with a shrug. “It’s no surprise they’re all
ripped.”
“They are,” Haley whispered, her gaze locked on Noah as he bicep-curled a minivan’s worth of weight. “Very, very ripped.”
“You’ve got a little drool right there,” Sara said, casually flicking under Haley’s lips.
Haley narrowed her eyes. “Like you can talk.”
“They swim after this,” I added, pouring some extra fuel on the horny fire.
“Well, it’s settled,” Sara said, throwing her hands in the air. “We’re going to be late for dinner because I’m not leaving
until I see everything. Paisley, you are an absolute witch. You’re on my shit list for not sharing this.”
“Fair enough,” I said, forcing my expression to fall into remorseful lines. “I acknowledge this is too much warlock for me
to keep to myself. It’ll never happen again.”
Sara stared me down for a beat before nodding. “Okay, I’ll have a contract over to you tomorrow. I’ll need you to sign and
add your magical seal.”
She was insane, but I loved her.
Haley held a book in her hands, but she hadn’t cracked it open as she watched the workout happening before us. Or more specifically,
one giant warlock who’d moved on to bench-pressing a small country. “I have feelings for him,” she whispered, sounding shocked.
“Holy shit. I have feelings for him. Actual real ones. I’ve never had feelings before.” Her voice got higher and faster. She
swung toward me, panic on her face. “What do I do?”
“Annnnd we’re two seconds from a breakdown,” Sara said. “Witch, you don’t do anything. You just keep flirting with that hunk
of warlock and see where the moon goddess takes you. I mean, he read one of your smutty books. Bro is into you as well. You’re
golden.”
Haley didn’t look convinced, and it wasn’t that she was a virgin, but I knew her experience was limited. She’d spent most
of her life living in fantasy books, and through them she knew what she wanted. An alpha asshole who was obsessed with her.
She’d told us before that it was almost impossible for a warlock to live up to her expectations, but then Noah had come along and blown her mind, and now she had no idea what to do with him.
A sentiment I was all too familiar with.
Grasping her hand, I squeezed it tightly. “Life is all about risk,” I murmured, my gaze on my mate. “But without it, there’d
be no reward. Don’t be scared to take a chance. Noah might just be worth it.”
The tension took a few seconds to ease from her slender frame. “He is. He’s worth it.”
Her words resonated within me.
Whatever happened with Logan, this time with him was worth it.
Every single second.